Before Big Star, for Alex Chilton, there were the Box Tops.
Here they are with "The Letter" on "Upbeat" in 1967. Watch Alex try and hold it together - and eventually fail - as the rest of the band starts mugging for the camera.
This clip never fails to amuse.
Sunday, 11 September 2022
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It looks like Alex and the boys had some primo Oaxacan.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Box Top's tune: 'Cry Like A Baby'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SJ3sgfg3qA&ab_channel=OldiesAngel
Obviously lip-syncing & playing to a recording (watch around 1:30+). If you're just phoning it in for the TV, why not goof off.
ReplyDeleteHow about Alex at 17..."I Met Her at Church".
https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/fromthevaults/2972/the-box-tops-i-met-her-in-church-1968/
I've just been listening to that track, strangely enough. Almost gospel.
DeleteWhat a voice!
The Box Tops' reunion album is surprisingly good. One of the songs they covered was "Trip To Bandstand" by B.B. Cunningham. B.B.'s brother Bill Cunningham is the guy goofing off at the keyboard in the Box Tops video.
ReplyDeleteA decade after recording "Trip To Bandstand", B.B. became the frontman for the wonderfully weird Hombres, who recorded "Let It All Hang Out". If you listen to the original "Trip To Bandstand", you may recognize the laconic Southern sprechgesang from "Let It All Hang Out".
Trip To Bandstand (1957): https://youtu.be/-ICqF6rtVzY
Here's the Box Tops reunion album, Tear Off (1998). They chose some great songs to play, and by the end of "Big Bird" they may have dipped into that Oaxacan again.
Deletehttps://krakenfiles.com/view/OgdSungs6A/file.html
https://www.discogs.com/release/5488070-Box-Tops-Tear-Off
Thanks, jonder!
DeleteMany thanks, jonder! I had no idea this even existed.
DeleteA minor toot of my own horn here in the bowels of the Major's Hole. Most of the songs that LX Chitlins covered during his career (as a Box Top, a Big Star, and a solo artist) can be found in "Alex Chilton's Jukebox":
Deletejonderblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Alex%20Chilton
Nothing wrong with a toot!
DeleteToot away, jonder.
Hey Steve! Did you get my email?
ReplyDeleteYes! Sorry about the delay in answering. I set up a mail account with a different mail client to keep stuff separate. I'm still not in the habit of checking it!
Delete