Alex Chilton R.I.P.

I dig In Space a lot. Very good album. Why compare it to the first two or three? The two original members are 30 years older. I wouldn't expect them to make the same album. Jody's song Best Chance is great. I think it's excellent!

As far as Ray Davies, I'm not surprised he wasn't aware of the cover. It wasn't on a big album, it wasn't a hit. Wasn't it just a bonus track on the re-issue? I doubt Chilton, upon meeting him, said 'Hey I cover Till The end of the Day!'

 

I would expected fans who have seen Ray at those solo shows for the last 15 years would have known Big Star's 3rd, and heard that cover and mentioned it to Ray after a show or somewhere along the line. Fans tend to say things like that sometimes.

Oh well, I guess not. Anyway, it is a rather rocking cover, one of the best Kinks covers for sure since Bowie did one of Pin Ups.

 

Have you heard the Big Star version of Come on Now from the boxset? Great Kinks cover as well.

 

The Westerberg tribute is a vivid reminder of why I love both he and Chilton. Here's the Big Star setlist from SXSW:

Big Star tribute set list (with lead vocalist in parentheses):

1 Back of a Car (Jon Auer)
2 Don't Lie to Me (Jon Auer)
3 In the Street (Kurt Kirkwood)
4 I am the Cosmos (Jon Auer)
5 When My Baby's Beside Me (Chris Stamey)
6 Big Black Car (M. Ward)
7 Way Out West (Jody Stephens vocal, Andy Hummel guitar)
8 Daisy Glaze (Ken Stringfellow)
9 Jesus Christ (Mike Mills)
10 For You (Jody Stephens)
11 I'm in Love with a Girl (John Doe)
12 The Ballad of El Goodo (Sondre Lerche)
13 Thirteen (Jon Auer)
14 Feel (Ken Stringfellow)
15 Thank You Friends (Chuck Prophet)
16 Nightime (Evan Dando solo)
17 Try Again (Amy Spease)
18 September Gurls (Susan Cowsill, Watson Twins)

 

Wow. Thanks for posting. Hopefully, someone who was there will give us a report.

 

It's great the Chris Stamey was there for the SXSW tribute. He played bass in Alex' group here in NYC at the time of the ORK EP... I saw them together several times at CBGB.

 

Here's a report on last night's show: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1634373/20100321/rem.jhtml

 

Paul Westerberg's written a nice piece for the New York Times on Alex'a passing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/opinion/21westerberg.html/partner/rssnyt

 

Thanks for posting, I'd been wondering what happened down at Antones last night.....

 

http://www.billboard.com/news/alex-...c-honored-at-sxsw-1004077119.story?tag=hpfeed

Here's a nice article from Billboard about the tribute show. Also, at the bottom is the entire statement from his wife.

 

The statement from his wife is just amazing. Not sure what to make of it but its forever fascinating to hear any insite on AC.

I wonder when they got married? When Bruce Eaton was writing his book I thought he said that AC was in Philly with his "girlfriend". That was only a few years ago.

 

While I was certainly aware of Big Star's contribution to pop music and their influences on other more commercially "successful" bands and artists, I never knew the name Alex Chilton until last Thursday. Prior to the news, I had always loved listening to "Back of a Car" (both B/S and Gin Blossoms versions), and to a lesser extent "September Gurls". And of course I was familiar with "In The Street", first brought to my attention by the C.T. cover (albeit in a loose sense lyrically). I knew based on the comments I had previously read on this board that there was a lot more about Big Star to enjoy and appreciate than I had, but based on "normal-life" demands as well as other music interests crowding out the available opportunities, I had never gotten around to checking them out as well as I should have.

Now, after Alex's passing, I decided that the time had finally come. I pulled out the first two albums along with the ...Eye on the Sky box set studio outtakes. Like with almost everyone and everything we have in our lives, we don't fully appreciate it's presence and greatness until it's gone. The sound of those Fender guitars with their wonderful jingle-jangle and trebley resonance just makes the music sound so crisp and vibrant. Add the melodic bass lines (yes, reminiscent of Maca at his Beatle-esque best), great drum fills, wonderfully sung lyrics and background harmonies. Fantastic! Pop-song Heaven.


