Austin Escorts: Musician Alex Chilton dies at 59
Born Dec. 28, 1950, in Memphis, Chilton was the preternaturally mature voice of the Box Tops, a Bluff City group that was deeply influenced by the city’s contemporaneous deep soul. Produced by Dan Penn, the group found instantaneous success with a smash version of cleffer Wayne Carson Thompson’s “The Letter,” which roared to No. 1 on the national charts in 1967. Chilton was just 16 when the single hit the top.
The Box Tops toured heavily and notched a handful of lesser hits – including “Cry Like a Baby,” “Neon Rainbow,” “Soul Deep” and “Sweet Cream Ladies,” probably the only chart record of its day about prostitution. But Chilton tired of the grind and the band’s music, and, abandoning the group in 1970 after four albums, he moved to New York to reconsider his career.
See the full article from “Variety”