That time Alex Chilton played Velvet Slego in Rimini, Italy in 1988

Since today would've been Alex Chilton's 75th birthday, here's a 1988 performance at Rimini's Velvet Slego from 1988. 

Tav Falco reveals the secret eye of the artist on the Todd-o-Phonic Todd show

Tav Falco talks about narrowly escaping a satanic cult, working as a railroad brakeman, Alex Chilton and more on WFMU. 

Here's the scoop...

Tav Falco recently appeared as a guest on the "Todd-o-phonic Todd" show on WFMU Radio. Although it originally aired on Saturday (October 4), the show has been archived right here: https://wfmu.org/archiveplayer/?show=156690&archive=277306

Following five tunes by Tav Falco's Panther Burns starting at around the 1-hour mark, Tav discusses his critically-acclaimed new 'Desire on Ice' LP (5 stars from Mojo, 8 out of 10 from Uncut) and his 'Urania Trilogy' of avantgarde films which will be screened soon in NYC.

Tav Falco – Desire On Ice

The songwriting of Southern rock ‘n’ roll provocateur Tav Falco is celebrated on his 14th studio album, Desire on Ice. With basic tracks recorded at Sam Phillips Recording Services in Memphis, Tennessee, Desire on Ice was created over an 18-month period by Falco and his longtime producer and musical partner, Mario Monterosso. Undoubtedly the most ambitious project in the artist’s 40-plus-year career, Desire on Ice features an astonishing lineup of all-star talent who are sympatico with his singular flair and vision. 

The lineup of featured players on Desire on Ice is impressive. The sessions were anchored by the members of Falco’s current touring band, Panther Burns: guitarist Mario Monterosso, bassist Giuseppe Sangirardi, and drummer Walter Brunetti. The guests include Ann Magnuson, Nicole Atkins, Jolie Holland, Bobby Gillespie, Pete Molinari, Kid Congo Powers, Jon Spencer, Rev. Horton Heat, Jimmy Rip, Chris Spedding, Boz Boorer, Richard Barone, Eddie Angel, Bubba Feathers, Chris Maxwell, Charlie Musselwhite, Mirko Dettori, Kai Eric, Rene Coman, Bertrand Burgulat, Alex Greene, Michael Perry Allen, Jim Sclavunos, and Ross Johnson, among others. Memphis writer and longtime Panther Burns confidante Robert Gordon has contributed new liner notes for the release.

'Desire on Ice' is available now on "black ice" vinyl LP, CD & digital from Org Music. Produced by Mario Monterosso. Get it here: https://orgmusic.com/collections/tav-falco/products/desire-on-ice

1. Prologue (Spoken word by Kid Congo Powers; guitar by Rev. Horton Heat)

2. Gentleman in Black (Vocal by Tav Falco; guitar by Jimmy Rip)

3. Cuban Rebel Girl (Vocal by Tav Falco; guitar by Chris Spedding; blues harp by Charles Musselwhite

4. Sympathy for Mata Hari (Vocals by Tav Falco & Jon Spencer)

5. Vampire from Havana (Vocals by Tav Falco & Ann Magnuson; guitar by Bubba Feathers)

6. Doomsday Baby (Vocals by Tav Falco & Bobby Gillespie; drums by Jim Sclavunos)

7. Crying for More (Vocals by Tav Falco & Nicole Atkins; guitar by Richard Barone)

8. The Ballad of Rue de la Lune (Vocals by Tav Falco & Pete Molinari; guitar by Boz Boorer)

9. Garden of the Medicis (Vocal by Tav Falco; piano by Bertrand Burgulat)

10. Lady from Shanghai (Vocal by Tav Falco; bass by Rene Coman; piano by Alex Greene) 

11. Chamber of Desire (Vocals by Tav Falco & Jolie Holland)

12. Epilogue (Spoken word by Nicole Atkins; guitar by Eddie Angel) 

Remembering Alex Chilton on his birthday

Raising a glass to singer/songwriter Alex Chilton with a couple of performances and interviews worth checking. 

