{"id":21456,"date":"2021-08-23T05:30:13","date_gmt":"2021-08-23T09:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=21456"},"modified":"2021-08-22T17:50:40","modified_gmt":"2021-08-22T21:50:40","slug":"album-review-alex-chilton-boogie-shoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/23\/album-review-alex-chilton-boogie-shoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Alex Chilton &#8212; Boogie Shoes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-21457\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/alex_chilton_boogie_shoes.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/alex_chilton_boogie_shoes.jpg 350w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/alex_chilton_boogie_shoes-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/alex_chilton_boogie_shoes-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/>If there\u2019s such a thing as an obscure legend, Alex Chilton is one. While he was in fact the lead singer in a popular \u201860s pop group (Box Tops) and part of supremely influential Memphis band Big Star, his name isn\u2019t one that\u2019s familiar to the casual music listener. And even among those who appreciate his superb solo work, Chilton \u2013 who passed away in 2010 \u2013 exemplifies the phrase \u201cerratic artist.\u201d Ira Robbins\u2019 indispensable <i>Trouser Press<\/i> said it most succinctly (if perhaps a tad unkindly) in a review: \u201cAt his worst, he sounds like someone\u2019s holding a checkbook on him; few reputable performers can sound as distracted or uninterested in a studio performance\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>But Chilton seemed most at ease, most at home and most engaged when he was playing the music that he loved. Not his music, you must understand; his fascination with obscure covers is as legendary as his difficult nature.<\/p>\n<p>I bring all of this up to make the point that unlike some of his studio work, Chilton\u2019s live performances are more likely to impress. And unlike the sloppy (if enjoyable) <i>Live in London<\/i> from 1981, a newly-released set, <i>Boogie Shoes: Live on Beale Street<\/i> showcases Alex Chilton at his best.<\/p>\n<p>Backed by the Hi Rhythm Section(!), Chilton tears into a set of classic soul sides, and he\u2019s never sounded better. There was no rehearsal for this set, and it\u2019s clear none was needed. Chilton was rarely as \u201con\u201d as he was this night in 1999 in Memphis. A fundraiser to defray medical expenses for revered Memphis music figure Fred Ford, the show is tight and focused, yet full of the loose-limbed energy and charm that represented Alex Chilton at his very best. Even when delivering familiar standards like \u201cLucille,\u201d \u201cKansas City\u201d and \u201cWhere Did Our Love Go,\u201d Chilton is on target.<\/p>\n<p>The evening\u2019s set was professionally recorded with all of the quality one would expect from a studio date, and thanks in no small part to the Hi guys, the arrangements are robust without being overblown, organized without being stiff. Though it was never intended for release, <i>Boogie Shoes<\/i> may well end up serving as the definitive musical statement of Alex Chilton\u2019s solo career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If there\u2019s such a thing as an obscure legend, Alex Chilton is one. While he was in fact the lead singer in a popular \u201860s pop group (Box Tops) and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,65,69],"tags":[157,994,1622],"class_list":["post-21456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-release","category-review","category-soul","tag-alex-chilton","tag-hi-rhythm-section","tag-omnivore-recordings","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","cat-69-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21456"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21458,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21456\/revisions\/21458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}