FROM BLUE-EYED SOUL TO BIG STAR TO ROCK AND ROLL HEAVEN

Alex Chilton was not exactly a household name, despite a lengthy musical career that ranged from pop stardom to critically acclaimed obscurity. His fame came in the 60s group The Box Tops, while the less profitable acclaim came with his 70s band Big Star.

His sudden death is the end of an era for fans of both of his bands. I lean toward his early days with The Box Tops when he was a white teenager with ragged pipes singing Top 40 pop/soul.

They called it blue-eyed soul, and its practitioners were bands like The Rascals and duos like The Righteous Brothers.

“The Letter” was the first hit for Chilton and his Box Tops, and he was only 16 at the time. Rumor had it that they had Alex strain his voice until he got the right husky tone for the tune. His later smooth vocal style in Big Star would make this seem likely.

The Box Tops had a short three year run, but they had a strong radio presence and several hits like “Sweet Cream Ladies”,"Soul Deep" and “Neon Rainbow” along the way.

I was a big fan of the band and I regret that I never saw them play live in concert.

I thought I did. In the 80s, a band named the Box Tops played in a small town hotel about 6 miles from my town. Needless to say, I was very excited about an opportunity to see one of my favorite bands from my favorite music era.

The first thing I noticed was the age of the band members. The Alex Chilton lead singer looked younger than me and, although it was possible, it was not probable. They fired up and delivered a very strong Box Tops sound. They were dead ringers, but I still believed they were a cover band.

I talked to “Alex Chilton” during a band break about the issue, and he assured me that they were the real deal. So I dug a little deeper and asked him to play “I Met Her In Church”, a lesser known Box Tops song that nevertheless spent time on the radio. He had never heard of the song.

That is when he had to qualify his Box Tops answer and admit that he was not Alex Chilton, but they owned the rights to the name. So I never did see the real band, and that is a shame. I saw the Box Tops version of Rain.

But I will always be a fan of The Box Tops.

Thank you Alex Chilton, for some very good Top 40 memories from a golden era in music.

COMMENTS

DENNIS:"I remember them well".

TOM:"Saw your comment on Alex Chilton and the Box Tops. I was living in Battle Creek, MI around 2002 when a friend of mine called and said the Box Tops were coming to town. I knew about the fake Tops. She said "I checked it out and Alex is with them" So we went to the show and it WAS the man. Along with Bill, Gary, and all the originals. After the show the band did a meet and greet. But, to my disappointment, no Alex. However, one of the guys took a cd booklet back and he autographed it. That was the only time I saw the man, but he played here and there quite often in Detroit over the years. Big loss and I am bummed.