Sitting in the back of a car
Music so loud, can't tell a thing
Thinkin' 'bout what to say
And I can't find the lines
Know I love you a lot
I just don't know, should I or not
Waiting for a brighter day
And I can't find the way
I'll go on and on with you
Like to fall and lie with you
I'd love you too
Baby, I'm too afraid
I just don't know if it's OK
Trying to get away
From everything
Why don't you take me home
It's gone too far inside this car
I know I'll feel a whole lot more
When I get alone ...
Above:Paul Westerberg and Alex Chilton in a New Jersey bar in 1987.
11 Comments
What a crumby thing to wake up to. I've been listening to Big Star and Chilton since I was thirteen (early 90's), and have never understood why they weren't more popular. I guess this means I'll be listening to "Radio City" at least a few times today.
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Such sad news--especially at the start of spring, the time of year when I'm itching to listen to "Like Flies on Sherbert" pretty much every day.
I didn't know...that I could feel this way.
When it comes to grieving over the deaths of famous strangers, the level of grief is relative only to how that person's work affected you.
I was unmoved by the deaths last year of Michael Jackson, John Hughes, Farrah Fawcett, and even Henry Gibson (though I admired his work more than the other three).
But this sucks.
To make matters worse, a reunited Big Star (sans Chris Bell) was scheduled to play at the SXSW festival only a week later.
I usually only post on here to be a smart aleck and argue with Emerson.
It's amazing how one shared love can change a mood.
I'm nearly crying at work. Alex Chilton was a hero for this anxious, shy adolescent who dreamed of creating soulful, perfect art while never caring about what people thought. That feeling never left me, fueled by three of the most perfect records rock and roll ever made.
I don't know what else to say.
Child will you come on down
Come on in with me
Morning says to idle on
Stay clear of the street.
On the wing
And on the land
Can you sing
With anything
Do you wanna dance
Do ya
Do ya, do ya, do ya wanna dance
Jim, thanks for remembering Chilton. Is it, uh, contrarian of me to mention that I think Chilton is going to be remembered mostly for "The Letter" and that it's right that he be remembered for that? I know Big Star is a cult fave, but I sometimes think the culty stuff gets too much attention from anything-but-the-mainstream critics. Sometimes the mainstream is right. To my ears (damaged, undoubtedly), Big Star was a bit undercooked. The single greatest thing that Alex Chilton did was sing "The Letter." That song is a work of gruff, perfect poetry, and it's still a miracle that a teenager could sound like a grizzled R & B master. That's what touched "children by the millions" and I believe it will work its magic for generations to come.
"The Letter" is, absolutely, a pop mini-masterpiece. I was riveted by that gravel voice the first time I heard it -- and he was only 16 when he recorded it! The Box Tops' "Cry Like a Baby" and "Neon Rainbow" are wonderful records, too. I appreciate what you're saying about Big Star -- and I think I felt that way when I first heard them, too -- but the "undercooked" quality is part of what keeps me coming back. They're Beatlesque -- with T Rex and the Byrds and Booker T. and the MGs and Badfinger and so much else in there (and looking forward to XTC and the Posies and a million other bands) -- but with ragged edges (handmade, more like Lennon's solo stuff). "Back of a Car," "September Gurls," "The Ballad of El Goodo," "O My Soul," "Way Out West," "When My Baby's Beside Me," "She's a Mover," "Thirteen"... man, those are indelible tracks... And, besides, "#1 Record" (which was anything but) was distributed (barely) by Stax/Volt, my favorite label.
ADDENDUM: Just found Christgau's Consumer Guide blurbs:
#1 Record [Ardent, 1972]
Alex Chilton's voice is changing. When he was a teenage Box Top, his deep, soulful, bullfrog whopper was the biggest freak of nature since Stevie Winwood sang "I'm a Man," but now that he's formed his own group he gets to be an adolescent, complete with adenoidal quaver. Appropriately, the music tends toward the teen as well, but that provides brand new thrills. Special attraction: a fantasy about India with gin-and-tonic in it. B+
Radio City [Ardent, 1974]
Brilliant, addictive, definitively semipopular, and all Alex Chilton--Chris Bell, his folkie counterpart, just couldn't take it any more. Boosters claim this is just what the AM has been waiting for, but the only pop coup I hear is a reminder of how spare, skew, and sprung the Beatles '65 were, which is a coup because they weren't. The harmonies sound like the lead sheets are upside down and backwards, the guitar solos sound like screwball readymade pastiches, and the lyrics sound like love is strange, though maybe that's just the context. Can an album be catchy and twisted at the same time? A
Alex Chilton has been one of the great vocal loves of my life since my childhood. I can only hope that he influenced my own vocal style. I will miss him terribly. Thank you for the music, Alex.
I'm in love. What's that song?
I'm in love with that song.
I came to Big Star by way of The Replacements, the dB's, XTC...it seemed like every band I listened to during high school cited Big Star as a huge influence. I didn't get the chance to really hear Big Star, outside of crummy bootlegs, until I was in college. That was when Rykodisc reissued their albums on CD. I worked in a record store at the time, and people came in all the time and asked what I was playing. Alot of those customers ended up purchasing whichever CD I had on while they were in the store. I've always felt Big Star would have been more popular if they had had more exposure. Yes, their music was untidy, unkempt, "a bit undercooked." However, it's hard to deny the underlying, haunting genius of the songs. Especially after repeated listening.
Thanks for remembering Alex Chilton. I must have missed the story in the mainstream news cycle on Wed. I didn't know until I read this blog.
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