Most
of Chilton's best-known albums as a solo artist and with his two
groups: Big Star and The Box Tops. Also shown are a couple of the
posthumous releases to emerge as his work continues to be discovered
and rediscovered. (NOTE: ALL these records and more are offered in our
rewards as a one-time-only SUPER VINYL LP COLLECTOR'S DREAM PACKAGE).
Stills from some of our interviews. From top left: Ross Johnson
(Pantherburns), Jody Stephens (Big Star), Dan Penn (Box Tops), Elizabeth
Aldridge (Sister Lover), Tav Falco (Pantherburns), Marcia Clifton
(Klitz), Gary Talley (Box Tops), Francis MacDonald (Teenage Fanclub),
Ron Easley (Chilton solo bandmate), Swain Schaeffer (Box Tops), René
Coman (Chilton solo bandmate), Jon Auer (Big Star), Johnny Jay (produced
by Chilton), Doug Garrison (Chilton solo bandmate), Carl Marsh
(arranger - "Sister Lovers") & Davis Rogan (New Orleans bandmate).
Alex Chilton Rock & Roll Hero
A documentary about one of rock's most influential & least understood artists.
This feature length documentary explores the remarkable story of Alex Chilton, whose instant fame with a #1 hit record at age 16 was followed by a long and winding journey through works of neglected genius, darkness and obscurity before he was gradually discovered and rediscovered by fans, fellow musicians and critics. As the influence of his music continued to grow, he became a reluctant cult figure while staying true to his own eclectic and unpredictable muses.
His is the story of a true artist - one whose life and career plainly present us with the question: what is the difference between fame and success?
I was in a unique position to launch this project. Being from our shared hometown of Memphis (where I first got to know Alex when he was in his twenties, and I was in my teens) I knew where to start, who to interview and where to dig for archives. So I dove in, on a wing and a prayer and with no budget.
With the cooperation of his estate, and the help of many of his friends, I took it on as a personal project but it was never meant to be just another "fan" film or even a "friend" film. This is a serious documentary about a legendary, one-of-a-kind musician. A real film. A rare story. One of those stories that should inevitably become a film.
It might be the story behind a photo, or a complete song performed live - look here for changing selections throughout the campaign.
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A GREAT STORY WAITING TO BE TOLD
“Chilton remains the most inscrutable rock musician not named Bob Dylan” -John Lingan, NEW REPUBLIC
He is one of the most unique and influential artists in modern American music, yet Alex Chilton remains famous for not being famous, like a secret handshake among true music lovers.The sweep of his career is almost without parallel.
At age 16 he scored a #1 hit: "The Letter" on his very first recording session as lead singer of The Box Tops in his hometown of Memphis. He dropped out of school to become a pop star as the group shared concert bills with groups like The Doors and The Beach Boys and recorded more "blue-eyed soul" hits. After The Box Tops disbanded he joined and came to lead another Memphis group: Big Star, the fabled masters of "power-pop," in the early '70s. The group gave few live performances and their records were poorly distributed but became widely acclaimed over the years (all three L.P.s attributed to Big Star are listed among Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time"). Chilton created misunderstood masterpieces through the '70s with Sister Lovers/Big Star's Third and Like Flies on Sherbet while also becoming immersed in the New York punk rock scene and producing the first and greatest records by the legendary "psychobilly" ensemble: The Cramps.
He backed away from the microphone and became a guitar-slinging sideman in the ramshackle "art damage" group - the Pantherburns, and then retired from public performance altogether for awhile before rediscovering his chops by fronting the house band in a daquiri dive on New Orleans' infamous Bourbon Street. He reinvented himself as a solo performer and recording artist in the '80s and emerged as a hero of college radio - a pioneer of the "indie" music scene. As the popularity of his earlier recordings rose, he refused to sing most of those songs and became an interpreter of obscure tunes from most every genre - transitioning from the rebel who could scare your parents into the veteran who honored the music of the elders. His influence on younger musicians insured a growing cult status and brought tributes, kudos and covers from such artists as the Replacements, the Bangles, Cheap Trick, R.E.M., Counting Crows, Teenage Fanclub, Elliot Smith, Wilco and many more. He eventually relented to his own popularity and occasionally performed under the banners of his earlier groups - The Box Tops and Big Star. Ever the iconoclast of his own myths, his career had lasted long enough for him to become one of those elders worth honoring.
