Tag Archives: Alex Chilton

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New Low Cut Connie video: Hey! Little Child

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Video: Low Cut Connie video: “Hey! Little Child”

Low Cut Connie - "HEY! LITTLE CHILD" (official video)

From Dirty Pictures (Part 2), out now on Contender Records.

I heard a segment about this band on NPR last month and upon the recommendation of Ann Powers I checked them out. But the song I listened to didn’t live up to her description of “the essence of rock and roll.” The video is cool, but the song sounded a little too slick, like something one of the “rockers” on American Idol would’ve released after they finished in third place.

I figured they probably put on a fun live show but I don’t need to hear the album.

But then they go and cover Alex Chilton and now it’s a different story. This is good.

Plaid skirt and a flannel vest
Silly nubiles are the best

A dear friend of mine used to hang out with Chilton and heard stories about living across the street from the Catholic school mentioned in this song. The video is giving me flashbacks to my first visit to New Orleans when my pals and I spent an excessively drunken evening at the Muddy Waters in Uptown for a Tav Falco show. I somehow ended up passed out in the back seat of a Ford Fairlane.

Low Cut Connie’s Adam Weiner said, “Alex Chilton is one of my songwriting heroes. What a mercurial genius. We recorded our version of ‘Hey! Little Child’ in the same room in Ardent where he did the original. We are on the road constantly and spend a lot of time in divey bars talking to local yokels and shooting pool. Roy Power and his crew had the good sense to hang with us a couple nights snapping pictures of the band in our scruffy off-stage moments.”

Low Cut Connie: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

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A Whole Lotta Links: Twitter Roundup #14

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Tweet tweetBelow are the things we’ve posted to Twitter recently. In reverse chronological order, just like Twitter… We’re reposting 206 tweets this time with a total of 146 links to stuff that (mostly) didn’t end up on GLONO.

# “Benchley had hit bottom. I had reached the mythical state of total anti-rock, which I call ‘Train,’ after the band.” http://ow.ly/1Clou 16 minutes ago

# “C-listers are considerably cheaper than hiring the bigger-name musicians who used to pack clubs.” http://ow.ly/1Ck4G via @Lefsetz about 1 hour ago

# “When he leans down to pick it up, the weight of his backpack and his overall wastedness prevent him from doing so.” http://ow.ly/1CiwB about 2 hours ago

# But don’t say “leaked” in your tweet or 4ad will dmca your ass! RT @tipsheet: Stream THE NATIONAL’s New Album Now http://bit.ly/bX44Lg about 4 hours ago

# Twitter deletes dude’s tweet after bogus DMCA takedown notice. #national #highviolet #4ad RT @TartyTart: http://bit.ly/aui6KA about 4 hours ago

Lots more below, and you might consider following us on Twitter if you want to keep up with this stuff as it happens…

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Shorties

Alex Chilton had no health insurance

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Alex ChiltonThis is a really great article from the Times-Picayune: Alex Chilton’s life in New Orleans was a mystery, and that’s how the Big Star singer wanted it. Totally worth reading because it really makes the case that at the time of his death Chilton was truly living the life he wanted to live.

However, this paragraph near the end really bummed me out.

At least twice in the week before his fatal heart attack, Chilton experienced shortness of breath and chills while cutting grass. But he did not seek medical attention, [his wife Laura] Kersting said, in part because he had no health insurance.

In a blog post in response to errors in Bob Lefsetz’s Chilton obituary, Bruce Eaton, author of 33 1/3’s Radio City, wrote:

He had no qualms about going to a doctor. Again, I know more than you ever will know on this subject but don’t feel like sharing details that I consider private. But to imply that he was a poor, rundown man without the mental or financial wherewithal to go to a doctor is scurrilous.

So who knows? If he had health insurance, maybe he would’ve visited the doctor sooner. Maybe not. Chilton did things his way. If you haven’t read his wife Laura’s statement from the South by Southwest tribute, you should really read it. It gives a fascinating perspective of just what an interesting, complex guy Chilton was.

Alex Chilton: iTunes, Amazon, Insound, wiki

Big Star: iTunes, Amazon, Insound, wiki

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Twitter Roundup #13

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Tweet tweetBelow are the things we’ve posted to Twitter recently. In reverse chronological order, just like Twitter… We’re reposting 121 tweets this time with a total of 80 links to stuff that (mostly) didn’t end up on GLONO.

# FF @Tommy_Stinson – I hate music. Too many notes. Tommy says so. 6 minutes ago

# RT @Weezer: A little credit, please, for referencing “Never Gonna Give You Up” in “Heartsongs” before the Rickroll phenomenon.–RC 18 minutes ago

# RT @lcdsoundsystem: Wow. That drunk girls video with all the pictures is everything i hate in one thing! Nice. 19 minutes ago

# RT @slicingeyeballs: Video: Watch Robyn Hitchcock’s full 37-minute in-store performance at Amoeba Music http://ow.ly/1u6Wz 21 minutes ago

# WSJ: Prince’s Failed LotusFlow3r Site: An Insider Dishes on ‘Polar Bear’ Decor, Fed-Up Fans: http://bit.ly/bCrHBh about 3 hours ago

# Stream another new song from the Hold Steady, ‘The Weekenders’ ยป http://bit.ly/dsc4lo about 4 hours ago

Lots more below, and you might consider following us on Twitter if you want to keep up with this stuff as it happens…

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Sondre Lerche and Jon Auer – Ballad of El Goodo

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Video: Jon Auer & Sondre Lerche – “The Ballad of El Goodo” (rehearsal)

Prior to the Big Star tribute to Alex Chilton at SXSW on March 20, 2010, Jon and Sondre rehearsed in a hotel room in Austin, TX. Video by Michelle Auer.

