Alex Chilton

Alex Chilton (born on December 28, 1950, in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American songwriter, guitarist, singer and producer best known for his work with the pop-music bands the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial sales success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops was not repeated in later years with Big Star and in his indie music solo career on small labels like Last Call Records, New Rose, Razor and Tie, Bar/None, and others, but he did draw a loyal following in the indie and alternative music fields.

1970s career

After a period in New York City, during which he worked on his guitar technique and singing style, in 1971 he formed the power-pop Big Star group in Memphis, with Chris Bell, recording at engineer John Fry's Ardent Studios, an energetic, relatively new outfit that was not a part of the established Memphis music industry and professional studio sessions scene that Chilton had left behind him. The group's innovative recordings met little commercial success but established his reputation as a creative rock singer and songwriter, when later alternative music bands like R.E.M. praised the group in years to follow. During this period he also occasionally recorded with Rosebrough as a group they called The Dolby Fuckers; some of their studio experimentation was included in Big Star's Radio City, including the recording of "Mod Lang." Rosebrough occasionally worked on later recordings with Chilton, including on Big Star's Third album and the 1975 solo recording Bach's Bottom.

Related Topics:
New York City - 1971 - Power-pop - Chris Bell - Ardent Studios - R.E.M.

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Moving back to New York in 1977, Chilton performed as "Alex Chilton and the Cossacks" with a lineup that included Chris Stamey (later of The dB's) at venues like CBGB, recording an influential solo single, released in 1978: "Bangkok," backed with a cover of the Seeds' "Can't Seem to Make You Mine." This period learning from the New York CBGB scene marked the beginning of a key change for Chilton's personal musical interests away from slick, sterile pop recording standards toward a looser, more turbulent punk performance style he viewed as more animated and energized. There he made the acquaintance of the Cramps, a fiery, theatrical group immersed in the primal beats of early rock and roll and rockabilly. He brought them to Memphis, where he produced the songs that would appear on their Gravest Hits EP and their Songs the Lord Taught Us LP.

Related Topics:
Chris Stamey - The dB's - CBGB - 1978 - The Seeds - Punk - The Cramps - Rockabilly - EP - LP

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In 1979 Chilton released, in a limited edition of 500 copies, an often-criticized album called Like Flies on Sherbert, produced by Chilton with Jim Dickinson at Phillips Recording and Ardent Studios, which featured his own interpretations of songs by artists as disparate as the Carter Family, Jimmy C. Newman, Ernest Tubb, and K. C. and the Sunshine Band, along with several originals. Sherbert, which included backing work by Memphis musicians including Rosebrough, Memphis drummer Ross Johnson, and Lisa Aldridge, has since been reissued several times. Beginning in 1979 he also co-founded, played guitar with, and produced some albums for Tav Falco's Panther Burns, which began as an offbeat rock-and-roll group deconstructing blues, country, and rockabilly music.

Related Topics:
1979 - Jim Dickinson - Phillips Recording - Carter Family - Jimmy C. Newman - Ernest Tubb - K. C. and the Sunshine Band - Tav Falco's Panther Burns - Deconstructing - Country

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