“Why wasn’t he (Chilton) everybody’s hero? ... I cry every time I hear it. It’s so simple. It blows away everything I’ll ever do.” Jeff Buckley speaking of Sister Lovers/Big Star'sThird.
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Finding Rare Archival Footage & PhotographsMy long approach to gathering material for the film has been rewarded with a collection of archival treasures. Alex almost never allowed himself to be filmed onstage, but I've found plenty of footage that captured rare glimpses of his brilliance as a performer.
Our video from the '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s includes appearances of Chilton solo and with his groups: The Box Tops, Big Star and The Panther Burns. Among the video contributors are:
Pat Rainer and Tav Falco, two of Memphis' first video artists, have allowed access to their original tapes from the '70s.
Both were exposed to the experimental video artistry of William Eggleston and Randall Lyon who led a local movement of pioneers with a distinctive style of verité in the earliest days of "portable" video.
Freeze frame from video of performance with Pantherburns at The Well - Memphis, 1979
Danny Graflund, Alex's friend and former "bodyguard", entrusted me with another treasured box of tapes that became "Big Star: Live in Memphis".
This 1994 performance may be the only complete concert Alex ever allowed to be filmed by a professional multi-camera crew - yet the tapes remained unedited for nearly 20 years. I assembled the footage to find Alex giving a fabulous performance song after song. The complete concert film already has a life of its own as Omnivore Records released a DVD from the edit as well as vinyl and cd soundtracks. We have access to both the final edit and the raw footage from that performance.
We have access to footage from this concert film that I edited and co-produced. It includes fantastic performances by Alex.
I've found photographs and other memorabilia from many sources including Chilton's family's photo albums and the work of many fine photographers - some famous and some unknown.
Pat Rainer's photographs are finding a life of their own after I spent four days scanning her negatives from the late '70s for this film and realized she should have a show. I contacted the Stax Museum of American Soul in Memphis and they gave her a solo exhibition!
Recording "Like Flies on Sherbet" at Phillips Recording in Memphis, 1978 - photo by Pat Rainer
“When I see these edits, my first thought is this is what a REAL documentary looks like. This is what a REAL film looks like. I was blown away with the attention you put into it. It was a joy to watch and a beautiful homage to Alex. Your passion can be felt in every single second.“ - David Godlis, NYC photographer who captured iconic images of the late ‘70s punk explosion.
Chilton in 1967 as lead singer of The Box Tops soon after recording their #1 hit: The Letter on his very first recording session. He dropped out of school to become a pop star at age 16.
After a self-imposed hiatus from music in the early '80s, Chilton reinvented himself as a solo artist and gradually found a way to accept his role as a cult figure and pioneer of the indie scene.
We will aim for the top and submit to the finest festivals - festivals where deals are made - with the goal of finding distribution. This is the challenge for most independent films: to find an outlet, or outlets, who will pay for the right to show our film. Chilton's reputation will surely open a few doors and a well-made documentary about him should easily find an audience beyond the festival circuit. It is a multilayered process but at the core of it we must simply make a good film.
To be perfectly clear, we do not expect our minimum Kickstarter budget to cover the cost of licensing all the music. A lot of material will come from friendly sources and we have allies in the music business who will help negotiate music clearances but we are proceeding with the plan that much of that cost should be covered through the film's distribution (broadcast, streaming, theatrical, etc.).
Of course, we'll LOVE it if the Kickstarter campaign exceeds our minimum goal and we can start to pay off those music licenses and make it easier for outlets to pick up the show for distribution in markets large and small. If we have a truly stellar success and double, or maybe triple, our goal to pay for all those clearances, it could guarantee the film will be offered to wider audiences.
