Recorded in 1975 and 1976, shortly after Big Star broke up during the fractious, drug-addled sessions for their final album, the songs on Bach's Bottom were similarly left stranded at the time, although four of them did eventually show up on the 1977 Ork Records EP Singer Not the Song. Released well after the sessions, Bach's Bottom (a punning title on Chilton's first band) is a mess.
It sound spooky and haunted and rocking. Songs like "Free Again," the most obviously Big Star-like tune here, and the storming cover of the Seeds' "Can't Seem to Make You Mine," so parts of the album actually work. And of course, it has "Bangkok," possibly Chilton's finest post-Big Star single, so it's close to necessary just for that. Bach's Bottom is Chilton's one of his most willfully difficult and impenetrable records.
by Stewart Mason
Tracks
1. Take Me Home and Make Me Like It (Alex Chilton, Benny Davis, Jon Tiven) - 2:55
2. (Every Time I) Close My Eyes (Jon Tiven) - 1:57
3. All Of the Time (Alex Chilton) - 2:47
4. Free Again (Alex Chilton) - 5:06
5. I'm So Tired, (Pt. 1, 2) (Willie Banks, John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 2:58
6. Free Again (Alex Chilton) - 2:17
7. Jesus Christ (Alex Chilton) - 2:54
8. Singer Not the Song (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) - 2:04
9. Summertime Blues (Jerry Capehart, Eddie Cochran) - 2:37
10.Take Me Home and Make Me Like It (Alex Chilton, Benny Davis, Jon Tiven) - 6:58
11.(Every Time I) Close My Eyes (Jon Tiven) - 1:46
12.Bangkok (Alex Chilton) - 2:00
13.Can't Seem to Make You Mine (Sky Saxon) - 2:46
14.Walking Dead (Alex Chilton) - 2:58
15.Take Me Home and Make Me Like It (Alex Chilton, Benny Davis, Jon Tiven) - 5:31
Personnel
*Alex Chilton - Vocals, Piano, Backing Vocals
*Jon Tiven - Acoustic, Electric Guitar, Slide Guitar, Backing Vocals, Percussion
*Andy Hummel - Organ
*Ken Woodley - Bass
*John Lightman - Bass
*Jonathan Sanborn - Bass (Tracks 1,5)
*Rick Clarke - Bass, Piano, Backing Vocals
*Chris Bell - Guitar, Timbales (Track 3)
*Richard Rosebrough - Drums
*David Beaver - Organ, Clavinet
*Tommy Hoehn - Piano, Backing Vocals
*The Bad Acoustics (Dave Rave, Lauren Agnelli, Gary Pig Gold), Andrew Loog Oldham - Additional Backing Vocals
1970 Alex Chilton - Free Again: The 1970 Sessions (2012 release)
1985-89 Alex Chilton – Feudalist Tarts (2017 remaster and expanded)
Related Acts
1967-69 The Box Tops - The Original Albums (two disc set, 2015 issue)
Related Acts
1967-69 The Box Tops - The Original Albums (two disc set, 2015 issue)
1967-70 The Box Tops - The Best Of Box Tops
1968-75 Big Star - Keep An Eye On The Sky (2009 four discs box set)
1972/74 Big Star - #1 Record / Radio City (2004 SACD)
1968-75 Big Star - Keep An Eye On The Sky (2009 four discs box set)
1972/74 Big Star - #1 Record / Radio City (2004 SACD)