Additional Info: If you forget about the Rascals and the Righteous Brothers, the Memphis based Box Tops are the finest blue-eyed soul group. Lead singer (and former Big Star honcho) Alex Chilton had a tough, swaggering voice that belied his teenage years, sounding at times as if he were in a cutting match with the young Steve Winwood. Instead of knocking off pimply, lightweight teen-fodder, the Box Tops managed to add another link in the Memphis soul chain, mixing blues, Beatlesque pop, and the sound of Stax, Hi, and Goldwax.The Box Tops benefited from top-notch material:
Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham's Cry Like a Baby and I Met Her in Church; Wayne Thompson's The Letter and Soul Deep and the occasional Chilton penned nugget such as I Must Be the Devil.
The group's heyday was brief -- two years, tops -- but their music remains a staple on oldies stations and has retained its vitality for over two decades. |