Please show your support and donate as much as you can to the ultimate realization of the film.
It’s been re-released (on blue vinyl) by Toxic Toast Records
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT DOG POLICE
In 1985, at Memphis studio
485 Hollywood MemphisThe Dog Police recorded an hilarious song, then video, showcasing their canine-teeth approach to Memphis music.
Also known as The Tony Thomas Trio, the group featured,
Tony Thomas
Tom Leanardo
Sam Shoup
Dog Police Comments and info
I thought this clip was lost for eternity. I'm forever grateful and thank you for this gem.
Sam Shoup puppy is from Memphis, Tennessee. the old Shoe Productions. I was there!
this is indeterminately from Memphis.
some of this band can still be seen in Memphis playing locally, the lead singer is actually a drummer... but i still think this video is awesome but I'm bias cause I'm known the singer my whole life!
THAT'S RIGHT, IT IS A MEMPHIS TWANG!!
Please give Memphis and these Memphis boys credit. Anyone that lives and plays music knows how little of that we do get!
Shoe Productions 485 Hollywood, Memphis.
These guys were crazy so we signed them and did the video.
We also did Disco Duck (Rick Dees)
Musicians that hung out:
Duck Dunn, Willie Hall & Steve Cropper (Blues Brothers).
They were Booker T and the MG's-played/co-written, "Mustang Sally", "Hold on I'm Coming" and 100's of hits in the 60/70's.
Also: Lou Rawls, Dr, John, Paul Butterfield, Jimmy Griffin (Bread) & many more.
I have loving memories of those days at Shoe in Memphis.
So was that William H Macy on the keyboard and vocorder?
Never heard of William Macy.
Tony Thomas was on keyboard - Sam Shoup on Bass and Tom Lonardo sang and also plays just about everything.Again - from Memphis, TN
Recorded for Shoe Productions at Shoe Studios in about 1982-83.
There actually is an entire album of satirical songs called simply "Dog Police".
I still have an unopened 33 rpm. Thanks for responding so fast.
OH the days of the small studio before I thought I would make a career of this insanity loll. Duke Street, Vancouver, Canada was my Shoe Productions.
HOLY SHIT. Thank you. I only half-remembered ever seeing this ONCE, and I never found ANY information on it anywhere, so I'd started to convince myself I'd imagined it and it never really existed.
Thank you for this! Although it's creepier than I remember it.
I've been trying to explain this video to people for about 1,000 years. Thank you for confirming the fact that my brain did not make this song and video up.
The keyboard player looks like William H. Macy.
My god. It's like Hurra Torpedo, Devo and Blue Öyster Cult got together for a side project.
THIS is my YouTube account. We all know that furriers are flapping it to the dog-girl in this video.
HOLY CRAP!! I have not seen this video since 198-freakin'-4!
I actually came to think that I had just imagined the whole thing.
Thank you for providing me with proof that I was not nearly as deranged as I thought I was! i just shat myself in fear I remember "1 800" also.
I thought I was the only one in the world who remembered this video?
it took 2nd place behind RAIL in the MTV Video Contest back in like 1982?
THAT DOG CHICK WAS HOT AM I RITE GUYS?
no, you are,
in fact,
quite wrong,
my friend.
she was a cat.
Digney Fignus won.
His video is posted on YouTube. Just search for his name and you'll find,
The Girl With the Curious Hand
It makes me remind La Máquina del Rock in Lima city, Perú.
Thanks! i do member this.. but i still don't get it i do like the drug fragrance though they said they were the ART BARF FAR ARR
This was the video that SHOULD have won the "MTV's Basement Tapes" contest back in about 1982.
It is so crazy and imaginative! Instead, some heavy metal group made up of 10 year olds won. GAG... how "cute." It was such a rip-off. This video is a classic! But it came in second place. That has made me mad for all these years. Hopefully these artists have had success elsewhere.
