Thursday, March 18, 2010

RIP Alex Chilton


http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/mar/17/memphis-musician-alex-chilton-dies/?loc=interstitialskip

2 comments:

rocky dennis said...

This is certainly sad news. In the past year, I've listened to a lot of Big Star since the Keep Your Eye on the Sky box set was released. The music has really grown on me. The book that comes in the box set is also excellent. My favorite piece of trivia in the book is how the band was almost named Sweden Kream, after an ice cream shop across the street from Ardent Studio. Instead, the band chose to name itself after the grocery store next to Sweden Kream. I wonder what would've happened if the band chose Sweden Kream. Alex Chilton would probably still be alive today...

Stoner said...

I owned Sister Lovers for a time. A co-worker convinced me to buy it instead of the #1 Record/Radio City two-fer, probably thinking that shambling, melancholy mess better suited my personality, but all I really wanted was “September Gurls”!

What I still have is a two-disc Chilton-solo best-of, from some tiny French label. It’s fairly cuckoo: He covers Cole Porter, The Troggs, and Charlie Rich, and sings “Volare” entirely in Italian. An original tune about AIDS includes the tasteful verse “Come on, baby, fuck me and die.” Still, a single disc-worth of this would make a believer out of most anyone.