Darling, This Must Be Paradise---Alex Chilton--Feudalist Tarts--Tip On In--

Whenever the sun don't shine, you throw out a lifeline

Very saddened by the shocking premature loss of one of my favorite musicians this year. Probably Alex Chilton is best known to the general public for his stint in the Box Tops as a teenager and the huge hit "The Letter". Critically his band Big Star is one of the great American bands, though only recently popularized. Most people are familiar with Cheap Trick's version of In The Street, which is the theme song to "That Seventies Show". Of course, contrarian that I am, I first knew of him from this mini-ep Feudalist Tarts, his comeback record. Robert Christgau gave it an A- and it sounded interesting. And people who ascribe to the argument that after Big Star, he began doing unimportant things should listen to this.

At the time, I had never heard of Big Star, and it would have been nothing but an unlikely stroke of luck if I accidentally picked one of their albums up at the time. It was difficult enough for me to find Velvet Underground albums, much less Big Star. But this is a very warm, charming little album with a lot of heart, that I played to death.

The ep mixes covers and originals together and though some of the songs sounded a little familiar, I could not really differentiate between them. The vibe is very loose--I bet there weren't a lot of takes on these tracks. The horns are really nice--it's a real Memphis type sound. First up was Tee Ne Nee Ne Noo/Tip On In, just a fun soulful exercise. Second is Alex's Stuff, which is a decent track.The third song is Isaac Hayes' B.A.B.Y. which is just killer. Thank You John by Willie Turbington is another top notch workout. Alex's Lost My Job is an ok blues number with harmonica. Paradise, another original, is a short bouncy love ballad that ends the ep on an upbeat note.

You could argue that this is all a waste of time. After the greatness of Big Star, what was he doing with himself? I say sit back and enjoy the ride. People forget that while the band was critically acclaimed, during their existence they only saw commercial failure, and were pretty much unknown except to music critics and Southern musicians looking for a Southern band that didn't sound like the Allman Brothers (R.E.M., dB's). He was from Memphis and he had a great appreciation of the music traditions of Memphis in addition to the British Invasion bands. He was an iconoclast, a working musician, a man who traveled his own path. Besides, it's pretty remarkable for a band to have even one great album, much less three. How many masterpieces can one person make? I'm happy for the records that do exist, not what might have been. And if music is what you do, why would think he should ever stop doing it?

Its like the Michael Jackson thing but with quality--if Thriller sells 9 millions, the next one has to sell 11. Maybe the Clash should have kept making their first album over & over again and stayed "punk", but unfortunately for some, they weren't that boring. I'll take Sandanista any time. I remember when the great avant-prog punks from Boston Mission of Burma reunited after about 20 years. I was pretty happy for that, and I finally got a chance to see them perform for the first time in New Haven. They put a reunion album out On Off On, and I read a review where the critic said, ehh, maybe doing this wasn't really necessary. True, the album was not Vs., and there was no Academy Fight Song, or That's When I Reach For Revolver, but it was a pretty damn good comeback, pretty ferocious for a bunch of old guys. But the point is, a decent album by them is still better than 90% of the pile of product being made today.

So maybe by liking some things by Alex, I am going with a brand, not using a critical ear. I guess it is a case of branding for me. Every once and a while I like to listen to his standards album Cliches which sounds like he did the whole thing in an afternoon on one take. Rod Stewart spends millions on his extravaganzas and Alex's must have cost $800. Just him and an acoustic guitar. Not as good as the demos on the Big Star box set. But its like having him playing for you live in your living room. Funny (But I Still Love You) by Ray Charles is a particular standout. And on some of his other albums I enjoy hearing him sing in Italian (Il Ribello, Volare), or about the Dalai Lama, or when he sings a cheesy song like "What's Your Sign?". But then again, I picked up the 2 cd Ardent compilation, and right at the end you have a brief snippet of Alex singing the Beach Boys' Don't Worry Baby and when I hear this, the hairs stand up on the back of my neck and I feel simultaneously warm and sad at the same time. And then I also start to wonder about just what he was capable of doing....