The band was honestly called: "The Dog Police!" The band they lost to was called Trak. I remember them because they were featured in LIFE magazine's edition on teenagers in 1984.
Google them and the name Derita, because Trak was like a Leif Garrett butt-gawk Partridge Family.
I can't find a thing on them. Digney Fignus and Guadalcanal Diary also had entries that year. Dog Police was ROBBED, I tells ya. I totally agree!
DP were robbed! The basement tapes were voted in by callers - the band that won had their entire community on the phone that night hitting the redial button. hen this video first came out and MTV was cool, a bunch of us single bachelors had this as our theme song. Woof Woof Woof...were they think-in? glad i was born when DA 80s was nearly over.
reminds me of fat weird cartoon cop dog "scruff gruff" 'take a bite out of crime' now we just need someone to post the video for "1-800."
Oh man, I never forgot this video,
I can't believe I got to see it again.
I can die happy now. Totally fucked up, but happy. Truly amazing. MTV used to be so ahead of its time. Basement tapes are YouTube Music 24 years before YouTube ever happened.
Dog Police forever!
Nobody knows who we are! HOLY SHIT, 20 bloody be damned years i've been looking for this video
No shit. I saw this way back in the day and used to tell everyone about it and could never find it. This kicks my uncles ass. actually cut (edited) this song and produced the video and hes in it when the dog police are walking in the bar hes the one dancing all crazy on the far left wow cool!
I've totally giggled at him a million times. he actually did a lot of stuff back then he was a camera man for the Mikey mouse club and he did all the audio for hustle and flow and he is currently working on black snake moan fortunately the departments he work in don't make him fa-mouse Are you talking about Andy? Yes I know Andy & Linda very well.
Tell him "Wags" said hello. No the work that we stagehands do carries no fame or solaces but quite often, at the end of the day, we end up making more than the performers and, ask your uncle, WE ARE GOD. If I don't like you one little turn of a dial can make your audience not like you tee gee.
All you Dog Police fans will be pleased to know Andrew Sullivan linked to this.
OH MY GOD! I can't believe it! I've been looking for this for years. GOD BLESS YOU! I was starting to think I made this up in my head. Dear god.
I suspected that I'd imagined this for years because I saw it as a tyke and when I tried to explain it to people they would do little but blankly stare at me. I've had the chorus of this song running through my head since 1983. me too. ;) that makes 3 of us. That makes 4 of us. These guys are now playing with The Jumpiness Chi Chi's That is the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life. Just straight up weirdness. For reals Is this supposed to make women feel badly about themselves?
Like the theme of this is 'have a poor self-image' I think. Like you're so ugly you should be arrested. I've been looking all over for an mp3 of this song. Can anyone help me out? i have an MP3 of this song give me your Email and i will send it to you it'd LOVE AN mp3 OF THIS TOO....BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS VIDEO FOR OVER 20 YEARS NOW
I actually finally roistered YouTube just so I could echo all the sentiments posted...I thought it was a figment of my imagination also. I'm also glad to see some people remember 1-800 also. The singer looked like a babushka with a corncob planted. Fay and lame. Was there another video from the 80's that has people wearing dog faces? I swear I vaguely remember another video (other than dog police) that involved people dressed like dogs singing.
If someone knows what I'm talking about, please tell what the song was called.
this video actually WON 1st prize in an MTV contest for unsigned bands. they were supposed to get a record contract out of the deal,which they probably did, but were then just told to forget it. At the time, everybody was shocked to see that they had won compared to more serious entries. But it was a people's vote that put it there, so go figure.
Try not to take it too seriously. it's more at home on Dr. Memento or something. i saw that once back in the 80's and never thought it'd see that again. thanks for posting! i remember that... so trash so cool!!
I never realized how much this sounded like Devo!
I remember it.
Dog Police, where are you comin' from? Dog Police, Nobody knows who you are!
