Alex Chilton, former Box Top and pioneer of Big Star's Seventies soul rock, finally made it into beleagured Britain; I didn't believe it 'til I saw it - and it was worth the wait.
Assisted by the Soft Boys' rhythm section and additional guitarist Knox, Chilton apologised for any initial looseness ("we only rehearsed three times") before preceeding to demonstrate his animal magnetism and a stock of distorted psychedelic melodies.
On night one this impromptu band were occasionally painful to hear but by Wednesday the discodant elements had been sharpened to a dangerous level and the simpler punch of Chilton's understandable rockabilly obsession (it is written that rockabilly shall inherit the earth) was coordinated where it previously had been messy.
Chilton confounded rumour by playing exactly two Big Star proper numbers - a crunching, engagingly sloppy "In The Street" and a less dependable version of his anthemic "September Gurls" - somehow most people's favourite memory.
The band solidified on the straighter rock'n'roll of Johnny Burnett's "Train Kept A Rolling" and the self-explanatory sexism of "Rock Hard." They were willing and inept on the country-tinged eccentricity of Jimmy Newman's "Alligator Man" but were definitely up for Cordell Jackson's sublime "Stranded On A Dateless Night" which deserves wider currency.
The man's vocals have deepened and roughened since the days of "The Letter" but there was pathos and personal commitment standing out in veins through the contemplative work of his later period - "Nightime" and "Kanga Roo" contrasting disillusioned loneliness and childhood reflection with a power that only the very best songwriting lays claim to. Meanwhile Chilton played a series of startling rhythm and lead parts; if the Gibson/Fender combination wasn't always synchronised then the accidental discoveries made up for the times when understanding broke down.
Both nights Chilton insisted on encoring solo with the Carter Family's "No More The Sun Shines On Lorena," a decision that flummoxed the audience, I think, and in so doing justified its position.
You see, there's never anything obvious about Chilton's performance - his recorded work enjoys and suffers from a complexity of idiosyncrasies that prevents him from entering the echelons of financial security.
Alex Chilton came and delivered the way he knows best - he was enthusiastic and erratic. I'm glad he's around.
MAX BELL / NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS
Alex Chilton: Vocals & Guitar
Knox: Guitar
Mathew Seligman: Bass
Morris Windsor: Drums
Recorded live at Dingwalls, London England
Wednesday. May 28 1980
1. Bangkok
2. Tramp
3. In The Street
4. Hey Little Child
5. Nighttime
6. Rock Hard
7. Alligator Man
8. The Letter
9. Train Kept A Rollin'
10. Kanga Roo
11. My Rival
12. Stranded On A Dateless Night
13. September Gurls
14. No More the Moon Shines on Lorena
Dingwalls, London
Wednesday. May 28 1980
Alex Chilton, former Box Top and pioneer of Big Star's Seventies soul rock, finally made it into beleagured Britain; I didn't believe it 'til I saw it - and it was worth the wait.
Assisted by the Soft Boys' rhythm section and additional guitarist Knox, Chilton apologised for any initial looseness ("we only rehearsed three times") before preceeding to demonstrate his animal magnetism and a stock of distorted psychedelic melodies.
On night one this impromptu band were occasionally painful to hear but by Wednesday the discodant elements had been sharpened to a dangerous level and the simpler punch of Chilton's understandable rockabilly obsession (it is written that rockabilly shall inherit the earth) was coordinated where it previously had been messy.
Chilton confounded rumour by playing exactly two Big Star proper numbers - a crunching, engagingly sloppy "In The Street" and a less dependable version of his anthemic "September Gurls" - somehow most people's favourite memory.
The band solidified on the straighter rock'n'roll of Johnny Burnett's "Train Kept A Rolling" and the self-explanatory sexism of "Rock Hard." They were willing and inept on the country-tinged eccentricity of Jimmy Newman's "Alligator Man" but were definitely up for Cordell Jackson's sublime "Stranded On A Dateless Night" which deserves wider currency.
The man's vocals have deepened and roughened since the days of "The Letter" but there was pathos and personal commitment standing out in veins through the contemplative work of his later period - "Nightime" and "Kanga Roo" contrasting disillusioned loneliness and childhood reflection with a power that only the very best songwriting lays claim to. Meanwhile Chilton played a series of startling rhythm and lead parts; if the Gibson/Fender combination wasn't always synchronised then the accidental discoveries made up for the times when understanding broke down.
Both nights Chilton insisted on encoring solo with the Carter Family's "No More The Sun Shines On Lorena," a decision that flummoxed the audience, I think, and in so doing justified its position.
You see, there's never anything obvious about Chilton's performance - his recorded work enjoys and suffers from a complexity of idiosyncrasies that prevents him from entering the echelons of financial security.
Alex Chilton came and delivered the way he knows best - he was enthusiastic and erratic. I'm glad he's around.
MAX BELL / NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS
Alex Chilton: Vocals & Guitar
Knox: Guitar
Mathew Seligman: Bass
Morris Windsor: Drums