What is Alex Chilton Doing Now?

He's a short order cook.

Flooded out by Katrina in N'Orleans, yes?

I've heard short order cook / cab driver / dish washer stories for EVER... Are you serious?

The tales of his dead end jobs have become the stuff of legend! Why do I doubt their veracity, when they're not so hard to believe?

he played with yo la tengo at one of their hannukkah shows this year

Smack?

hitting on young girls?

Played in Dublin Last year (or maybe the year before?) (with a local pick up bass and drums) and in London too IIRC

He played a benefit show in New Orleans in early December.

time?

The only song I've heard off the last BS album was "Lady Sweet" and I liked it. Is it like a standalone highlight, or do you hate that one too... are the rest of the songs of similar quality, in any case?

AFAIK he's still living in New Orleans. I'm not sure what he does between gigs for scratch, but I saw an interview with him stating that he got 70 bucks every time That 70's Show comes on. He called it "That $70 Show" lol

time?

-- henry s, Thursday, December 20, 2007 2:40 P

Um, you want to go back in time and attend the early December 2007 Chanukah shows he did in New Jersey or the early December 2007 benefit show he did in New Orleans (specific date is listed over on the New Orleans brass band thread and in an Offbeat magazine e-mail; Ira Kaplan talks about the Chanukah shows on a Yo La Tengo diary that's online), or the Dublin show?

SEVENTY DOLLARS. Criminal.

It all adds up

I mean, it was on about 6 times last week - so that's $420 he earned last week - and that's just on British TV

you get what you deserve

yeah i think with it being in syndication and all he might do ok

I doubt very much he's washing dishes for a living these days

but then i wonder how much Cheap Trick gets for playing a song "based" (& I think this is how it's billed) on "In the Street." Or how much that Ben Vaughn guy gets for 'arranging' this version and changing the 'joint' line.

Yeah, what's goin' ahn there?

Try again.

I hear Cheap Trick gets $32,000 per episode.

Don't Lie to Me

Jesus Christ.

Give (Tom D.) Another Chance

o my soul, maybe he's just trying to make a little love before the end of time. last I heard, up here in nashville, he had stayed here with friends during the katrina cleanup.

i think the last time i saw him was in memphis in '98 or so, doing some outdoor show, and he seemed a little tired. i did see him in new orleans in '97 playing with a guy named davis rogan, i think that's the spelling. alex was just playing guitar and they were doing huey piano smith and coasters songs, quite good, and he seemed to be enjoying himself. i didn't have many expectations for the last big star record but it had a few good moments. loose shoes and tight pussy is a great title, but the record itself was pretty bad except for the version of "oogum boogum song." alex is one of the greats, and one wonders why some producer doesn't convince him to do the record he's got in him, which in my book would sound kinda like "don't stop" off his last really good record, man called destruction. oh well.

I like "Loose Shoes" way more than "Destruction." I feel like his voice is way more vital.

His guitar playing if great, and unmistakeable, but I think that I'm more attentive to his voice, which is still strong, hugely bitter, yet unfailingly vulnerable. I think his voice is extra good on "Loose Shoes."

Notice no one here calls it "Set," the most inferior re-titling EVER...

I'm a fan of Alex's, and "Single Again," on Loose Shoes, is fucking terrible.

i think the last time i saw him was in memphis in '98 or so, doing some outdoor show,

Overton Park "Save the Shell" benefit maybe? I was there. Not bad...relaxed, not exactly giving it 100%, except maybe on "What's Your Sign, Girl?".

That's the same song he gave all on when I saw him back in '94.

Yeah, he did a great live version of that song back in the day, introducing it by saying "This is my favorite song."

I've only heard the studio version of "Single Again," and it makes the hair on my neck stand up.

Man, his voice is so great.

Yeah, he does have quite an amazing voice -- plenty of imitators, but no one even comes close.
But to address the question posed in this thread -- yeah, what IS he doing? I have kind of a vague curiosity about people like Chilton, who obviously have some income from past work, but probably not all that much. He doesn't really tour, doesn't really record all that much ... what's an average day for Alex Chilton? Or Tom Verlaine? Or (fill in the blank)? I don't know why I'm curious, but I am.
I do love that Loose Shoes/Set CD for perverse reasons, mainly. It's funny how it just keeps devolving. No need for second takes, eh, Alex? But nevertheless, what the hell, he sounds great on it!

The last time the Alex Chilton/Gary Stewart "Single Again" thing was discussed was over here, I think: Did anyone find Alex Chilton yet?

does he get any money from The Letter?

**update** as of this past Saturday night he was alive & well (by outward appearance) and sitting in a bar on Carrollton Ave in NOLA looking very, very bored.

Better he looks bored than gives you that creepy (fake?) smile.

what bar was he at? if it wasn't tulane sorority girl mecca madigan's i will be very disappointed.

ha! nah it had Carrollton in the name, Carrollton Station maybe? Apparently the chick from White Zombie was in there, too. Oh, and a guy from DASH RIP ROCK was doing a solo thing. NOLA: still weird.

