Alex Chilton- 1970

The theme this week (I just decided right now) on TDIT is looking back to the past, specifically the '70's. That great decade that produced everything from glam, disco, punk and what we refer to as "classic rock". My last post was a sample of some late 70's punk, today we go back 40 years to 1970. Wow, it's hard to believe the 70's was so long ago, I guess I spent much of my "formal" years in that decade and these are the years when I was first introduced to music.

After Alex Chilton left the Boxtops, he recorded a set of studio tracks in Memphis with the intention of shopping them around to labels for a solo release. This record deal didn't materialize and these tracks sat on the shelf while Chilton formed Big Star with Chris Bell. Just think, if Chilton did release these songs in 1970 to launch a solo career, Big Star would never have happened. Anyways, most these songs sat unreleased, except for bootlegs and some tracks that appeared on an album, Alex Chilton's Lost Decade in 1985, until Terry Manning the album's producer rediscovered the master tapes. The resulting album, 1970, is seemingly the missing link between The Boxtops and Big Star with tracks that sound reminiscently like both bands and like many of Chilton's solo records it's an uneven, inconsistent set of music. Some highlights included the beautiful, Everyday As We Grow Closer, that could easily have been fit into Big Star's first two records and covers of Sugar, Sugar and Jumping Jack Flash that are both loose and sloppy, but are fun and tongue 'n' cheek. An interesting collection of songs that gives insight into Chilton's early work and it's a must for any Big Star fans.

ALEX CHILTON
1970 (1996)

1. Come On Honey
2. I Can Dig It
3. Just To See You
4. Free Again
5. Something Deep Inside
6. All I Really Want Is Money
7. I Wish I Could Meet Elvis
8. The Happy Song
9. Every Day As We Grow Closer
10. The EMI Song (Smile For Me)
11. Jumpin' Jack Flash
12. Funky National
13. Sugar Sugar/I Got The Feelin'

ALEX CHILTON- 1970. rar