DAN PENN-wonderful guy, great talent, lovely wife. Great producer, great writer, pure creative spirit.

ALEX CHILTON-the opposite

Coffee: Bob Dylan, "The Boxer" on Self Portrait: Blond on Blond Dylan duets with Nashville Skyline Dylan.

People that knew him in college said he sounded more like the guy who sang "Lay Lady Lay" when they knew him, and had no idea where the "Okie" accent came from.

I never heard a complete song that was consistent enough to be the big hit that could have made all the difference for them.

(What about "Thirteen"?)

BIG STAR-a very good, sometimes great group. Chris Bell was greatly talented, underrated, and a very nice (albeit troubled) person. Most of the best music they made was a direct result of Chris' musical personality, be it his direct contribution or the result of his influence on Alex.

I picked up an Alex Chilton record from 1975 last weekend.. what a pile of shit..

I believe the Box Tops voice was Alex imitating Dan Penn.

Having produced both of them, I think my knowledge qualifies as first-hand.

Big Star is an interesting case. They've got great melodies, hooks and beautiful sounds all over their albums (especially their first) but, September Gurls aside, I never heard a complete song that was consistent enough to be the big hit that could have made all the difference for them.

Big Star is an interesting case. They've got great melodies, hooks and beautiful sounds all over their albums (especially their first) but, September Gurls aside, I never heard a complete song that was consistent enough to be the big hit that could have made all the difference for them.

Well, I guess you've now confirmed to all of us that you're totally retarded. As if there was any question ...

You're arguing with history, Bill. Despite all the melodic virtues on their first two albums, you can hear why Big Star never had any big hits.

From like the worst show ever made...

Related to this topic.....

I've always been fascinated by another MAJOR voice change: Justin Currie from Del Amitri. It always blows peoples minds when I play a song from their first album, and then something like "Last To Know". No one can believe it's the same singer.

You're arguing with history, Bill. Despite all the melodic virtues on their first two albums, you can hear why Big Star never had any big hits.

The point is that if Big Star had been on Atlantic or Warner/Reprise or Elektra, or even Columbia or Epic, with the major-label promo behind them, those albums might have had a better chance at making an impact.

Hey blatant plug, but All Memphis Music is featuring the new Dan Penn Cd this weekend. Once you hear it you'll think Eric Clapton has been listening to him for a long time. Nice CD

Click here for All Memphis Music
Enjoy!
Plus we play a lot of Big Star, Boxtops, Dan Penn and so much more. Thanks Jon Tiven!

Aside from "Go All the Way" and "Overnight Sensation" they didn't really have any blowout hits.

Your problem is that you use the Billboard charts to determine the worth of music, or at least you overly weight chart performance to determine that worth.

The point is that if Big Star had been on Atlantic or Warner/Reprise or Elektra, or even Columbia or Epic, with the major-label promo behind them, those albums might have had a better chance at making an impact. There still were enough PDs and DJs in the early '70s who would have heard and added a song like "Thirteen," or "In the Street," or "Back of a Car" or "September Gurls."

It was rock writers who carried the flame until 1978, after the post-Atlantic Stax catalog got bought by Fantasy, and Fantasy's distributor in the UK, EMI, issued No. 1 Record and Radio City as a twofer, that I heard them and fell in love.

Short form: Promotion and distribution has a lot to do with chart performance. Too much, really. Does the fact that Jessica Simpson's record is heavily marketed by Columbia Nashville make her "queen of country" (as MySpace was touting her) over, say, Neko Case, or name your favorite indie country goddess?No. But in Quest4BetterChartPerformance's world, she would be.

Not true. "Tonight," "Ecstacy," "I Wanna Be With You" and "Let's Pretend" were all hit singles. "Overnight Sensation," alas, was not.

Jody Stephens should have been a bigger pinup than david cassidy...have you seen the guy? other than wearing gloves when he plays, something I understand but makes it look like you're going to be powerlifting, one of the most solid, underrated drummers around...

