August 22 to August 28, 2013
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by Eleni P. Austin
BIG STAR
“Nothing Can Hurt Me” (Omnivore Records)
Consider This
WESTFIELD MALL 72840 Hwy 111 #171 Palm Desert, CA 92260 760-341-2017 www.recordalley.com
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by Lola Rossi-Meza
Joey Covington Tribute and Benefit Concert at The Hood
success was a huge disappointment. Although they had already begun work on their sophomore effort, Bell quit the band. Big Star released Radio City in 1973. Chris Bell’s presence was felt throughout the record, but the group continued as a three-piece. Radio City was just as brilliant as their debut. Again, critics were enthusiastic. Despite the fact that Ardent was now distributed by Stax and behemoth record corporation Columbia, the record slipped through the cracks. The album never reached the masses, and received minimal airplay on the radio. This time Andy Hummel jumped ship. Chilton and Stephens entered the studio with veteran producer, Jim Dickinson. Work on Big Star’s third album was completed in 1974, but no label would release it. Finally four years later, tiny record label PVC released it under the utilitarian title 3rd. This time the music felt dark and desolate which was a huge departure from the sunny and soulful Power Pop of their first two recordings. Predictably, 3rd went nowhere. Alex Chilton embarked on an erratic solo career. Chris Bell moved to England, hoping to begin his solo career there. He returned to Memphis and began recording an album. Sadly, he was killed in a car crash a few days after Christmas, 1978. His solo work wouldn’t surface until 1992. In the ensuing years, a funny thing started to happen. Big Star was a band revered mostly by rock critics and record store clerks. Because there was a scarcity of Big Star music available, their albums became a rite of passage for the discerning few. A bit of mythos grew up around the band. Scraps of information, (pre-internet era) passed around, along with taped copies of #1 Record and Radio City. Here was this brilliant American band that the music industry just threw away. Quite organically, a Big Star renaissance was in the works. The Bangles got the ball rolling in 1986 by including their version of “September Gurls” on their multiplatinum album, A Different Light. In 1987, the
Replacements proclaimed their man-crush on a track called “Alex Chilton, and in 1988, R.E.M. recorded their sixth album, Green, using the same mellotron Alex Chilton used on 3rd. By 1992, Chilton and Jody Stephens agreed to a one-off concert, with Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow (from the Seattle band, the Posies) filling in for Chris Bell and Andy Hummel. Commercially, Big Star got its biggest boost when Cheap Trick recorded a version of “In The Street,” as the theme for “That 70s Show.” Suddenly, Big Star music was featured on national television on a weekly basis. Chilton and Stephens, augmented by Auer and Stringfellow, continued to play live sporadically. They even recorded an album of new Big Star material, In Space in 2005. Sadly, on the eve of performing a showcase at SXSW in 2010, Alex Chilton suffered a fatal heart attack. Andy Hummel succumbed to cancer a few months later. Only Jody Stephens remains. All these facts are presented in more elegant and poignant terms in the documentary, “Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me.” The movie, currently in theatres, and the accompanying soundtrack are attempting, once again, to introduce this band to the world. Alex Chilton and Chris Bell really were Memphis’ answer to Lennon & McCartney. Eight songs from #1 Record display their astonishing level of songcraft. Two songs brilliantly encapsulate the jumbled emotions of teenage rebellion, In The Street and 13. The former blends jangly tilt-a-whirl guitar riffs and tick tock percussion. It’s the typical tale of adolescent ennui… “Hangin’ out down the street, same old thing we did last week/ Wish we had a joint so bad...” A country-rock guitar break rides roughshod over a stuttery cowbell beat. The latter is a more nuanced portrait of growing pains. Hushed sha-la-la harmonies cushion the ache of raging hormones… “Won’t you tell your dad get off my back, tell him what we said about ‘Paint It Black’/
Rock & Roll is here to stay…” Delicate fingerpicked arpeggios accent this tentative assertion of independence. Three tracks navigate the murky waters of romance. “Give Me Another Chance” wraps a brittle tale of angst and doomed reconciliation in shimmering guitars and quavery vocals. “When My Baby’s Beside Me” offers up love as the ultimate panacea. Chilton has no need for a doctor or a shrink when his true love is close at hand. Underscoring this lyrical sangfroid, guitars spiral clockwise and counter-clockwise, just ahead of a chugging rhythm. Finally, the whimsically entitled “Ballad Of El Goodo” is a shy and tentative plea for emotional rescue. The track is cloaked in sinuous acoustic guitar and gorgeous harmonies. Other songs from #1 Record include the strident, piano-driven “My Life Is Right. The fractious “Feel,” which is piloted by a jaunty handclap rhythm, and the bluesy, bar band swagger of “Don’t Lie To Me.” Radio City is represented by on three tracks. “O My Soul” is suitably shambolic. Chunky power chords and funkified bass lines anchor this agitated quest for sexual gratification. “Way Out West” is a heartfelt entreaty for romantic reconciliation, while “You Get What You Deserve” is a withering post-mortem powered by falsetto vocals, tumbling drums and a serpentine guitar solo. The 3rd songs, “Holocaust,” “Kanga Roo,“ and “Big Black Car” are equal parts brutal and beautiful. The soporific melody of “Big Black Car” is leavened by angular piano accents. It also contains the solitary lyric the documentary takes it’s ironic title from...” nothing can hurt me.” Other highlights include two tracks from Chris Bell’s solo record, “Better Save Yourself” and “I am The Cosmos,” as well as Chilton’s solo effort, “All We Ever Got From Them Is Pain.” The album closes with “September Gurls,” the perfect combination of jangle guitar and effortless harmonies. The lyrics yearn for something just beyond reach. Big Star’s music was almost too good to be true. Melodies that felt classic and timeless, coupled with fragile, melancholy lyrics. Here is yet another introduction to this band. C’mon, what are you waiting for?
