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.

1980s to present

He moved to New Orleans in the early 1980s, while also touring regularly with Panther Burns and occasionally as a solo artist, as documented in his poorly received 1982 solo release Live in London. After a brief, six-month span of working outside music at tree-trimming and dishwashing jobs in New Orleans, he resumed playing with Panther Burns in 1983. His new association with New Orleans jazz musicians including bassist René Coman marked a period in which he began playing guitar in a less raucous style and moved toward a cooler, more-restrained approach, as heard in Panther Burns' 1984 Sugar Ditch Revisited album, produced by Jim Dickinson.

Related Topics:
New Orleans - 1982 - Jim Dickinson

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Immediately upon completing the recording in mid-1984, Chilton returned his focus to his own solo career. He stopped playing regular gigs with Panther Burns and took with him the group's bassist at the time, Coman. Chilton then formed a solo trio with Coman and jazz drummer Doug Garrison, then of Memphis. The trio immediately began touring intensely and recording at Ardent Studios, releasing in 1985 an EP, Feudalist Tarts, that featured his versions of songs by Carla Thomas, Slim Harpo, and Willie Tee, and releasing in 1986 No Sex. The latter EP contained three originals, including the extended mood piece, "Wild Kingdom," a song highlighting Coman's jazz-oriented, improvisational bass interplay with Chilton.

Related Topics:
1985 - Carla Thomas - Slim Harpo - Willie Tee - 1986

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During this period, Chilton began to frequently use in his recordings a horn section consisting of Memphis veteran jazz performers Fred Ford, Jim Spake, and Nokie Taylor to imbue the soul-oriented pieces among his repertoire with a postmodern, minimalist, jazz feel that distinguished his interpretative approach from that of a simple soul revivalist style. Chilton forged a new direction for his solo work, eschewing effects, such as his previous heavy use of reverb in his Panther Burns guitar work, instead seeking purer tones for his sonic mood palette, as he came to terms with his late father's jazz legacy. The nuances and subtleties in these interpretative stylings blending soul, country, rockabilly and pop with jazz horns were at times not appreciated by some critics more fond of his Big Star work, who found his 1980s solo work languid or lounge-like.

Related Topics:
Minimalist - Reverb

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Coman ceased touring in Chilton's solo trio at the end of 1986 to pursue other projects, with Garrison eventually joining him three years later to form The Iguanas group with other musicians in New Orleans; both musicians recorded on occasion with Chilton after departing. Touring and recording as a solo artist from the late-1980s through the 1990s with bassist Ron Easley and eventually drummer Richard Dworkin, Chilton gained a reputation for his eclectic taste in cover versions, his guitar work, and his laconic stage presence.

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Chilton included on 1987's High Priest a cover of "Raunchy," his instrumental salute to Sun Records guitarist Sid Manker, a friend of his father from whom he'd once taken a guitar lesson; this song was also a standard in his early Panther Burns repertoire. Along with four upbeat originals, High Priest also included other covers like the obscure "Nobody's Fool," a song originally written and recorded by his old mentor Dan Penn for Penn's 1973 Nobody's Fool solo album. His EP Black List contained a cover of Ronny & the Daytonas' "Little GTO," along with an original song that referenced Tammy Faye Bakker, "Guantanamerika." He also produced albums by several artists beginning in the 1980s, including the Detroit group The Gories, occasionally producing Panther Burns albums well into the 1990s.

Related Topics:
Sun Records - 1973 - Ronny & the Daytonas - Tammy Faye Bakker - Detroit

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He continued recording solo albums, garnering mixed reviews, into the 2000s, with a live cd released in 2004, Live in Anvers. Since the mid-1990s, he has added to his schedule concerts and recordings with the reunited Box Tops and a version of Big Star that included two members of The Posies, Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. A new Big Star album titled, "In Space," with songs written by Chilton, drummer Jody Stephens, guitarist Auer, and bassist Stringfellow is due out on Sept. 27 on Rykodisc.

Related Topics:
2000s - 2004 - Rykodisc

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Chilton was present at his home in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and was evacuated out safely on September 4, 2005.

Related Topics:
Hurricane Katrina - September 4 - 2005

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