This article/interview originally appeared in the September 1994 issue of Guitar Player magazine.
Without the benefit of popularity or sales during their short early -'70's career, Big Star, led by songwriters Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, emerged as underground heroes to legions of post-punk bands and songwriters in the '80's. After releasing three excellent but virtually ignored albums- the polished #1 Record the inspired Radio City (both on Stax/Fantasy), and the haunting, now legendary Third/Sister Lovers (available on Rykodisc) - the band dissolved in the mid '70's. Bell died in an auto wreck in '79 [sic] (All Real Big Star fans know it was 1978) tragically erasing any hopes of a full blown reunion* The Replacements' "Alex Chilton," The Bangles' cover of "September Gurls," the testimony of bands like R.E.M., and the mimicry of Scotland's Teenage Fanclub put Big Star back on the lips of the cognoscenti. Interest in the group swelled so much that Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of the Posies recently joined Chilton and original drummer Jody Stephens for a "reunion" tour, documented on the Zoo release Columbia.
Big Star's songs crossed British Invasion tunefulness and harmony with the R&B flavor of Chilton's hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. Chilton the gruff-voiced singer of the '60's R&B hit "The Letter," retained that soulful edge and rhythmic spirit in his solo work, joining it with a timely new wave flavor. Chilton's early guitar work reflects a strong Steve Cropper and George Harrison influence, while his late '70's New York period suggests Tom Verlaine or Richard Lloyd. Nowadays, Chilton plays a '58 Gibson ES-225 or 330, favoring a Gibson archtop and an old Martin D-18 for acoustic work. His newest album, a stripped-down, solo guitar and voice LP called Cliches (Ardent), features the irascible veteran covering older songs that he "just had a feel for." We talked to him minutes before the seventh game of this year's Stanley Cup.
Are you ever stunned that the Big Star songs have retained such a wide appeal?
I'm pleasantly surprised, but I've been aware that we had a lot of fans for almost 20 years. I went to New York and played some gigs in early '77 and the place was packed; I knew that was the reason why. When I play my own gigs, Big Star songs make up a very small percentage of my set, for a variety of reasons- one being that a lot of those songs are kind of half-baked and not very well crafted. They didn't go through as rigorous a refinement stage as they should have, and a lot of them just seem kind of young.
Writing about personal things opens a songwriter to scrutiny- sometimes, as in your case, even myth making.
I don't see any other way. If you're writing anything decent, it's in you, it's your spirit coming out. If it's not an expression of how a person genuinely feels, then it's not a good song done with any conviction.
Do you write regularly?
I'm not a very prolific write these days. I'm about to do an album, and I've got three things that I'm certain about, that are absolutely finished, and another one that's almost finished, though I still need to flesh out the bridge. And this is the product of four years of activity!
I.Do you have a lot of unfinished ideas?
Yeah. And I finish a lot of things that I throw away or decide are not really for me to perform.I probably write ten things to every one that I want to use. It's easy for me to write something that's so poppy that it's wrong for me. If I was 22 years old...it's easy for me to write something that's less mature than I am or ought to be. I'm looking for something that acts my age. What suits me well is a good R&B tune. Coming from who I am, that's the best thing to do. A lot of people seem to be interseted in garage bands from the '60's, and I find some of it entertaining, but most of it doesn't hit home for me nearly as much as listening to Jimmy Reed or Howlin' Wolf or someone like that. R&B from the '60's gets me much more than all these garage bands, though one out of a hundred garage band tunes will do something for me.
Do you enjoy collaborating, or is aloneness an important part of your creative process?
The more alone I am, the more focused I can get. I've written things with people, some of which I liked and others I think are total travesties. Collaborating is trying to make a piece of music and get someone else to come up with the ideas. What's the fun of that? If I'm trying to put together a piece of music, I don't want to go to someone else and say, "Hey, invent something for me here." Then someone else is doing it. I'm not doing it.
Do you second-guess your work while you're writing?
All the time. I usually start out with an idea that I like, and then it goes through a period of refinement where I realize, well, I like it up to here, and I don't like this bit, I need to come up with something different there. Sometimes I'll come up with a lick that I really love, and I'll try to put the right words to it for years. Suddenly something comes to me that works just right. What's easier, and what happens more often, is that I come up with some lyrics and I'll throw some music at it in the various styles that I think it deserves. There's a tune I wrote lately that started out with one piece of music behind a set of lyrics that I already had. But I decided I didn't like the music--it sounded like a polka or something. So I put it to sort of an R&B piece, and I liked that for a couple of days until I thought, "Nah that's not quite right, either." Then I just stole the riff of the song, "Hold It," put that with the lyrics, and that's the finished version.
So many young songwriters have cited you as a major inspiration.
I never thought of myself as being a good songwriter. There are a ton of other people that are good songwriters, but I don't think I'm in the club. What I do well is perform, sometimes sing pretty good, and accompany myself well and arrange fairly well. Once in a while I write a good song, but I think of myself as a musical performer, not a songwriter.
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