Alex Chilton 1951-2010

   I first saw Alex Chilton perform live at the Decade on Atwood St. near the University of Pittsburgh in late spring ‘86. Like most people who grew up in the late ’60’s I’d heard the BOX TOPS  on Top 40 radio ad infinitum (I mistakenly thought Chilton wrote the songs, although if that was true he’d never have had to play dive bars in Pittsburgh) but BIG STAR ’s records were all but unknown to me ’till 1983-84. In the mid-70’s I’d seen promo ads and read glowing reviews about this Fab Four-influenced Memphis quartet/trio but the records themselves were unavailable. Finally the frontman of a band I was in let me hear Radio City and Sister Lovers and I was hooked for life. But the ultra-casual, spiky-haired guy in bermuda shorts I saw onstage  bore little resemblance to the power-pop genius we all so revered. Neither did the music his trio (Chilton on guitar and vocals, Doug Garrison-drums, Rene Coman-bass) played that night Instead of Big Star classics like “You Can’t Have Me”, “Daisy Glaze”, or “Back Of A Car” Alex played obscure Memphis soul covers, some equally unknown blues tunes, “In The Street” to placate old devotees, and of all things, “Volare”, a song my dad used to sing in the shower when he’d been drinking. This was disappointing, but me and my aging (early 30’s) hipster clique pretended to take it in stride. For the encore some obnoxious a**hole from the local Stooges sound-alike ensemble made Alex sing “The Letter”, which he clearly despised. It took me a while to realize that Chilton’s refusal to play up to expectations was indeed what made him so unique.  Instead of regurgitating an oldies set,  Alex re-invented his musical persona in real time, wether you liked it or not. In later years he refined this approach to become a constantly evolving  pop musicologist, who’d play Bach chorales, Gary Stewart weepers, and T Rex’s “Baby Strange” back-to-back. Although Big Star eventually did reform,with Ken Stringfellow and John Auer from The Posies brought in as ringers, recordings (the abysmal In Space CD) and videos reveal Alex grudgingly going along with it because the money was too good to pass up. In fact Big Star was scheduled to play South By Southwest today, March 20th. I bet Alex would have sung his heart out on “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, anyway.