Alex Chilton apparently has a trove of unissued material and we’ve heard some in recent years – his ‘80s songs From Memphis to New Orleans and several Big Star releases, notably 2019’s Live on WLIR, from the label that produces a wealth of unissued material, Omnivore, the same folks that bring us this one – Boogie Shoes – Live on Beale Street. This is special because it marks the only time that the legendary, then-living-in New Orleans Chilton played with the Hi Rhythm Section. Hi Rhythm, long associated with Al Green, Ann Peebles, O.V. Wright, Ike and Tina Turner, and Otis Clay is a draw unto itself. This writer considers their album with Otis Clay – Live in Japan one of the all-time best live recordings. This pairing with Chilton doesn’t quite reach that lofty status, but its best selections make for some worthy contenders. These are ten well-known cover tunes, played spontaneously with no rehearsals leading up to the show.
Producer of the show and author of Memphis Mayhem: A Story of Music That Shook Up the World, David Less, a close friend of Chilton’s, claims that he never saw Chilton have so much fun on stage. The former Box Tops frontman does sound positively vibrant throughout, delivering some of his best vocals at this stage of his career, some three-plus decades in. Chilton called the songs and the horn section would briefly huddle, making up parts in the moment in this performance from 1999 at Memphis’ New Daisy Theater on Beale Street, which, of course, has an interesting story befitting the unissued album, as we’ll get to shortly.
First, as the Hi Rhythm Section and three-piece horn section are every bit essential to this show as Chilton, they are Mabon “Teenie” Hodges (guitar), Charles Hodges (keyboards), Archie “Hubie” Mitchell (keyboards), Leroy Hodges (bass) and Howard Grimes (drums). The horns are Chilton frequent collaborator Jim Spake (tenor), Ronald Kirk Smothers (baritone sax), and Scott Thompson (trumpet).
The 43-minute set consists of hits by Eddie Floyd (“634-5789”), The Supremes (“Where Did Our Love Go’), Jimmy Reed (“Big Boss Man”), Chuck Berry (“Maybelline’), Otis Clay (“Trying to Live My Life Without You”), Little Richard (“Lucille”), and several chestnuts such as “Kansas City,” “Precious, Precious,” “Hello Josephine,” and the title track (KC & the Sunshine Band). The Supremes selection may seem odd, but Chilton was famous for doing songs made popular by female singers. Earlier in his career, he did Nina Simone’s “My Baby Just Cares for Me,” for example. Chilton and band were part of a fund raising (“Fredstock’) lineup that featured Rufus & Carla Thomas, Lucero, and lesser-known Emerson Able/Sidney Kirke, and Charlie Wood & the Fredstock Orchestra. These are all fun listens with “Kansas City” and “Hello Josephine,” the latter a showcase for the Hi Rhythm Section and a feast of horn solos, especially standing out. Just the same, it’s a revelation to hear tunes such as “Maybelline” and The Supremes cover with horns, giving them a completely different sheen than the originals.
So, Fredstock? Musician and producer Fred Ford, co-founder of the Beale Street Music Festival, was battling cancer and David Less organized this fund raiser to help defray the medical costs. Less had put the aforementioned lineup together sans Chilton and HI Rhythm, and was worried that he would not sell out the show. As a result, he contacted his friend, Chilton, who was living in New Orleans at the time and had connections to Ford, to join in the cause. Chilton’s first reply was that he didn’t have any musicians in Memphis that he could play with. When Less countered with the Hi Rhythm Section Chilton was immediately affirmative.
