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What is the proper response when an icon from your personal Mount Rushmore falls?

#rush #neil peart #rip neil peart #keith spera

If there were ever a Mount Rushmore of rock’n’roll, Fats Domino would certainly be one of the faces up there, along with Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Elvis Presley. He was one of the guys that transitioned rhythm and blues into rock’n’roll.

"Keith Spera on the Music of New Orleans," Five Books

#Keith Spera #Fats Domino #Chuck Berry #Little Richard #Elvis Presley #New Orleans #music

Big Star in the Big Easy

Most music dorks should be able to tell you about Alex Chilton. Lead singer of The Box Tops, founded Big Star with Chris Bell, influenced The Replacements, REM, Matthew Sweet, Teenage Fanclub, many more. Then, if you asked said music dork where Chilton made all this great inspirational music, they'd be partly right in telling you Memphis, TN (The name Big Star, in fact, was taken from a chain of grocery stores in Memphis).

But it's a little known fact that in the late 70s, and early 80s, after Big Star's dissolution--quietly fading from the collective memory before a critical revival in the 90s--Alex Chilton made a new home in New Orleans. Keith Spera, a music journalist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, covers Chilton's thirty years in the Big Easy in one chapter of his book "Groove Interrupted: Loss, Renewal, and the Music of New Orleans."

In honor, I've pulled a Spotify playlist of Chilton originals ("The Letter," The Ballad of El Goodo,"), covers he loved to play ("Te-Ta-Te-Ta-Ta," "Alligator Man," "Sick and Tired,"), and some tracks he played on in support during his time in N.O. ("Come on Little Mama," "Crazy," "These Days"). Plus, you know, other stuff I wanted to listen to.

You'll have to read the chapter to catch all the references in the playlist, but Spera's portrayal of Chilton in New Orleans reminded me of this quote that Steve Earle's character Harley says on "Treme" (pardon the paraphrase): "The world is full of players, not many Dylans." Alex Chilton capitalized on his talent as a songwriter early in life, but I'm fascinated by the idea that he spent the end of it in New Orleans just playing whatever he wanted. I've tried to honor that here.

Click here to listen...

Track List:

1. "Te-Ta-Te-Ta-Ta" - Ernie K. Doe

2. "The Letter" - The Box Tops

3. "The Ballad of El Goodo" - Big Star

4. "With a Girl Like You" - Alex Chilton

5. "Give Me Another Chance" - Whiskeytown

6. "Alex Chilton" - The Replacements

7. "Alligator Man" - Alex Chilton

8. "Come on Little Mama" - Tav Falco & Panther Burns

9. "(Every Time I) Close My Eyes" - Alex Chilton

10. "Every Day As We Grow Closer" - Alex Chilton