Alex Chilton died???

Last night the festive atmostphere here at South by Southwest was interrupted when news broke that Alex Chilton had died. As part of the Box Tops and Big Star, the Memphis artist made a massive impact on pop music. He went on to influence a generation of bands, including two of my all-time favorites (and maybe yours), The Replacements and R.E.M.
Chilton died yesterday at a hospital in New Orleans, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. He was scheduled to play here in Austin on Saturday.
Even at an early age, Chilton's talent was evident (as was his passion for British rock 'n' roll). At 16 he and the Box Tops scored a hit with The Letter. Dig that voice!

Big Star's #1 Record was released in 1972. One of the tracks, In the Street, had a resurgence in the '90s when it became the theme song to That 70's Show. In this clip, Chilton performs it on The Tonight Show with the reformed Big Star:

Here's the band in 1993, playing one of my favorite songs from #1 Record, The Ballad of El Goodo. (And yes, Evan Dando covered this on the Empire Records soundtrack. There's a good chance all of your favorite bands/musicians have covered Big Star at some point in their careers.)

The Bangles had some success in the '80s with a cover of Big Star's September Gurls. Here they are performing it:

This post wouldn't be complete without Paul Westerberg's ode to the songwriter, off the Replacements' Pleased to Meet Me. (That album was recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis; Big Star's first two albums were released under the Ardent label. Also, Chilton himself plays guitar on Can't Hardly Wait.)
"I never travel far," Westerberg sings, "without a little Big Star":

And finally, one of my favorite Big Star covers is Elliott Smith's moving version of Thirteen. Somewhere, perhaps these two talents are now making beautiful music together.

Alex Chilton was 59. He is survived by his wife and son.



Limbs Andthings (YouWeirdTube) on Facebook