Alex Chilton Is My Nerd Boyfriend

Alex Chilton - My Rival (by egglestontrust)

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 18:04:18 -0400

Alex Chilton - My Rival (by egglestontrust)

Ardent Answers: What’s the real story behind the recording of Big Star’s Third?

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 17:06:27 -0400

Ardent Answers: What’s the real story behind the recording of Big Star’s Third?:

While the sessions are reputed to have been chaotic and unorganized, the track sheets and multitrack tapes tell a different story. Jim Dickinson said two things stand out about that record. The first being that John Fry’s engineering “which makes the record timeless,” and the other is the fact that “there’s nowhere on that record where Alex is throwing it away.”

Big Star | Music | Better Late Than Never? | The A.V. Club

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 12:54:34 -0400

Big Star | Music | Better Late Than Never? | The A.V. Club:

A fantastic description of why it’s never too late to come to a particular artist or group. How it can sometimes be more wonderful to discover someone late in the game than to have been a fan all along.

I just feel bad that this guy never got to see them play.

(“The Ballad of El Goodo” is the song that hooked me as well.)

(via Alice)

"He and [his girlfriend] would do what they call dancing, which was kind of like Apache dancing, only..."

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:12:59 -0400

“He and [his girlfriend] would do what they call dancing, which was kind of like Apache dancing, only real,” Dickinson said. “There was violence involved, let me put it that way.” Chilton formed a short-lived folk trio with two women who could barely sing, and he called it Gangrene and the Scurvy Girls. He seemed to be developing the art of confrontation.”

- Really, really good article about Alex Chilton in his most destroy-all-monsters days, 1975-81, the years of Like Flies On Sherbert, Tav Falco and the Panther Burns, the first couple Cramps records, of the art of locking the groove down and then annihilating it. By David Gendelman. (via czupcaks)

(I’m still over here, but this was worth posting to this Tumblr. Not enough people know about the incredible artistic insanity that was Alex Chilton between Big Stars. -z)

For the time being, I'm over here. Come visit.

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:15:22 -0400

For the time being, I'm over here. Come visit.

(via nerdboyfriend) And now the circle is complete.

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:28:00 -0400

(via nerdboyfriend)

And now the circle is complete.

Their lyrics stayed close to home, never overreached. What they were doing? Hanging out in the street. What were they thinking? You get what you deserve. Feeling? Why don't you come back?

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:12:00 -0400

Their lyrics stayed close to home, never overreached. What they were doing? Hanging out in the street. What were they thinking? You get what you deserve. Feeling? Why don't you come back?:

I want Bruce Eaton to have the final word on Alex Chilton. The book he wrote for the 33 1/3 series on Radio City was part of what spiraled my obsession to begin with, and it’s a fantastic essay on what it means to love music. Bruce Eaton knew Alex Chilton, and I think he can give one of the best tributes we’ll see to the man who made the music we love.

"Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes around… They say, ‘I’m in love with that..."

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:55:00 -0400

““Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes around… They say, ‘I’m in love with that song.’ “”

- Alex Chilton: I’m In Love With That Song - All Songs Considered Blog : NPR (via themorningnews)

Carrie Brownstein writes the tribute I wish I could have written.

The Reluctant Ghost of Alex Chilton

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:13:00 -0400

(Cross-posted from a cup of tea & a wheat penny)

This is going to be harder to write than I wanted it to be. Everyone seems to have their feelings sorted out ahead of time about the sudden passing of Alex Chilton, instant access to their memories of where they were when they heard a particular Chilton track, or what it meant to see Chilton bristle in a rare interview, or have “Thirteen” played at their wedding.

Everyone is already so eloquent. How can they know what to say so quickly? I’m still coming to terms with the newness of his ghost.

* * *

I only really started listening intensely to Alex Chilton’s music in May of last year. I’d had a few Big Star songs in my collection for a while, but something happened in May that ignited an obsession of a magnitude I wasn’t quite prepared for. And I can’t even say what that thing was. Still, no matter how deep and broad the obsession became with his music, I didn’t expect to be hit so hard by his death. Or maybe I just didn’t expect him to ever die at all.

But as I saw his name come up on my screen last night next to those horrible words that seem so wrong —”dead at 59” — I shouted. I was angry. Then I raced to put one of his albums on the record player. I needed to hear his voice, needed to hear him play. And that’s when it hit me. Hard.

This sounds a bit like goodbye
In a way it is I guess
As I leave your side
I’ve taken the air
Take care, please, take care
Take care, please, take care

Back in November, when we saw Big Star at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple, the best part of the night was watching Chilton there on stage simply enjoying playing his music. He loved playing the songs he loved, and he loved watching the rest of us get to hear them. There was no question about that, and you could tell he felt music in every fiber of his being.

I get angry at the fact that here you have this guy who enjoys playing music so much, so very obviously much, and he doesn’t get to any more. He’s gone. He’ll never be on that stage again. He wasn’t ready to stop playing, but some idiot pulled the wrong rope on the curtain. He wasn’t ready to stop playing. That’s what has hit me the hardest.

Life is too goddamn short.

I hope there’s plenty of music wherever he is now. I hope he hears that funeral march of the thousands of stereos playing his songs, and joins in. I hope he’s playing hard, bending his shoulder into the beat, leaning his head back and hearing those songs play him all the way up to heaven.