Jody Stephens is an amazingly good-looking guy, and his wife is pretty easy on the eyes, as well.

Jody Stephens is an amazingly good-looking guy, and his wife is pretty easy on the eyes, as well. He's also as nice and unaffected a guy as the music business has ever produced.

I got to hang out w/the band a little bit after the first reunion show and then again in Europe right after that, and it was interesting to see how Alex lived out every bit of his reputation -- ornery, rude, and weird -- while Jody and Jon and Ken from the Posies were all just lovely.

Have worked with Alex since the early 90's and he has never been anything less than a gentleman. In fact, he's gone out of his way to track me down to thank me for my work. Given the reputation, I was pleasantly surprised.

True, but probably not the credit due their talent. Think of the Raspberries ... was that Capitol they were on? Very similar to Big Star in terms of style -- roughly same time period. Aside from "Go All the Way" and "Overnight Sensation" they didn't really have any blowout hits. The truth is Beatle-esque pop, as a chart-topper, was well on the way out by the time both bands ascended creatively. Even if Pete Hamm hadn't checked out, I recall seeing Badfinger's Ass in cut-out bins months after its release. I loved that stuff at the time, without fully recognizing how unpopular it was with the other kids in my neighborhood.

I know we can all point out numerous bands from that time and note their influence and brilliance ... but the truth is most weren't making it on the charts, major label or not. That made it all the nicer a surprise when a band like Squeeze broke through a few years later, who actually had the Beatle-esque sound, mixed with new wave influences.

Chilton veered off into very strange territory after Big Star (which I kind of like), and Eric Carmen went soft rock with "All By Myself." I look at bands like Big Star and The Raspberries as being the start of the power pop movement, and a continuation of an alternative rock scene to Top 40 pop that was around in many forms long before being recognized as such with all those indie bands in the 80s.

I hear what Quest is saying. Those Big Star songs are all great, sound like hits in our imaginary world where real talent is always rewarded, but stuff like that rarely broke through to the hit single level in the mid-70s.

The Raspberries were too wimpy, kinda like one of the more limp Merseybeat groups.

I just read on Dan Penn's bio that he wrote the song" Cry Like A Baby" for Alex Chilton????

Don't know if he wrote it *for* the Box Tops, but write it he did.

I have to say that I have never cared for "cry like a baby" other than when they reference "you left the water running" at the end...what a song that is! However Dan and Spooner Oldham do a great version of it on "moments from this theatre", a highly, highly recommened record of them playing some of their best songs...includes "i'm your puppet", "dark end of the street" and many you've heard others do before

I have to say that I have never cared for "cry like a baby" other than when they reference "you left the water running" at the end...what a song that is!

I have to say that I have never cared for "cry like a baby" other than when they reference "you left the water running" at the end...what a song that is!

However Dan and Spooner Oldham do a great version of it on "moments from this theatre", a highly, highly recommened record of them playing some of their best songs...includes "i'm your puppet", "dark end of the street" and many you've heard others do before

I have to say that I have never cared for "cry like a baby" other than when they reference "you left the water running" at the end...what a song that is! However Dan and Spooner Oldham do a great version of it on "moments from this theatre", a highly, highly recommened record of them playing some of their best songs...includes "i'm your puppet", "dark end of the street" and many you've heard others do before

Don't know if he wrote it *for* the Box Tops, but write it he did.

If you're talking about Hubert Sumlin, he's a very funny and easygoing guy, great sense of humor, but has a habit of attracting people to him who do not neccsarily have his best interests at heart. In fact, he's too easygoing and people latch onto him and take advantage of his good nature.

it was nominated for a Grammy and had guest appearances by Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Levon Helm among many other historically significant blues artists.

Speaking of 3rd-Sister Lovers-played it this weekend for the first time in ages and as depressing and moody as it may at times (see almost all of it!) I still love the feel of it.

I have the infamous bootleg where Alex confirms his nice-guy status by dedicating "Slut" to Jody's wife. Apparently Big Star didn't work together for a long while after that.