Dan Penn recalls recording the Box Tops with Alex Chilton

Check out Dan Penn discussing how he came to work with Alex Chilton in footage shot for the film Why Should I Care? right here.

Remembering Big Star's Andy Hummel on his birthday

Thinking of Big Star bassist Andy Hummel today with some 1971 studio footage and a few alternate versions of songs he co-wrote.

Remembering Alex Chilton with Teenage Fanclub

Since it's Alex's birthday, here are a couple of his performances with Teenage Fanclub and their memories of Chilton.   

Happy Birthday Tom Waits!

Celebrating Tom's birthday with an Iggy Pop chat (check the link below) and Tom's Fernwood 2 Night appearance from 1977.

Iggy and Tom press play on some fave tunes for each other and discuss them for two hours right here.  

Happy Birthday Chris Stamey!

Celebrating Chris Stamey's birthday with a video for "She Might Look My Way" off his latest album The Great Escape.

Get a copy of Chris Stamey's The Great Escape right here. Catch him on stage with the Lemon Twigs in Pomona (Dec 15) and L.A. (Dec 16). 

Chris Stamey updates Alex Chilton's "She Might Look My Way" for The Great Escape

Chris Stamey's 60s teen show style video for "She Might Look My Way" features a brief cameo by Alejandro Escovdeo. 

Happy Birthday Gary Stewart!

Remembering honky tonk hero Gary Stewart on his birthday with performance of a couple of his classics and one by Alex Chilton. 

Happy Birthday Alex Chilton!

Remembering Alex Chilton on his birthday with the trailer for the documentary "Why Should I Care?" and a couple of clips. 

Alex Chilton live recording with Hi Rhythm Section due in May!

Omnivore is releasing Alex Chilton & The Hi Rhythm Section's Boogie Shoes: Live On Beale Street on May 7th. 

Here's the scoop...

Unissued 1999 live set from Alex Chilton (The Box Tops/Big Star) and Hi Rhythm Section

“I never saw him have so much fun on stage. Without rehearsal, Alex called songs and the band locked in. The horn section consists of top Memphis session guys who huddled together when each song was called creating parts on the fly. The pure joy of playing this music so freely with such legendary musicians comes across in every groove of the record.” — David Less, from his liner notes.

Memphis is a city with music in its blood. When Fred Ford, co-founder of the Beale Street Music Festival, was diagnosed with cancer, David Less organized Fredstock, a fund raiser to help with his medical bills. Less contacted Memphis legend Alex Chilton (The Box Tops, Big Star), who was living in New Orleans, to ask him to participate. Alex said he didn’t have any musicians to play with in Memphis, so Less suggested the Hi Rhythm Section (the band behind classics from artists including Ann Peebles, Ike & Tina Turner, O. V. Wright, Otis Clay, and Al Green). Alex replied, “That will work.”

This previously unissued live set contains versions of soul classics from The Supremes and Otis Clay, rock numbers from Chuck Berry and Little Richard, and even a cover of the KC & The Sunshine Band title track. Available on CD, Digital, and LP, Boogie Shoes: Live On Beale Street was recorded at the New Daisy Theater in Memphis in 1999, during Fredstock.

Packaging contains liner notes from Producer David Less, a friend of Chilton, and author of the acclaimed Memphis Mayhem: A Story Of The Music That Shook Up The World, and features a cover from rock & roll and folk art painter, Lamar Sorrento.

Get ready to discover this performance by Memphis icons—tearing it up on stage, making music, and having fun. You’ll want to put on y-y-y-y-your Boogie Shoes. Check out the title tune followed by the track listing below. 

NOTE: Omnivore is offering a limited-edition bundle that features the LP and a numbered lithographic print of the album cover. This special edition is limited to 100 copies and available only via the Omnivore webstore right here.

