Tag: Alex Chilton

Wayne Carson to appear at Country Music Hall of Fame

 in Americana Music

The career of songwriter Wayne Carson will be the focus of the Dec. 3 edition of “Poets and Prophets: Legendary Country Songwriters” at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.

Carson co-wrote the classic “Always on My Mind” and “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles),” among other country hits.

But we’ll confess to a particular admiration for the songs he wrote for the Box Tops, one of the most underrated of ’60s pop bands, and the group that gave Alex Chilton his start. Carson wrote “The Letter,” “Neon Rainbow” and their final Top 40 hit “Soul Deep.”

The 1:30 p.m. program, which will include an interview and performance, is free with a museum admission.

Celebrating the music of Muscle Shoals

 in Americana Music Festival, Reviews

The 2011 Americana Music Festival began last night with an event that illustrates the genre’s greatest strengths: outstanding performances and a respect for what has come before.
The 90-minute concert celebrating the Muscle Shoals sound was equal parts energy and nostalgia, with legendary figures like Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, Jimmy Johnson and David Briggs sharing the stage with some of Nashville’s most soulful vocalists.
With Webb Wilder on hand as MC, the evening walked through the history of FAME Studio and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, from soul to pop and rock.
Highlights were plentiful. From Jonell Mosser’s take on “Dark End of the Street” to Mike Farris’ “I’d Rather Go Blind” to Jimmy Hall’s “Land of a Thousand Dances,” singers delivered faithful, but moving performances. Special treats: Candi Staton’s “He Called Me Baby” and Dan Penn’s “I’m Your Puppet.”
Billy Burnette performed “The Letter,” which was recorded in 1967 by a young Alex Chilton and the Box Tops at FAME. Oddly, he did the live Joe Cocker arrangement that came three years later.
The show closed with Burnette kicking off an all hands-on-deck performance of Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll.” The song belongs in the “Played Badly at Weddings Receptions Hall of Fame,” but proved to be a vibrant and fitting close.

(Pictured: A  scarce Muscle Shoals anthology.)