Alex Chilton R.I.P.

Alex Chilton, the mercurial if influential rock musician, whose work spanned an eclectic gamut from the soul songs of the Box Tops to the multiple incarnations of his pop band Big Star, has died, The Commercial Appeal of Memphis reported. He was 59. The cause of death is believed to have been a heart attack.

The Commercial Appeal said that Mr. Chilton, who lived in New Orleans, had recently been complaining of health problems, and was taken on Wednesday by paramedics to an emergency room in New Orleans where he was pronounced dead. His death was confirmed to the Commercial Appeal by Jody Stephens, his longtime band mate in Big Star. The group was scheduled to perform on Saturday at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin.

Mr. Chilton, who grew up in Memphis, was just 16 years old when the Box Tops, in which he sang and played guitar, had a No. 1 hit with “The Letter” in 1967. When that group broke up in 1970, Mr. Chilton formed Big Star with Mr. Stephens, a drummer, and the musicians Chris Bell and Andy Hummel. The band’s first album, “#1 Record,” in 1972, did not come close to fulfilling the commercial promise of its title, nor did the followup releases “Radio City” and “Third/Sister Lovers.” But their music – gentle and introspective songs like “The Ballad of El Goodo” and “September Gurls,” and exuberant anthems like “In the Street” – had a profound impact on generations of pop and indie acts that followed.

Perhaps the surest measure of the tug that Mr. Chilton exerted on subsequent artists can be found in the lyrics of the Replacements – another malleable rock act that moved more hearts than retail units – who sang in their song “Alex Chilton”: “Children by the million / Sing for Alex Chilton / When he comes ’round / They sing, ‘I’m in love / What’s that song? / I’m in love with that song.’”

wildswan said:

Big Star members Jody Stephens, Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer will go forward with the group's planned show Saturday night in Austin as part of SXSW, paying tribute to the band's frontman, Alex Chilton, who died earlier this week. Speaking to Billboard, Stephens says that the show will go on at Antone's tomorrow night, with the surviving members serving as a "house band" for the likes of R.E.M.'s Mike Mills, the dB's founder Chris Stamey, John Doe and M. Ward.

"It'll be just a cool way for us to all share that music Alex was part of," said Stephens, who, along with original bassist Andy Hummel, was still going forward with a panel discussion on the influential group. "Certainly where Alex and I connected over the years was through music, either in the studio or on stage, so I think that's a great way for us all to tip our hats to Alex and celebrate his life."

Since his passing in New Orleans of an apparent heart attack on Wednesday, there has been an outpouring of sympathy. "I'm grateful people care and are interested," Stephens said. "I'm always grateful when people are interested in Big Star and are talking about it."

Stephens -- who planned to sit in with Star and Micey, a group on his Ardent Records label, Thursday night at the Memphis Music Foundation showcase -- said Chilton's funeral arrangements are incomplete and being overseen by his sister, Celia.

As for Big Star continuing in any capacity without Chilton, Stephens said, "I can't imagine that, to tell you the truth. Alex was the heart of it. Maybe Jon and Ken and I can do something together, but now's not the time to think about it."

Outside of the many comments from the music world, Chilton's death also rocked the House of Representatives yesterday as Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee paid homage to the Big Star founder and Memphis native who first got his start fronting the Box Tops, by quoting lyrics to a song by the latter and offering up information on Chilton's 40-plus year career.

"His music will live on forever," Cohen told the floor in a minute-long tribute. "He is an embodiment of Memphis music: Hard, different, independent, brilliant, beautiful. We're lucky he came our way."