The music will miss you too, Alex.

Other things I’ve written because of Alex Chilton can be found here:

Ritual
An Open Letter To Nick Hornby
Guess Who Has A Tumblr, and other things marginally related to Alex Chilton
She Thinks She’s A Mystery To All
Alex Chilton Is My Nerd Boyfriend

and

All Things Chilton on my other site, Alex Chilton Is My Nerd Boyfriend

If you’ve never heard any of the following songs, do yourself a favor and seek them out. The best thing I can think to do to remember him is to play his music as loud as we can, windows rolled down, feet on the dashboard.

The Box Tops
You Keep Tightening Up On Me
Soul Deep

Big Star
Thirteen
Ballad of El Goodo
Back of a Car
September Gurls

Alex Chilton
Every Day As We Grow Closer
Hey! Little Child

Alex Chilton - Every Day As We Grow Closer More Alex Chilton

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:04:26 -0400

Alex Chilton - Every Day As We Grow Closer

More Alex Chilton

mollylambert: I’ve been trying hard against unbelievable...

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:20:00 -0400

mollylambert:

I’ve been trying hard against unbelievable odds

it gets so hard in times like now

This has hit me hard. I’m consoling myself by listening to...

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:17:00 -0400

This has hit me hard. I’m consoling myself by listening to the sexiest, hardest, raunchiest, craziest Alex Chilton stuff that was ever made.

We saw him in November. He was still in love with making music. It’s so wrong for someone who is still enjoying life so much to be plucked from it.

homeofthevain: Big Star, Big Black Car (Sister Lovers,...

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:06:08 -0400

homeofthevain:

Big Star, Big Black Car
(Sister Lovers, 1974)

“Driving in my big black car, nothing can go wrong. Nothing can hurt me. Nothing can touch me. Why should I care? The lights above, oh yes. I see the stars above.”

Alex Chilton, RIP.

More Big Star.

(via mollylambert) He was good.

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:04:43 -0400

(via mollylambert)

He was good.

abelson: #549: big star - thirteen (1972) if heaven is a place,...

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:04:13 -0400

abelson:

#549: big star - thirteen (1972)

if heaven is a place, it’s got a gymnasium where the lights are turned down really low and decorations are on the wall, and alex chilton is there swaying with a girl he really likes to thirteen. he died today at 59.

maura: The Memphis Commercial Appeal is reporting that Alex...

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:03:12 -0400

maura:

The Memphis Commercial Appeal is reporting that Alex Chilton has passed away.

czupcaks: Take Care (Demo) - Big Star I just put this record...

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:03:00 -0400

czupcaks:

Take Care (Demo) - Big Star

I just put this record on and bawled my eyes out. This is not okay.

Memphis musician Alex Chilton dies

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:02:00 -0400

Memphis musician Alex Chilton dies:

czupcaks:

(via goldenfiddle)

At the age of 59.

I can’t find my own words for this right now. For the time being, I’m posting what everyone else manages to say.

justapoorboy: Shane MacGowan is from Tunbridge Wells, now take...

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:54:18 -0400

justapoorboy:

Shane MacGowan is from Tunbridge Wells, now take your green beer and leave me be.

Buffalo Tom - Taillights Fade When I first met J, I was flipping...

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:11:23 -0400

Buffalo Tom - Taillights Fade

When I first met J, I was flipping through his records, and saw he had a few Buffalo Tom records. “No one I’ve ever known has been into Buffalo Tom,” I said. And so we got married and had lots of babies and moved to Florida to retire and do crossword puzzles and die in each other’s arms. The end.

(Buffalo Tom play Mercury Lounge on May 21st. We’ll be there.)

Alex Chilton Is My Nerd Boyfriend

Alex Chilton - My Rival (by egglestontrust)

Ardent Answers: What’s the real story behind the recording of Big Star’s Third?

Big Star | Music | Better Late Than Never? | The A.V. Club

"He and [his girlfriend] would do what they call dancing, which was kind of like Apache dancing, only..."

For the time being, I'm over here. Come visit.

(via nerdboyfriend) And now the circle is complete.

Their lyrics stayed close to home, never overreached. What they were doing? Hanging out in the street. What were they thinking? You get what you deserve. Feeling? Why don't you come back?

"Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes around… They say, ‘I’m in love with that..."

The Reluctant Ghost of Alex Chilton

Alex Chilton - Every Day As We Grow Closer More Alex Chilton

mollylambert: I’ve been trying hard against unbelievable...

This has hit me hard. I’m consoling myself by listening to...

homeofthevain: Big Star, Big Black Car (Sister Lovers,...

Big Star, Big Black Car (Sister Lovers, 1974)

(via mollylambert) He was good.

abelson: #549: big star - thirteen (1972) if heaven is a place,...

maura: The Memphis Commercial Appeal is reporting that Alex...

czupcaks: Take Care (Demo) - Big Star I just put this record...

Memphis musician Alex Chilton dies

justapoorboy: Shane MacGowan is from Tunbridge Wells, now take...

Buffalo Tom - Taillights Fade When I first met J, I was flipping...

Big Star, Big Black Car
(Sister Lovers, 1974)