This also played on Night Flight, where I first recorded it. MTV (Mars candy company TV....those that were there will remember the Quincy Jones war against MTV's biggest advertiser, MARS, because they weren't playing enough Michael Jackson and it was ALL downhill from there)sucked only marginally less than it does now (except for Al TV). thanks for the video! The hubby pretty much thought I was retarded for singing about the Dog Police (he had never heard of them)...now he just pretty much thinks I'm retarded.
yo solo se qe si no entiendes lo qe dizen esto es una mierda pintxada en un palo seko. Saluted.
I remember watching this on USA's Night Flight - way back in the day.
Thanks for posting!
It came close to winning MTV's "Basement Tapes" contest, but it didn't win.
I, for one, miss J.C. Hardaway's barbecue sandwich and The Big S Grill...
Terrible to find out that our favorite pitmaster has passed away. JC Hardaway, who made the best chopped pork sandwiches and hamburgers in Memphis, passed away sunday at age 78.
Visiting the Big S to chow down on JC's food was a weekly ritual. JC would bring out a pad of paper and we'd jot down the orders while he brought out our quarts of beer, always chuckling to himself about something or other, always enthused that we came for his food.
our standard approach was to order one cheeseburger and one chopped sandwich- the heat from the bbq would be tempered by the burger, and everything then washed down by some cold beer. Damn! The combination of flavors and the permanently-midnight interior decor of the big S made the the whole experience otherworldly- we never wanted to leave.
Ribs weren't always available- possibly because JC seemed to get the biggest ribs i've ever seen- and maybe buffalo ribs weren't always for sale in Memphis? When we did opt for the ribs,they were tangy, salty, and sweet. And big enough for at least one more meal.
It was always great taking foreigners into this "bad area" and watching their responses as they tasted the food. It was great the way JC would greet 'em "where are you from? France? Have you heard of me? I'm world-famous!" It was great the time jay went nuts and ate 4 cheeseburgers. or was it bbq sandwiches? it was a lot of food, either way. It was great when we were watching the hopeless, hapless Grizz beat the Lakers on tv in the Big S. It was great when we finished the Big S t-shirts, with JC's face on the back.... turned out to be a limited edition. I hope you got yours.
A group of us went to see him a while back when he first went into the hospital and brought him some things, but he was heavily medicated and so out of it that i think we confused him more than helped. JC, true to form, kept trying to get out of bed to fix my friend eric a cheeseburger.
we miss you JC.
J.C. Hardaway, Pit Master, 1924-2002
by Lolis Eric Elie
It was Frank Stewart's memory that led us to Hawkins Grill that May night in 1993. As a boy, growing up in Memphis, he had eaten barbecue at that small, unheralded place. All those years later, the flavor of the place lingered in his memory.
The sandwiches we would eat that night at Hawkins Grill would be the first of many we would ingest in the course of preparing our book, Smokestack Lightning: Adventures in the Heart of Barbecue Country. It was an unfortunate beginning, in a way. J.C. Hardaway, the pitmaster at Hawkins Grill, would come to represent for me and for many the ultimate in barbecue mastery. Little did we know that biting into those sandwiches we would put ourselves on a long and disappointing road. We tasted barbecue all over this vast country of ours. None of it was better than what we ate that night at Hawkins Grill. J.C.'s was a meticulous method.
Sitting on a hot grill, there was a pork shoulder wrapped in aluminum foil. As Al Green or Albert King or Frankie Beverly played on the jukebox, J.C. cut a few slices and set them to warm on the grill. On the same grill, he toasted the hamburger buns. While the meat cooked, he splashed them with barbecue sauce from an old Palmolive dish detergent bottle. The meat was then placed on a worn chopping board, chopped with a dull clever, placed on the toasted bun, topped with a mayonnaise-based coleslaw, cut in half, stuck with a toothpick, and served.
