Alex Chilton RIP 2010

started more seriously exploring the box set. will download all of it asap.

i hope you mean buy it

download it on emusic, i meant.

48 "credits."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu_gB34pHLA

feeling sad that I never got to see him live -- one of the few big heroes I could say that about. But I always liked seeing him pop up in unexpected places -- there was a youtube video of his set w/ Yo La Tengo from a few years back and he looked/sounded as cool as ever.

dude was kind of an incredible guitar player, too -- not quite something he gets full credit for, but he had a great style. that live disc from the box set really shows it off nicely.

I admit to wondering how the news was being circulated in Austin, and how many cover versions were going to be heard by the end of the weekend.

Heading downtown now (later than expected, and saddened) -- I'll let you know.

Nice tributes, btw, Ned, Alfred...

saw Alex for the first (and now, sadly, only) time, 15 months ago, Dec'09. At the Old Town School for Folk Music in Chicago. What I have to believe is the most intimate venue for music in these United States. Alex was a gracious host, funny, engaging, and most importantly, it was totally enjoyable *as music*. Not some drunken shit show as some have reported his later career to be. It was, I gather, the typical emphasis on R&B/Soul tracks and a couple things he'd been involved with. Basically, the music that *HE* likes. I thought it was outstanding.

set list:

Everytime She Cha-Cha-Cha's
In The Street
Claim to Fame
Lipstick Traces
umm, something by "the King of Italian Rock and Roll!" haha, i dunno, that's what I wrote in my notes! so, uh, god bless you Alex for introducing me to the King of Italian Rock and Roll
Hook Me Up
The Letter
When My Baby's Beside Me
*some jazzy instrumental
*other track I couldn't identify
------------------------------------
Rock With You (MJ cover)
Too Late To Turn Back Now (Cornelius Brothers cover)

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/03/18/blogs/18chilton_artsbeat/18chilton_artsbeat-blogSpan.jpg

15 months ago, Dec'09

Hmm.

Yeah, I loved his guitar playing, using the best parts of Townshend and McGuinn: slash and jangle.

*fusing

esp. like this from ned
The scale of our ambitions for our creativity varies, and whatever his struggles and losses, Chilton was blessed with the gift of not simply wanting to do one thing over and over again.
i just think that's why reading things like "he squandered his talent" kind of rankles -- I think that his talent was always in evidence, post Big Star, pre Big Star, whatever. Whether or not his music struck quite the chord it did as those classic albums is kind of beside the point ... I don't know, not really making sense.

http://bedazzled.blogs.com/bedazzled/images/boxtops_on_upbeat.jpg

also, re: that gig -- he seemed in super good spirits, and the show went pretty smooth. I think Alex stopped the band and restarted them for one song. haha, that seemed like a good night from what I'd gathered! but yeah man, the guy just looked healthy and happy. he smiled a lot

On the basis of the photo above, Harry Dean Stanton could play him in a movie.

made plans this afternoon to go and see the william eggleston exhibit at the art institute of chicago gallery tomorrow - hopefully gonna get to see the original c-print used for the cover of radio city

i loved his gtr playing too, and i especially loved how he quickly moved beyond that who/beatles/kinks/etc stuff and started absorbing a wide variety of american roots music. he loved music so fucking much. that's the saddest thing of all to me, the thing i will miss the most. such a beautiful soul onstage, especially when he wasn't getting paid to rehash big star songs. and i love all those big star songs.

i'm feeling incoherent right now.

I remember kinda making fun of "Set" when it first came out, because it seemed so tossed off, but it quickly became a straight-up favorite. Such a good vibe, definitely a perfect record to play during a party.

xpost me too ;_;

wish i had a joint so bad, haha

whenever I get pretty drunk (fairly often, no surprise there), my first instinct these days is honestly not to reach for a Big Star record, but for this thing:

http://a31.idata.over-blog.com/280x280/0/24/04/68/album-11/Chilton1970.jpg

I just love it so much.

"Happy Song", "Something Deep Inside", "Just To See You" .. DAMN

hits the spot EVERY time

this sounds a bit like goodbye
in a way it is i guess

i just think that's why reading things like "he squandered his talent" kind of rankles

Well, just to address this point... His last 30 years of recording was almost all covers. That's fine, but in my mind, he was more than a great performer; he was a great songwriter. That, to me (in a selfish kind of way), was kind of a waste. Heck, even the liner notes to the reissued #1 Record/Radio City album basically says the same thing. But yet, I understand that we each have to live our own lives, and to his credit, he did follow his own path, so kudos to him for that.

yeah, i see where you're coming from -- and I've probably thought the same thing at one time or another. I guess that if he didn't feel the songwriting muse, I feel like that's OK -- he had already written some of the best songs of the last 50 or so years. He just did it in a short burst, rather than spreading it out over a career. In the end, all that matters is that he did it, you know?