Alex Chilton & The Hi Rhythm Section – Boogie Shoes: Live on Beale Street

BOOGIE SHOES

PRECIOUS, PRECIOUS

634-5789

KANSAS CITY

LUCILLE

BIG BOSS MAN

WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO

MAYBELLINE

HELLO JOSEPHINE

TRYING TO LIVE MY LIFE WITHOUT YOU

R.I.P. George Reinecke of Busted Flush

Sadly, guitarist George Reinecke of Busted Flush and the Panther Burns has passed away. He'll be missed.    Photo: Rick McGinnis

You can see more photos of George Reinecke during his days in Toronto with Busted Flush taken by Rick McGinnis on Rick's excellent photo blog Some Old Pictures I Took right here. 

Watch a video of Alex Chilton playing "96 Tears" shot by Tav Falco

Happy Birthday Alex Chilton!

Remembering Alex Chilton with his Ork EP and a trailer from the documentary "Why Should I Care?"

Omnivore releases Alex Chilton demos as My Rival 10" EP

The My Rival 10" EP – out today – is a previously unissued Alex Chilton session engineered by Big Star pal Chris Bell from 1975. 

It’s mid- to late-1975, what remained of Big Star is no longer, Third/Sister Lovers was sitting on a shelf and Alex Chilton was in Memphis at a very low point. Chris Bell spent a large part of the year in London trying to get a solo record deal, but turned up empty and flew home to visit family in late summer. While at home, Bell was cutting more solo tracks at Ardent, one of which, “You And Your Sister” needed a harmony vocal, so he called in Alex.

Fans have long thought that was the last recording of Bell and Chilton collaborating in the studio, but within what was probably a few days of that session, they were in the studio together again, with Bell engineering a set of demos for Alex.

Chilton laid down early takes of “My Rival” (later re-cut for the Like Flies On Sherbert album) and “All Of The Time” (later re-cut for the Singer Not The Song EP and Bach’s Bottom album) as well as the then unissued tracks, “She Might Look My Way” (which first appeared on co-writer Tommy Hoehn’s 1978 album, Losing You To Sleep) and “Windows Hotel” (which finally saw release in 2015 on the live album, Ocean Club ’77). Unfortunately, working together was not in the cards, nor was a Big Star reunion of any sort.

From the liner notes by Rich Tupica:
“If Big Star could overcome some personal difficulties, if we could get it together, I know we could do something very well,” an optimistic Chris Bell told journalist Barry Ballard in 1975.
“I don’t know if (Chris) wanted to work together again or not,” Chilton reflected years later with journalist Russell Hall. “I don’t remember that being the case. I mean, musicians get together to do things all the time, on all sorts of bases. I personally had no intentions of ever getting back together in a band with anybody again, pretty much.”


All that’s left is the music, and that’s surely something to celebrate. In some alternate universe, this could’ve been the next chapter for Big Star, and it sounds beautiful.

All versions on this special Record Store Day/Black Friday 10″ are previously unissued and presented here for the first time. Available digitally right here on December 6th. Check out an alternate version of "She Might Look My Way" below followed by the My Rival EP track listing.

MY RIVAL EP
SIDE 1:
My Rival
All of The Time
Windows Hotel
SIDE 2:
She Might Look My Way (take 1)
She Might Look My Way (take 2)

Happy Birthday Alex Chilton

Remembering the amazing Alex Chilton on his day with a short doc and a performance of "Alligator Man" 

Happy Birthday Chris Stamey!

Raising a glass to Chris Stamey on his day with The Summer Sun and his follow-up Greensboro Days. 

Art Fein chats with Jim Dickinson & Huey P. Meaux in 1990

Here's the unedited footage of Art's backyard chat with legendary producers Jim Dickinson & Huey P. Meaux in Austin.  

Norman Blake @ Tiny Record Shop, Friday

Since Norman's playing a free in-store today, in the spirit of giving, here are a couple of the Fannies yuletide classics.