Adios, El Goodo.
andy, jody, alex.
I’m gonna try and keep this brief, if possible.
So, I get home from work tonight and there’s a text from my old roommate Pete that says, “I’m sure you’ve both heard but Chilton apparently dead.”
Hm. Knot in throat. Do 10 seconds of research. It’s true. Alex Chilton is dead.
Know what? People die all the fucking time. To me, I’m sure to a lot of us, rock star deaths are about as interesting as your best friend’s cousin’s great aunt breaking a hip.
In 1992-ish, my band Letters to Cleo started palling around with another Boston band, *Gigolo Aunts. At that time, they were covering a song by Big Star’s dead ex-guitarist Chris Bell called I Am The Cosmos. From that time until now, that song always makes my heart stop, but more importantly, Bell’s bleak approach to the standard love song gave me my introduction to the band he left. When I discovered Big Star’s #1 Record/Radio City, I finally knew what it meant to be the kind of fan that dissects and ponders every chord progression, every melody, every lyric. What I learned, ultimately, is that the songs that kick you in the guts are the ones that take the aforementioned portions and make them cooperate with each other. Unselfishly. If you’ve listened to Big Star’s Thirteen, you will know exactly what I mean.
I’m a bit surprised by the fact that I’ve been crying all night. I didn’t know I had it in me. I guess it’s because Alex Chilton changed my life. There aren’t many people/places/things to which I can attribute such a superlative. And now he’s gone. I dunno.
I should probably talk about Big Star related song titles, lyrics and references that have popped up on pretty much every record I’ve ever made. I should probably tell the story about how I crawled across the stage at the Paradise and stole Chilton’s (very full) ashtray when he wasn’t looking. That ashtray, complete with all the stubbed out butts, followed me and Pete through several apartments, by the way. I should tell a million stories about my love for Big Star and the secret handshake I share with people who feel the same way. But that would take an impossible amount of time so I’ll leave it at that.
I send out my warmest thoughts of love and gratitude to Jon Auer, Ken Stringfellow and Jody Stephens, who were meeting Alex in Austin tomorrow for a Big Star show at SXSW. I hope there will be a way to carry on his important legacy.
Yours Truly,
Kay
Here’s a link to Bill Janovitz’ always excellent blog. Big Star related stuff, including me and USA Mike backing him up on a cover of Thirteen.
*link features a teenage chloe sevigny and the still remarkable phil hurley on lead guitar
March 18th, 2010 at 6:48 am
[...] Read what Kay Hanley had to say HERE [...]
March 18th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
One night I was out at a show in Boston [damn if I can’t remember who or where – Paradise?) It had to be around 1994 because I was proudly wearing the Big Star shirt that I had gotten after seeing them at the Fillmore in San Fran that summer. I had first seen Letters To Cleo play at the Quincy Center T station of all places and had been a fan for a while (along with my dear departed friend Ken MacPhee.) When, lo and behold, Kay Hanley walks up to me and says, “cool shirt.” We talked a bit about how great Big Star was and about the show at the Fillmore. Then she brings over a guy to see the shirt and he was from the Gigolo Aunts. I was sad to say that I had missed their set opening for Big Star that night but that that was way cool. It was a very cool little celebrity moment for me.
I hadn’t thought of that story in about 15 years until last night. I read about Alex on Twitter and immediately cued up my Big Star and listened for half an hour. I feel like I lost an old friend.
I gotta go see if I still have that shirt.
March 18th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Hello Kay. I have been following Bill’s blog since before he started the CoTW project. When he posted Thirteen, I noted that it had immediately become my favorite, and remains so to this date. I just dropped by to thank you for this tribute to Alex. I am old enough to remember the releases of songs like The Letter and Cry Like a Baby, so Alex’s influence and music have been with me for a long time. I’ll close by wishing you peace and comfort during a time when many of us are sharing this tragic loss. At least we can take comfort in knowing that our musical lives are better tonight because of Alex Chilton.
Kind regards,
Randy
March 20th, 2010 at 8:49 am
Kay,
Great post. Nicely captures how an artist’s music can enthrall and not let go. You can guess who I have in heavy rotation. While very depressing news, the bright spot is that in passing, Chilton’s music will undoubtedly garner numerous new fans.
RR