15 months ago, Dec'09

Hmm.

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor)

whoops -- fat-finger on my part. yep, it was actually '08. sorry about that, "ilxor", whoever the hell you are

I got into Big Star via Teenage Fanclub in the early '90s. Information and actual plays of Big Star were extremely hard to come by back then, and Teenage Fanclub either mentioned them in every interview or were relentlessly compared to them in reviews. I liked Teenage Fanclub, ergo I picked up a Big Star album without actually hearing it first at some record fair. I can't begin to fathom how many plays that copy of #1 record has had now, and naturally I hoovered up everything else whenever I could afterwards. I saw Big Star at the Reading Festival in '92 (I think it was?) and it left me pretty cold. Don't really want to think about that now. I can't go near Third yet. That's just way too much.

He just did it in a short burst, rather than spreading it out over a career. In the end, all that matters is that he did it, you know?

I guess now that you mention it, most great artists who keep writing for decades get worse and worse over time... in a way, he was able to preserve his legacy by not writing bad songs later in his career.

yeah, in a lot of ways, it seemed like he barely considered himself a songwriter -- I know he rarely had good things to say about his Big Star songs, saying that it was just him flailing around.

(obviously he was wrong!)

was about to post this ^^^^^

i mean for me the most depressing thing is the relaxing endgame that Alex has lost. Weird ass entertainment contracts notwithstanding, I have to believe he should have garnered enough money for a modest lifestyle to ride out with ... You know, the Bangles cover, sure, but also the 'That 70s Show' thing. Heck, some nice new royalties from that brand new box set!

Alex should have had many more years to waltz down to Coop's on Decatur, have a few Abitas and red beans and rice, walk back to his place in the Quarter, and enjoy himself spinning those R&B and Soul records that he loved so much. that is what is so depressing. he was owed that. he deserved to get that denouement and it's been taken away.

otm

i hope he got mohtherfuckin PAID from that 70s show

So sad. He did most of his loungey songs the one time I saw him way back when, but it was still him--the guy who did so much cool Memphis stuff.

"i hope he got mohtherfuckin PAID from that 70s show"

i don't think he did... he mentioned it in an interview once, and it wasn't that much (relatively, and at least at that time).

made plans this afternoon to go and see the william eggleston exhibit at the art institute of chicago gallery tomorrow - hopefully gonna get to see the original c-print used for the cover of radio city

Saw this exhibit when it was in DC. Yes you will...

he was only 59, geez

i don't think he did... he mentioned it in an interview once, and it wasn't that much (relatively, and at least at that time).

I think it was $70 every time the show came on. Or that's what he quipped in an interview i think.

not much to add to this thread at this point except that third/sister lovers felt like a discovered secret when i half-accidentally bought it in high school. and still does, really.

r.i.p.

RIP.

Everybody I've ever met who liked good music loved Big Star. They were undeniable.

he was only 59, geez

His "oldies station" status was from when he was 16. It kind of skews everyone's perception of his age.

RIP. A giant, and the fact that this thread is already near to 150 posts attests to that.

the william eggleston exhibit at the art institute of chicago gallery tomorrow

saw this in new york, definitely go!

I saw Big Star at the Reading Festival in '92 (I think it was?)

couldn't be, the U of Missouri show in '93 was their first show in forever. Still can't believe I didn't go to that. I was in high school, some friends roadtripped, I didn't really know who Big Star was. Later I ended up working at the college station that put that show on (what up Mr. Que). The guy who called up Chilton and was like "hey you should do this show" and for who knows whatever reason he said yes is a friend of mine now. I don't want to be like braggin but the story is too weird not to share, the Big Star reunion happened because some college kid called him out of the blue and he said why not. I got to Mizzou right after that and everyone was so massively into Big Star, I got hooked on it hard. They were the best.

takin this real hard

that'd be 350/week from every station that ran it in the afternoons or latenite once it hit syndication right? that'd pay my rent

i can see him being happy like "this won't make me rich but it'll pay the fucking RENT"

so drunk

if bimble felt his feelings this hard all the time i can see why it wnet where it went, this is fucking rough

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.