RIP Alex Chilton

I feel like I’m just marking memorials these days. First singer Kate McGarrigle (RIP post here), now Big Star frontman Alex Chilton.

A couple of years ago I wrote a post about my surprise at learning that the Alex Chilton I knew for “Thirteen” and “The Ballad of El Goodo” had been a teen idol with The Box Tops. Check out the post and many Youtubes here.

Big Star & The Box Tops

Am I the only one who didn’t know that Alex Chilton of Big Star — of the excellent “The Ballad of El Goodo” and “Thirteen” — came to fame as the 16-year-old singer of this AM Gold classic?

Seriously? “The Letter,” by The Box Tops?

I had no idea. That 60s song and Big Star’s stuff occupy totally different parts of my brain.

Big Star videos after the jump.