Chilton in Memphis, TN behind the Ardent Studios mixing board during sessions for his mid-'70s solo LP that would eventually be confusingly marketed as Big Star's Third Album.
Well, first the Godfather of Soul left us on Christmas day a few years back, and now the Godfather of Droll has passed away on St. Patrick’s Day.
One of popular music’s most enduringly insouciant and (at times) infuriatingly contrary and diffident geniuses, singer/songwriter/guitarist/keyboardist Alex Chilton of The Box Tops, Big Star, Tav Falco’s Panther Burns and Medium Cool has apparently gone to his sweet reward, passing away unexpectedly in a New Orleans hospital a short while after being admitted for an unspecified ailment which some reports name as a heart attack.
It’s late and I’m too tired and sad about this incredibly dispiriting turn of events to offer any substantive thoughts on this blow to the pop, jazz and R&B pantheon, but there will be plenty of time for LX ruminations in the days to come.
For now, just know if you were unlucky enough to not be aware of Chilton’s mercurial and multi-faceted (yet extremely low-profile) talent during his lifetime, there will surely be no shortage of homages in the works from the rock intelligentsia – who could usually be counted on to shower LX with critical acclaim, despite a stunning paucity of mainstream commercial success in his adult life.
A few song lyrics from his Big Star days did immediately spring to mind, however…
“Give Me Another Chance” by Alex Chilton & Chris Bell:
You feel sad ’cause I got mad
And I’m sorry, I’m sorry
Things I said made things seem bad
But don’t worry
Cause it’s gonna be alright now
Be okay
You know I just don’t think before I speak
I’ve been looking for to find
Something to believe in my mind
And I thought it was you
All this time since you’ve been mine
I’ve been angry, so angry
Made it known I could make it alone
But I’m changing
And I’m gonna be alright now
Be okay
You know I just woke up and I see the way
Don’t give up on me so fast
I see it’s me that’s wrong at last
Give me another chance
It’s so hard just to stay alive each day
I really can’t go on this way, oh no
Oh no
Hey
Don’t give up on me so fast
I see it’s me that’s wrong at last
Give me another chance
———————
“There Was A Light” by Chris Bell, as sung by Alex:
There was a life so dear to me, I’ve wanted to live.
There was a time so clear to me, I’ve asked you to give your life to me.
If it’s a sign, sent down to me, I’m askin’ you why it’s got to be.
Spending all my time waiting to die.
It’s just no use.
Spending all my time waiting to die.
It’s just no use.
There was a life, so dear to me, I’ve wanted to live.
There was a time, so clear to me, I’ve asked you to give your life to me.
——————–
Both of the above tracks can be found on last year’s splendid Rykodisc boxed anthology Keep An Eye On The Sky.
For another perspective on Chilton’s sublime gifts, try these vintage Big Star MP3s:
When My Baby’s Beside Me
I’m In Love With A Girl
No one even comes close, and they know it.
If you don’t get it, just forget it.
- Jim