Without resorting to pure hyperbole, I'm trying to find a big statement to honor Alex Chilton, the Big Star singer/songwriter who died of an apparent heart attack at age 59 today, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, but I'll play it safe and simply offer the following understatement: He was the best power-pop songwriter of all time.
A sub-genre of rock 'n' roll marked by its economical arrangements and easy, abundant melodies, power-pop had existed in some form for at least a decade before Chilton took a stab at it with Big Star in the early '70s, but Chilton approached it from a markedly different perspective than its British Invasion pioneers. Where The Who enjoyed power-pop as rock 'n' roll distilled to its most basic elements, and The Beatles used power-pop structures in the service of universal songs about the human experience, Chilton's vision of power-pop was deeply personal, his songs often veiled and cryptic, and soaked in a desperation.
Critics often write of Big Star's commercial failure like it was some great mystery or injustice, but for all their remarkable hooks, Big Star's songs never seemed intended for mass appeal. Unlike The Beatles, who spoke for every lovelorn teenager with proto-power-pop hits like "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You," Chilton's songs spoke for Chilton alone. That could make them an uncomfortable listen, but it explains the band's cult appeal. The relatively few listeners who could relate to Chilton's songs could really, really relate to them.
And thankfully for the world, many of that those relatively few listeners went on to become musicians themselves. Chilton's potent mix of inviting melodies and trenchant lyrics would inform some of the best songwriters of generations to come, including Michael Stipe, Paul Westerberg, Jeff Tweedy and, in particular, Elliott Smith, who shared Chilton's quivering, angelic voice and bittersweet world view. Chilton forever changed the way songwriters expressed themselves. As fantastic as Chilton's own songbook is, it's these disciples and the many more he'll spawn over future generations that will be Chilton's most lasting legacy.
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