Neat covers on the way

[The Shift]

From BigO:


LOST ALEX
One night in 1997 during a famous blackout in New York city, Alex Chilton was there performing by candlelight at the Knitting Factory on Feb 13. That performance was captured by a fan, Jeff Vorgon, and his lo-fi recording is now set for release through Bar/None Records on Oct 8. The Second Disc writes: "Chilton was in town for two performances at the venue; before his second night, however, The Knitting Factory inexplicably lost power, and refunds were issued. But in an almost too-good-to-be-true twist, Chilton and touring drummer Richard Dworkin made their way to the floor. Chilton accepted a random concertgoer's loan of an acoustic guitar, and played. What happened next was more than a dozen ethereal covers, from Loudon Wainwright III ('Motel Blues') to Joni Mitchell ('A Case of You'), standards including 'The Girl from Ipanema', 'My Baby Just Cares for Me','Someone to Watch Over Me', 'I Walk the Line' and 'If I Had a Hammer'. In a brilliant hat tip to one of his most transcendent pop contemporaries, he also performed The Beach Boys' 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' and 'Surfer Girl', plus relative obscurity 'Solar System', from 1977's Love You. Recorded by a concert attendee, a Mr. Jeff Vorgon (who also penned the set's liner notes), Electricity by Candlelight certainly bears all the earmarks of a lo-fi personal recording. But, either by luck or by virtue of the unbelievable scene taking place, the audience is respectful of this up-close-and-personal set, allowing for the best possible presentation of Chilton's strumming and that inimitable quavering voice. The disc also features a rare studio track, a cover of Johnny Lee's country tune 'You Can Bet Your Heart on Me', from a European compilation released in 1993."

[alf wiedersehen]

When I was reading about this the other day, I was very excited to see Alex cover "Solar System"...

They're streaming four of the songs from the set here:
http://consequenceofsound.net/2013/08/hear-alex-chilton-perform-by-candlelight/ (including "Wouldn't It Be Nice")

[RangeRoverA1]

Wow, this is great news! I love Big Star - one of my favorite bands. Alex is a very good singer, liked his voice ever since I heard it.
Seeing the tracking list, I'm especially interested in hearing his covers of "Solar System" (must've been beautiful sonic transcendence!), "The Girl from Ipanema" (this one I hardly can imagine, tbh), "If I Had A Hammer" & "I Walk The Line". Kudos to Vorgon for recording & releasing it finally! Definitely will order & wait for it to be uploaded at one of the local free music sites.

Thanks for sharing the info, Mr. Manning!

[MaxL]

Thanks for the heads up, Mr. Manning!

I'm a big Big Star / Alex Chilton fan and am looking forward to this; quite a few archival releases coming from them both recently. I've heard the "Surfer Girl" recording on the "Beale Street Green" CD but the quality was so-so, so I wander if these will be any better. I'm looking forward to hearing Alex's pared-down take on "Solar System", the guy's into his "out-of-leftfield" covers. His take on "I Wanna Pick You Up" from "Caroline, Now" is something I like although I can understand why some wouldn't.

[Lowbacca]

Wow! Great news!!


P.S. John, could you give a specific URL for that 'BigO' source? I can't seem to find it online..

[RangeRoverA1]

His take on "I Wanna Pick You Up" from "Caroline, Now" is something I like although I can understand why some wouldn't.

Funny you mentioned that, Max - I actually couldn't get into this cover for quite a long time. Today I like it, but there's still sth. that seems dull to me. F.ex., not specially fond of the "Pat, pat..." segment & onwards. The BBs did it in a more haunting way.  

[MaxL]

His take on "I Wanna Pick You Up" from "Caroline, Now" is something I like although I can understand why some wouldn't.

Funny you mentioned that, Max - I actually couldn't get into this cover for quite a long time. Today I like it, but there's still sth. that seems dull to me. F.ex., not specially fond of the "Pat, pat..." segment & onwards. The BBs did it in a more haunting way.  

Yeah I can definitely see why it seems a little dull; almost everything Chilton did after the 80's has him sounding uninterested and it can result in a song sounding quite sluggish, I think. I do think his version has it's charm and look forward to hearing some "new" stuff from the dearly-missed legend.