NOLA: still weird

I hear the city might use this in their advertising as a slogan. You know how you see California tv commericals with Ahrnold S and various celebs. You could have a NOLA one with Chilton and brassbanders and Tulane girls and Mardi Gras French Quarter idiots...

commercials[

I'm still trying to understand what Canadian/Chicagoan Dan Aykroyd is doing in those latest N.O. commercials. yes, I know there's a house of blues down there somewhere, but that's like having Col. Sanders do commercials for Montana.

nola: still hoping that maybe just maybe someone somewhere will mistake dash rip rock for a real band and give the new orleans rock scene some props. it will never happen. it is sad. people act like better than ezra are fugazi or something.

anyway i never see alex chilton around but everyone seems to have these amusing stories. john goodman did almost run me over once.

letters to Bob Lefsetz re his recent praise of the Box Tops

What a surprise to read your email about "Neon Rainbow". Someone phoned me about it just seconds after I got off a stage in Tulsa where I had just played that very song with Alex Chilton and the Box Tops. I'm the only non-original member out there with them- just a ringer they brought in from Nashville to play keys with them- but I've had the extreme pleasure of gigging with them for the last 6 or 7 years. It's some of the finest music I've ever played- The Letter, with the half-step modulation that doesn't kick in until the OUTRO! Who ever heard of such a thing! Unconventional arranging to say the least, but nevertheless it worked. And the great guitar solo played by Gary Talley that ends "Neon Rainbow", which also modulates even though the song is ending. Ideas like that would be laughed out of the studio in today's focus-group atmosphere. Alex was just 16 when he recorded "The Letter". It was the first song they ever recorded, and became a massive hit. Nominated for song of the year at the '67 Grammy's, back when The Grammy's mattered. But Alex kept growing, and did great work later on with Big Star, and still tours in Europe with them a few times a year. He's one of a kind. Nice to see him get a little recognition. Thanks for continual surprises.... Barry Walsh Nashville, TN myspace.com/barrywalshmusic __________________________________ "The Letter," "Neon Rainbow" and "Soul Deep" were all written by Wayne Carson Thompson, who also wrote (or co-wrote) the classic Gary Stewart country hit "She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)." Johnny Paycheck's "Slide Off Your Satin Sheets," and a tune called "Always On My Mind," 1982's Song of the Year. The Box Tops had not only Chilton's ridiculously soulful teenage voice (he was like the American Steve Winwood). but some of the best studio players in Memphis, and some really great songs (like Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham's "Cry Like A Baby" and "I Met Her In Church"). mitchell cohen __________________________________ Bob, This has got to be one of my favorite emails of yours because it hits close to home with me. I'm a 27 year old Memphian who is trying to start and independent record label and music publishing company with Ardent Music, LLC and my aunt used to go out with Alex Chilton when she worked in Ardent Studios back in the 70s. September Gurls, She's a Mover, and O My Soul were songs partially written about or for her - or at least that's what Chilton was feeding her. He would write the songs on napkins when they were out. The stories she tells are amazing because she was there in the mix when all this was going on and she talks about it as if it were nothing. But Chilton and his influence can be heard in so many different places and people have no clue...especially in Memphis. And I'll be honest, I didn't really know of Big Star and The Box Tops until somewhat recently. Once I started getting the albums I was blown away! John Fry, the owner and founder of Ardent Studios, told me my granddad overdubbed trumpet on some of the Cry Like a Baby album. He also did alot of overdubbing for Stax and even some for the notorious Chips Moman American Sound Elvis sessions...which he didn't receive credit for. Hell, alot of the stuff he did for Stax just credits the Memphis Horns, which Wayne Jackson and Andrew Love's management were smart enough to trademark. Anyways, I love your emails...especially this one. I'm going to give Neon Rainbows another listen! Joseph Davis __________________________________ Bob - Appreciated the words about Alex Chilton and the Box Tops. I've known Alex since 1979, when I called him up in Memphis and offered him $300 and round-trip ticket to Buffalo to come up and do a show with my band (we were big fans to say the least) backing him up. Playing September Gurls with him was the musical highlight of my life. I just spent two days with Alex interviewing him for a book about Big Star's Radio City album I'm writing for the 33 1/3 Series (published by Continuum). Rock writers and fans love the supposed drama and tragedy surrounding Big Star. I can tell you that the real story is a group of really talented people whose pure love of music and extraordinary creativity was respected and nurtured rather than second-guessed and tampered with. Without John Fry, the founder of Ardent and an engineering genius, Big Star would never have soared so high. Listen closely to September Gurls - there is ONE guitar (a Stratocaster recorded live with the drums and bass - they used the second take) and ONE overdubbed mando-guitar. That's it. (I've heard the master tapes and have a copy of the track sheet.) It sounds like a chiming symphony of overdubbed 12-strings. But it's not. All the fancy high-tech pro-tools drum-machine digital studio gadgetry in the world can't duplicate what Fry and the band (who handled the overdubs) put down. Which is why it still touches people it a big way. Happy New Year, Bruce Eaton __________________________________

he writes car repair manuals

i thought i'd post this, even if you've all found alex chilton on your own and satisfied your curiosity. it's from an old idler interview.

IDLER: How do you space your time?

CHILTON: I’m lazy. That’s not necessarily a good thing, I just love to be lazy. Just the business of living takes up a considerable amount of time. My year is basically spent making enough money for six months to have the next six months off. I don’t feel an urge to work incredibly hard. Every six months or so I look at my situation and decide what needs to be done from there. That’s about as far in advance as I think. It’s the greatest existence I can have. I don’t know how long it’ll last, maybe I’ll be back washing dishes.

why does that interview refer to "George Westerburg" (presumably of the Replacements)?

The Idler was too lazy to back-check!

George Westerburg, Fred Mould and Bill Pirner.

Sounds like the Republican legislative ticket in South St. Paul.

I thought it sounded like the Bizarro Minutemen.

sounds like the rest of my dad's foursome...

John Fry is some kind of crafty secret genius. Very odd man, but he's so outwardly normal that his oddity doesn't register at first.

i was just watching this a couple days ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Ac_rTU62c
Yo La Tengo & Chilton doing "Femme Fatale." It's not what he's doing NOW, but it was semi-recently. Chilton's voice still sounds great.

and i brought it up on some other big star thread, but the Thank You Friends Ardent Records comp that came out a couple months back is very much worth your $$$.