It was a sandwich like that one that led me to write, "In J.C. Hardaway, the shoulder sandwich has discovered its Stradivarius." The sentiment was not mine alone. J.C. was the only chef invited to cook twice at the Southern Foodways Alliance's annual symposium. There is no more exacting audience for American food than that crowd. He wowed them as he did everyone.
You would think that in Memphis, Tennessee, a barbecue crazed town, that a man like J.C. Hardaway would be a local legend, right up there with B.B. King and Elvis Presley. But truth be told, he worked in relatively obscurity, known only by the folks in the neighborhood and the few serious connoisseurs who sought him out near the corner of Bellview and McLemore. The local food critics didn't know him. And even at Hawkins, his genius wasn't appreciated. The owners sold the place and the new owners deluded themselves into thinking they could cook as well as J.C. The business died while J.C. moved around the corner to the Big S Grill, where he completed his career.
Little by little he came to be more widely known. He was mentioned in magazine articles, and in his hometown newspaper. He was honored with the Keeper of the Flame award by the Southern Foodways Alliance, and his fans even had t-shirts and business cards printed up for him. But the end was bittersweet. Years of standing up 12 hours a day, cooking, serving, and cleaning took its toll. His advanced age and failing health made it difficult for him to fully enjoy the accolades that were his in later life.
But when those many midnights turned to mornings and when the small aisle of Hawkins was filled with dancers and there were as many empty quart beer bottles on the bar as there were full ones left in the cooler, what emerged on the plate from J.C. Hardaway's cramped kitchen was as much about nostalgia as it was about food. The taste of his sandwiches invoked the ancestors. And as you ate at Hawkins, the nostalgic details of your own biography in food played in your mind, while you chewed with an intense silence.
So it is fitting now that for the happy few who knew J.C. and his genius, he has become a legend. An ancestor. And years from now, when we are that much further from his era and its culinary ideals, we will still conjure that flavor in our mouth's memory and smile.
Memphis pit masters Raymond Robinson (Cozy Corner Barbecue) and J. C. Hardaway (Big S Lounge) serve up their origin stories and talk meat—from Boston butt to ribs to Cornish hens.
Smokestack Lightning, a Day in the Life of Barbecue. Filmmakers and serious eaters Scott Stohler and David Bransten of Bay Package Productions follow ten subjects from five different states, exploring "the history and tradition of this food from its rural beginnings to its present day incarnation in large-scale commercial organizations."
J.C. Hardaway is a famous Memphis pit master and owner of the Big S. Lounge. His sauce is simple and very good.
1.5 lbs. granulated sugar. (I use half that amount.)
4 cups white or red vinegar (I use Mussleman's apple cider vinegar.)
1 - 16 ounce bottle Hunt's Tomato Ketchup (J.C. says it has to be Hunt's.)
You can add a touch of fire, like Tabasco, if you like. I heat it it up to dissolve the sugar but don't boil it. It keeps for a long time in the fridge.
Page 10 - Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack.
Page 282 - Place 2 cups watermelon puree, the sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes.
Page 123 - Put the water, ham, and beans into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the beans are tender, about 2 hours.
Page 277 - /i hours or until golden brown on top and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes, then cut into squares and place in individual serving bowls.
Page 27 - Meanwhile, combine the ketchup and brown sugar in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the sauce is warm.
Page 54 - ... vinegar, apple juice or cider, cider vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic powder, white pepper, cayenne, and bacon bits in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in the apple, onion, and bell pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, 10 to 15 minutes or until it thickens slightly. Stir it often. Allow to cool, then pour into sterilized glass bottles. A glass jar that used to contain mayonnaise or juice works well. Refrigerate for...
I, for one, miss J.C. Hardaway's barbecue sandwich and The Big S Grill... Terrible to find out that our favorite pitmaster has passed away. JC Hardaway, who made the best chopped pork sandwiches and hamburgers in Memphis, passed away sunday at age 78. Visiting the Big S to chow down on JC's food was ... » See Ya at » What Gets Me Hot
J.C. Hardaway, Pit Master, 1924-2002