December 28: momentous day for Big Star. Alex Chilton was born (1950); Chris Bell was buried (1978).

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Wed Dec 28, 2022, 08:08 AM - Edit history (3)

In 1978, Alex Chilton didn't have much to celebrate on his birthday. Former Big Star member Chris Bell had been killed in an automobile accident the day before.

Chris Bell (American musician)


Bell in the studio

Christopher Branford Bell (January 12, 1951 – December 27, 1978) was an American musician, guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Along with Alex Chilton, he led the power pop band Big Star through its first album #1 Record (1972). He also pursued a solo career throughout the mid-1970s, resulting in the posthumous I Am the Cosmos LP.

AllMusic Guide praised Bell as "one of the unsung heroes of American pop music" and noted his lasting impression, saying: "Despite a life marked by tragedy and a career crippled by commercial indifference, the singer/songwriter's slim body of recorded work proved massively influential on the generations of indie rockers who emerged in his wake."

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Death

Bell died on December 27, 1978 when he lost control of his Triumph TR7 sports car, sometime after 1:00 a.m. He was on his way home from a band rehearsal. The car struck a wooden light pole on the side of the road. The pole fell and killed him instantly. He was 27. His funeral was held the next day, December 28, the birthday of former bandmate Alex Chilton.

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Alex Chilton

Background information
Birth name: William Alexander Chilton
Born: December 28, 1950; Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Died: March 17, 2010 (aged 59); New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

William Alexander Chilton (December 28, 1950 – March 17, 2010) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops was never repeated in later years with Big Star and in his subsequent indie music solo career on small labels, but he drew an intense following among indie and alternative music musicians. He is frequently cited as a seminal influence by influential rock artists and bands, some of whose testimonials appeared in the 2012 documentary Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me.

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[mr_lebowski]

1. Checkin' his stash by the trash at St. Marks Place ...

I met Alex in Berkeley, CA at the Starry Plough, had a smoke with him outside during a break in the set. 1994.