Big Star: iTunes, Amazon, Insound, wiki

Sondre Lerche: iTunes, Amazon, Insound, wiki

Links, Shorties

Twitter Roundup #12

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Tweet tweetBelow are the things we’ve posted to Twitter recently. In reverse chronological order, just like Twitter… We’re reposting 128 tweets this time with a total of 84 links to stuff that (mostly) didn’t end up on GLONO.

# “Suddenly, you realized that every great band or musician you love also loved Alex Chilton and Big Star; it’s certain.” http://ow.ly/1ozyj about 2 hours ago

# Jack White (cont): “In the end she’s laughing all the way to the Prada handbag store. She wins every time.” http://ow.ly/1oze3 about 2 hours ago

# Jack White (cont): “For that, they repay her with gossip and judgment.” http://ow.ly/1ozcj about 2 hours ago

# Jack White on Meg: “She can do what those with ‘technical prowess’ can’t. She inspires people to bash on pots and pans.” http://ow.ly/1oza1 about 2 hours ago

# “This line here, ‘Bring your friend, her friend and a blender’…? That’s real good.” http://ow.ly/1oyqP about 2 hours ago

# #FF @loudersoft for delivering the Chilton scoop without any sense of self-aggrandizement. about 6 hours ago

# RT @MOJOmagazine: Alex Chilton 1950 – 2010. A personal tribute to the reluctant Big Star legend, by Martin Aston. http://tinyurl.com/yez8xw2 about 6 hours ago

Lots more below, and you might consider following us on Twitter if you want to keep up with this stuff as it happens…

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Shorties

Alex Chilton, Dead at 59

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Dan Penn (in glasses) and Alex Chilton lounging at the Sam Phillips Recording Service, mid-1970s. Photo by William Eggleston.

Dan Penn (in glasses) and Alex Chilton lounging at the Sam Phillips Recording Service, mid-1970s. Photo by William Eggleston.

“September Gurls” on a mixtape. That started it all. I’ve got nothing to say that hasn’t been said already. I’m thankful we have his recordings. Fucking mortality. But records don’t die. So put some music on and make sure the people you care about know you love them.

I mean, jeez, I haven’t even been able to get my head around Mark Linkous dying (just two days after we randomly posted his cover of “Dark As a Dungeon”). And now another one of my musical heroes…gone.

There’s a William Eggleston exhibition going on at the Art Institute of Chicago through May 23. He shot the photos used on the covers of Radio City and Like Flies on Sherbet. I’m going to have to go see that.

Oh, and the Box Tops are underrated. Soul Deep is a really good collection.

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Big Star Bonanza: Box Set, Bonus Tracks, more

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Big Star - Keep An Eye On The Sky

For a band who only released two real albums that were both universally ignored at the time, Big Star certainly has a high profile these days. Why? Because they wrote really catchy songs that might not have been en vogue at the time, but have aged very, very well. It doesn’t hurt that everyone from R.E.M. to Okkervil River has covered their songs.

And now they’re getting the reissue treatment. And how. First off, the twofer of #1 Record (1972) and Radio City (1974) is getting remastered and reissued and re-released on June 16 with bonus tracks (single mix of “In the Street” and single edit of “O My Soul”). They’re also being released “on two separate vinyl LPs featuring faithfully reproduced artwork, including the original Ardent Records labels.” So that’s pretty cool.

For fans who don’t really care about remastered audio or alternate mixes, on September 15 Rhino is releasing a four-disc box set of rarities, including “pre-Big Star bands Rock City and Icewater, solo work from Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, and unreleased material from the #1 Record, Radio City and Third/Sister Lover sessions.” The fourth disc contains live material from January 1973 including some covers of the Flying Burrito Brothers, the Kinks, and T.Rex. You can stream the unreleased “Lovely Day” at Rhino’s site.

As if that’s not enough Rhino Handmade is releasing a deluxe edition Chris Bell’s solo album I Am The Cosmos, too.

MP3: Chris Bell – “I Am the Cosmos”

Big Star: iTunes, Amazon, Insound, wiki.

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Yoko Ono vs. Alex Chilton

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Yoko Ono - Mrs LennonI had never heard the Yoko Ono song, “Mrs. Lennon,” before. But Alex Chilton certainly has. In a 1987 interview with Dawn Eden, he admitted that “it’s just like [Big Star’s] ‘Holocaust.’ Exactly.”

The Bob: Did you have that song in mind when you wrote “Holocaust”?

CHILTON: I don’t know. I think that it was one of those instances of plagiarism that you sort of are aware of somewhere in your mind, but not…I think that, at the time I was doing the tune, I didn’t realize that I was copying it.

Decide for yourself: Yoko Ono – “Mrs. Lennon”

Stream: Big Star – “Holocaust” from Third/Sister Lovers.

“Mrs. Lennon” was originally released as the first single from Yoko’s 1971 album, Fly.

Via a fascinating thread on the Velvet Rope that includes scandalous stories from producer Jon Tiven and a heated argument with Howlin’ Wolf‘s guitarist’s manager!