Great songwriter, great voice. The man behind September Gurls. Thirteen, O My Soul and so many other great songs is gone.
Invisible man who sang in a visible voice.
Great songwriter, great voice. The man behind September Gurls. Thirteen, O My Soul and so many other great songs is gone.
Invisible man who sang in a visible voice.
"You gotta love shoe throw!" - Jimmy Pardo
Obligatory Replacements post:
[YOUTUBE]sTSJYZyouek[/YOUTUBE]
I still listen to Big Star on a regular basis, and I was really saddened to hear about this. Even when a musician is no longer "relevant" (whatever that might mean to you), it still stings when they go. He was only 59.
This is very sad news. Thirteen is one of the greatest songs ever written...period. The lyrics capture the fumblings of adolescents in love, moments of simple rebellion and the time in your life when rock n roll truly felt like it could save you:
"Won't you tell your dad, "Get off my back"
Tell him what we said 'bout 'Paint It Black'
Rock 'n Roll is here to stay
Come inside where it's okay
And I'll shake you. "
"Not the victory but the action. Not the goal but the game. In the deed the glory."
Anybody else fortunate enough to catch their set at All Tomorrow's Parties in 2002? A pretty fantastic night.
To this day, one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking things I've ever heard is Elliott Smith's cover of Thirteen. Absolute PERFECTION.
Last edited by dorothy mantooth; March 17, 2010 at 8:50 PM.
Agreed - one of the most poignant expressions of someone simultaneously juggling the pain of fumbling adolescence and the awakening of the gut feeling to follow their heart.Originally Posted by Americas Team
I was, I saw the end of their show. I remember seeing them play Feel. That was something special.
"You gotta love shoe throw!" - Jimmy Pardo
This is one of those things that sounds unbelievable but today, before I came into my office and saw the news, the last song I listened to on my ipod was Thirteen.
He was a great talent and a huge influence on so many great bands.
What was the best concert you've been to?
-- Probably Sade. It was just so sexy and relaxing.
I guess it's time for my friends and I to make good on our plan to start a combination Big Star/Badfinger cover group called Bigfinger. Not a joke.
Damn it this bums me out. Without hyperbole, they were one of my favorite groups of all time. According to last.fm, there are only five songs I've listened to in the last year more than "Thirteen".
My public school teacher father would sometimes take on extra work as security at events held at my hometown's public high school...and that meant that he could get me free tickets to these events. (That's how I got to see the Oak Ridge Boys in concert...all the while looking like Robert Smith from "Head on the Door" era Cure...)
This arrangement gave me the opportunity in the mid-to-late '80's to see one of those "Happy Together" tours...where they find one or two members of a bunch of pop groups from the '60's...and in one show, parade them all on stage with the same backing band to trot out however many hits their band had managed.
SEE! Herman from Herman's Hermits!
SEE! One guy from the band that did "California Sun!"
SEE! A Grass Root!
...and that's how I got to see Alex Chilton perform live.
Thanks to the Replacements, I knew who Alex Chilton from Big Star was...but I'd also worked in oldies radio, so I knew who Alex Chilton from the Box Tops was...and THAT is who I got to see.
Alex, looking like he should still be fronting a cool-ass power pop band with melancholy alt-country flavor, walked out on stage with his guitar (one of the few "name" performers to actually display any musical ability, themselves) and dutifully trotted out the pop songs of his youth.
I knew better than to yell out a suggestion of "No Sex"--which was his just released solo ep (on Big Time, which would have dated this to be around '86 maybe '87)...but as he paused between "Cry Like a Baby" and "The Letter", not caring about the rush-rush pacing that the other act on this tour seemed bound to, there was a moment of unencumbered silence...and I admit...I did call out "Kangaroo"...
It was a funny word to say, but less likely to draw negative attention to me than yelling "No Sex" in a central Wisconsin high school gymnasium.
Alex nodded upon hearing it. Chuckled, even... But he didn't look my way, he just leaned into the mic and said "That's some other kind of show..." and counted the touring band in to their next song.
pg--Years later, upon moving to Seattle and working at an indy record store, I had the opportunity to sell lots of blank cassette tapes to Ken Stringfellow from the Posies (for his endless 4-track demoing)...and this is when Ken & Jon were helping fill out the Big Star line-up. I asked him what it was like working with Alex, knowing how uninterested in Big Star he seemed to be. Ken smiled, shrugged and said "He's Alex Chilton..."--seattle
We'll just take the fact that this was too long and that you didn't read it...as read.
I only got into Big Star in the last five years or so, but they got me through some heavy shit, jack. Rest In Peace.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD9mC...eature=related
I like this video with them goofing on the whole idea of lip syncing.
Here's my tribute to Alex Chilton in this week's TGIF
http://drbristol.wordpress.com/2010/...lton-classics/
I knew better than to yell out a suggestion of "No Sex"--which was his just released solo ep (on Big Time, which would have dated this to be around '86 maybe '87)...but as he paused between "Cry Like a Baby" and "The Letter", not caring about the rush-rush pacing that the other act on this tour seemed bound to, there was a moment of unencumbered silence...and I admit...I did call out "Kangaroo"...
Hmmmmm...that seems like something I would have said.
Oh, yeah, I DID say that.
Weird way to make your first post, jasonsmith092
pg--Still sad that Alex Chilton is dead--temporarily still in bridgetown
We'll just take the fact that this was too long and that you didn't read it...as read.
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