A second track from the upcoming album Collapse Into Now from R.E.M. (due to drop 8 March) has leaked: "It Happened Today," a catchy bit of jangly pop complimented by the backing vocals of Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.
Paste reports that other guests on the CD include Patti Smith (long considered the band's musical godmother), Smith's long-time musical cohort Lenny Kaye and Peaches.
Alex Chilton, the man with the blue-eyed soul voice that hit the charts several times as a teen-age singer with The Box Tops and influenced countless indie artists via his work with Big Star, has died of a heart attack in New Orleans, Louisiana at the age of 59.
Chilton, born in music rich Memphis, Tennessee, rose to prominence as the weathered voice of The Box Tops, who hit the charts with a string of hits, including "The Letter,""Cry Like A Baby," "Soul Deep" and "Neon Rainbow." He was only 16 at the time.
After The Box Tops broke up in 1970, Chilton performed solo for a couple of years, learning to play guitar in the process. He then joined forces with a trio of musicians and formed the group Big Star. The three albums produced in the 1970s - #1 Record; Radio City; and Third/Sister Lovers - were all critically acclaimed but failed commercially, in part because their record distributor, Memphis' once mighty Stax, had fallen on financial hard times.
Chilton then began a polarizing solo career and eventually moved to New Orleans. At one point in the 1980s he worked a variety of jobs and stopped playing music publicly.
With the advent of the "alternative" movement in that decade, bands like Athens, Georgia's R.E.M. and Minneapolis' The Replacements started citing the influence of Chilton, particularly his work with Big Star. "It's a fork in the road that a lot of different bands stemmed from," Jeff Powell, a respected Memphis producer who worked on some of Chilton's records told The Commercial Appeal . "If you're drawing a family tree of American music, they're definitely a branch."
The cult of Big Star moved a little into the mainstream at the turn of the century. A reconfigured line-up toured throughout the decade. That 70's Show used the band's "In The Street" as its theme song. Rolling Stone named all three of the Big Star albums referenced above to its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. And in September 2009, the box set Keep An Eye On The Sky was released by Rhino Records to critical acclaim.
Big Star had been scheduled to play Austin's SXSW Festival this Saturday.
One of TNOP's favorite American bands, Wilco, just finished a two-night stand in their hometown of Chicago. The band's Boswell, Chicago Tribune writer (and Marquette University grad) Greg Kot, critiqued the first show at the UIC Pavillion. And Paste reports that the band will go into the recording studio in January to sow the seeds of a new album.
Little Steven Van Zandt, President Grant's Secret Service men Jim West and Artemus Gordon, AND the evil Dr. Miguelito Loveless? Yup, Little Steven's Underground Garage celebrates one of the great TV series, Wild Wild West, in this weekend's episode. Check local radio listings, tune in Sirius 25, XM 59 or catch up with the archive at the show's groovy website.
Steve Ferguson, guitarist and co-founder of NRBQ, passed away at age 60.
And finally, Happy Birthday to Eddie Brigati, purveyor with Felix Caviliere of some of the most beautiful blue-eyed soul ever produced. Watch this performance of "Good Lovin'" by Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Young Rascals and chair dance.
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