"Rock and Roll is here to stay"

 

Cool memories from PAul Westerberg. Thanks for posting.

 

Flippin' amazing. Wow, that's wonderful. Thanks for sharing that!

 

Sondre Lerche doing "The Ballad of El Goodo": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj2tn4Vw0WA

 

Crying again now.

Thanks for that link. This really is a powerful and deeply moving performance. How I wish I could have been there....

 

That was a great performance. I wish I'd been in Austin that night...

 

RIP.

I love Alex Chilton's gruff voice on the Box Top's chart-topping hits "The Letter."

 

Last night at the Continental Club in Austin, Lenny Kaye sang a wonderfully ragged version of "The Letter," backed by Alejandro Escovedo's band and it may have been the best tribute during the four days of the SxSW festival.

Kaye referred to Chilton as a fallen soldier and said that he really didn't know the man but wanted to honor him.

 

Some thoughts on Alex Chilton and Big Star: http://myvinylreview.blogspot.com/2010/03/alex-chilton-turns-page.html

 

I had the opportunity to help compile and broadcast this Alex Chilton tribute on WFMU On Saturday (the show is archived -- you can listen online if so inclined):

http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/35117

 

Someone (either the the woman who read the letter or Jody Stephens - it's all a blur now) said that Alex met "the love of his life" three years ago and that they had married sometime last year.

I was at SXSW and attended the Chilton tribute and it was amazing. Usually these things can be spotty, especially give the short planning window, but I thought almost every performance was a winner.

I also attended the day panel "I Never Travel Far Without A Little big Star" and found it endlessly fascinating and incredibly heartwarming. The panel was Jody Stephens, Andy Hummel, Jon Auer, Ken Stringfellow, Tommy Keene, Chris Stamey, Big Star producer John Fry (on video linkup from Memphis) and the moderator was Bob Mehr, who did a pretty good job of keeping things moving. For a Big Star / record geek obsessive like myself, no anecdote was too small and the panel did a great job of illuminating (as much you as you possibly could) such a private, enigmatic performer like Alex Chilton. I made some notes that I'll hopefully put up in the next few days.

Right now I'm really tired.

 

We all look forward to it,Thanks

 

A more accurate copy of the setlist (I'd post photos but I was working and mine are crap):

Lead vocalist/guest in parentheses. All are Jody/Ken/Jon except as noted:

Intro by Jody Stephens
Heather West read Tav Falco's memorium to Alex

1 Back of a Car (Jon Auer)
2 Don't Lie to Me (Jon Auer w/Curt Kirkwood on guitar)
3 In the Street (Curt Kirkwood)
4 I am the Cosmos (Jon Auer, w/Chris Stamey on guitar and bv)
5 When My Baby's Beside Me (Chris Stamey)
6 Big Black Car (M. Ward)
7 Way Out West (Jody Stephens vocal, Andy Hummel guitar)
8 Daisy Glaze (Ken Stringfellow)
9 Jesus Christ (Mike Mills, vocals only, no instrument)
10 For You (Jody Stephens)
11 I'm in Love with a Girl (John Doe, solo)
12 The Ballad of El Goodo (Sondre Lerche)
13 Thirteen (Jon Auer)
14 Feel (Ken Stringfellow)
15 Thank You Friends (Chuck Prophet)
16 Nightime (Evan Dando, solo)
17 Try Again (Amy Spease w/Evan Dando)
18 September Gurls (Susan Cowsill, Watson Twins, w/Mills on the chorus and Hummel on guitar)

End thanks/comments by Jody

It was stunning, emotional, musically sounded by god rehearsed. For me at least, it felt rather like a healing experience and gave a bit of closure.

The hardest deaths are the ones where you don't get to say goodbye.

 

Oh yeah, I never got to meet Bob Mehr, but as I was the guy who did the first Big Star panel some six years ago at SXSW, I want to publicly commend the job he did, especially under these circumstances.