Last September, I posted a link to Sound Opinion’s podcast on Big Star.  Here’s the link again.  Big Star is one of those iconic bands that bands love, critics love and the average music fan might never encounter.  Alex Chilton, the lead singer from Big Star, (also the lead singer for The Box Tops and a solo artist) died this St Patrick’s day, in his adopted home town of New Orleans, without a lot of money, with no health insurance, of a heart attack.   Here’s an article from the New Orleans local website, NOLA.com.

Since no one seems to  have the  time anymore to dig into music and artists they like, I thought I’d put together a quick retrospective, thanks to YouTube.  Enjoy

 Chilton’s first hit “The Letter” with The Box Tops — Note:  no microphones, horns or violins, and somehow it sounds just like the album cut!

No Video (they were all pretty lame), but here’s Alex on Big Star’s biggest hit:  “September Gurls”

Chilton and Big Star perform “In the Street” (the theme song from “That 70’s Show” on Leno

And here’s US Rep Steve Cohen (D Tenn) Eulogizing Chilton on the floor at the US House.

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Here’s some further reading/viewing I ran across:

1) Joe Cocker’s versin of “The Letter” — He changes the beat to give it more of a groove and gets a lot from his big band sound.  Quite remarkable that a modest pop song can sound so good in two vastly different styles

2) Cheap Trick’s version of “In the Street” — This is the music video for the version that gets used on “That 70’s Show” 

3) Washington Post coverage of Congressman Cohen’s remarks.   He actually knew Chilton and Chilton’s dad. 

4) Big Star’s website, in case you are in the mood to purchase or peruse in more detail.