Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me Page #10

And as it wound up,

Alex produced a demo

that got them signed to Sire.

We want people to know

who Alex is.

Who don't...

never heard of Big Star.

And it's our way of like,

you know,

he doesn't need our help.

He doesn't want our help,

but damn it,

he's gonna get it,

whether he likes it or not.

He was always totally

grumpy about his past

and that which is in a way

to his credit.

I mean, in some ways

I got tired of hearing him

talk about

how terrible Big Star was.

I'm like, "No they weren't.

Shut up. "

You know, isn't it long enough

now that you can sort of,

like, recognize that

a lot of us like this stuff,

even if we are not totally

cool or whatever, you know.

But I can also

really appreciate the fact

that he's really got

that sort of burning artistic,

unsettled thing in his soul

that really made him mean it.

I used

to live up-river in Memphis.

And, uh, Memphis has got...

Well, it hasn't

got a lot of the things

that New Orleans has.

I feel a lot freer here.

You know,

he made his own way

and escaped

his many incarnations,

which I also find

really fascinating.

You know, he came out

of the Box Tops and,

you know,

he could have been

that gravel-voiced singer

forever,

but he made a new start.

For years and years he toured

with like a rhythm section and,

you know, playing Volare.

Volare.

I know these are complex things

with people,

but I didn't think it served him

that well to always be

turning his back

on some of the stuff.

And in his attitude

towards his own career,

I think there was a certain

kind of self destructiveness,

on that level.

# I love the walking dead

# No, I really do

I think he went

through an evolution,

to get to

where he wanted to be.

It isn't necessarily

where everybody

wanted him to stay.

I think that people

would rather have him

still be in the Box Tops,

and people would rather

have him still be in Big Star.

But, you know,

he was a real musician

and a real artist.

Can you like sign it?

- No.

- Thanks, man.

You keep buying

and I'll keep signing.

Alex was always difficult.

Is that at TGI Fridays?

Yes.

For instance, when he reformed

Big Star in '93,

anyone that knew him was shocked

that he did that

because people asked him to.

And if you ask

Alex to do something,

you can bet he's gonna say,

you know, no.

Um, I thought it was a hoax.

They'll be playing

tomorrow night

at the House of Blues

right here in LA,

please welcome Big Star.

# Hanging out

# Down the street

When Big Star reformed

I felt like that was

a gratifying payback

to get in touch with the many,

many, many thousands of people

that were touched by the music,

that were invisible to them.

You know, who were

finding Big Star records

and CDs in little record shops.

Good, Jody.

Not bad. Not bad.

I am so grateful

that Jody is on the planet.

In some ways, you know,

I think he carries the heart

and soul of what we love

about Big Star.

I think he was always

true to something

that was true to him.

It was essential to him.

Being in the band with

Alex and Jon and Ken...

Wow, I've got this

amazing seat

to these great performances

by the three of them.

So it's more about

the three of them

and I'm kind of

a spectator back there.

There's such tremendous joy

in playing with Alex.

You know, there would be

this smile on his face that...

maybe was

a spontaneous smile

and maybe he realized

that he was smiling

and so maybe he stopped.

But...

I've never known

Alex to do anything

he didn't like to do,

so he must have

liked playing

and performing on stage

and playing that music.

The gentleman is recognized

for one minute.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Today I come before you

with a heavy heart

for a friend of mine

and a great friend of music

in the world,

in particular from my hometown

of Memphis, Tennessee

passed away last night,

Alex Chilton.

Alex Chilton at age 16

had a Number 1 hit with

a group called the Box Tops,

a song called "The Letter"

then he had a group

called Big Star.

Big Star wasn't well-known,

they did three albums,

but Rolling stone

put all three albums

in the Top 500 albums

ever produced in America.

He was supposed to play

at South by Southwest

this weekend in Austin.

They are mourning him.

He is an embodiment

of Memphis music,

hard, different, independent,

brilliant, beautiful.

We're lucky

he came our way.

You know, obviously

this has been a difficult thing

and I'll just say, you know,

after the news on Wednesday

about Alex's passing,

my instinct was we'll probably

cancel everything

and that was sort of

the initial impulse,

but after talking

with Jody it seemed like,

you know, the best thing to do

was to play and so anyway,

just tell a little bit

about the show,

just so folks know...

Well, a lot of people

have agreed to come.

You know,

we'll play some of the stuff

we always sang,

but, I mean, everybody...

We've got like Evan Dando,

John Doe, Chris Stamey,

I think we're going to talk

Andy into getting up

and playing on a song,

uh, the Watson Twins,

Sondre Lerche...

Mike Mills.

# Lord, I've been trying

# To be what I should

# Lord, I've been trying

I guess REM

was just getting started.

I mean, I was in college still

and, you know, trying

to sort out all the things

you're trying

to sort out in college.

We were just

forming our band...

and just beginning

to write songs

and trying to figure out

how to go about that

and Big Star was always

a benchmark for me, all my life.

If I could ever make a record

as good

as any of the Big Star stuff,

that's kind of how I felt

I would be successful.

# Lord, I've been trying

They have this legendary status

among musicians, for sure.

When people say Big Star,

it's not an era thing,

it's a band thing.

They're alone,

they're Big Star.

That's one of those bands

like where you go, Big Star.

You don't go,

Big Star and that ilk.

I've listened to his records

on many, many occasions,

but never had to sing them.

You can see that a lot of time

was spent making those records.

You know, they are

a thing of beauty.

It's difficult

to find a weak moment,

there aren't any.

# Won't you let me walk

you home from school? #

It all makes perfect sense now,

when the artist

is in the shadows.

That's the stuff that people

actually want to go and hear.

And Big Star

has joined that club.

They have only made

these three records

and there's a different line up

with each album

and a different

kind of approach.

The thing that holds

the band together,

I suppose, is trying to express

them in melancholy

and something exuberant,

is kind of two extremes.

# A cool jerk

# Oh, I want you

# Like a kangaroo

Well, there's

two separate dreams

have always been in my head.

There was a dream

of really putting out

the best record you could,

and it was just like you wanted

to versus some other dream

which would be being

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