how Producer and musician Alvin Taylor & The Joey Covington All Star Band take the stage on Saturday, August 31, at 8 p.m. to celebrate the life of Joey Covington at The Hood Bar and Pizza located at 73-850 Highway 111 in Palm Desert. (760) 636-5220. Tickets are $20 in advance by calling Promoter and Spokesperson David Ross at (760) 766-6733 or stop by Musicians Outlet or The Hood. Only 300 tickets are available. The good news, Live Streaming Video is being provided by Michaelz Media and QV Live Streaming for $6 done special for his fans all over the world. Log onto www.CovingtonTribute. MichaelzMedia.com. More information regarding the entertainment line-up will be in the next issue of the CV Weekly. Born and raised with two brothers and three sisters in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Joseph Michno legally changed his name to Joey Covington in the late 1970s because “he felt that having ‘no’ at the end of his name was negative,” said his wife Lauren Taines. “His mother was an aspiring country western singer and his father was signed to the New York Yankees as a pitcher before World War II. However, he was injured
during the D-Day Invasion and was unable to continue with his baseball career.” Covington became a professional drummer at ten years old, playing in polka bands at VFW Lodges while his parents chaperoned. At fourteen, he played in strip clubs in the area. He was part of the East Conemaugh High School Marching Band and played in a hot rod band that won a few Battle of the Bands and later started singing
August 22 to August 28, 2013
Valley Rhythms
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ook up the definition of “cult band” in the dictionary and you will probably see a picture of Big Star. During the 80s, groups like R.E.M. and the Bangles name-checked Big Star as a huge influence. In fact, one of the Replacements’ best songs was “Alex Chilton,” an exuberant homage to the lead singer of Big Star. Sadly, during their prime, the band toiled in obscurity. The members of Big Star, Alex Chilton, (guitar & vocals), Chris Bell (guitar, vocals), Andy Hummel (bass), and Jody Stephens (drums), formed in late 1971 in Memphis, Tennessee. At age 21, Alex Chilton was the seasoned veteran of the group, having spent his early teens fronting the Box Tops. A potent combination of Blue-Eyed Soul and Bubble Gum Pop, the Box Tops shot up the charts with hits like “The Letter,” “Cry Like A Baby” and “Soul Deep.” Chilton briefly relocated to New York City, hoping to jump start a solo career, but he quickly returned to Memphis and reconnected with Chris Bell, an old friend from school days. Bell had already formed Icewater, (sometimes known as Rock City) with Hummel and Stephens. Once they joined forces with Chilton, the band hunkered down at Ardent recording studio. The name change to Big Star was a sideways tribute to the small Southern grocery stores that provided sustenance during their long nights of practice. Ardent had recently signed a distribution deal with Stax Records. Big Star became the first Rock & Roll group connected to the R&B record label. Their debut, cheekily entitled #1 Record was released in late 1972. It was immediately embraced by critics, but the album was hampered by shoddy distribution. Alex Chilton had already experienced fortune and failure with the Box Tops, so he was familiar with the vagaries of the music industry. For Chris Bell, their lack of immediate
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while playing the drums. At eighteen, he enlisted in the Navy because he was told he could be a tympani drummer in the Navy Band. Before he shipped out, he was in a car accident with the band and that changed the course of his life. He believed in his God given talent, and followed his dream. The web-site link “So You Wanna Be A Drummer” has Joey Covington telling about how he first got started in New York City on his road to fame and fortune. It is a great story and adds another dimension to this great self-taught drummer, percussionist, singer, award winning songwriter, record producer and friend. In the early to mid-1960s, he was playing with bands that opened shows for the Rolling Stones, Dave Clark 5, Shangri’ La’s,
Lee Dorsey, Lou Christie, Chad and Jeremy, Jimmy Beaumont and the Skyliner’s, and a stint playing drums backing up Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars featuring acts such as The Supremes. Covington headed to Los Angeles in late 1966. He was quickly discovered and produced by famed producer/songwriter Kim Fowley as a singing drummer. The single released was a cover of the Who’s “Boris The Spider“ with “I’ll Do Better Next Time” on the B side - the first song Covington ever wrote. He co-formed several bands in Los Angeles during that time. He was brought to San Francisco in mid1968 by Airplane founder Marty Balin. A member of Jefferson Airplane, Covington at first co-formed Hot Tuna with Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady in late 1968 with Hot Tuna opening shows for the Airplane. In early 1969 Joey was playing in both Hot Tuna and augmenting, then ultimately replacing Airplane drummer Spencer Dryden. His first recording with the Airplane was the classic 1969 album Volunteers, appeared on the group’s final albums, writing and singing “Pretty As You Feel” the last hit song for Jefferson Airplane before the band splintered into separate groups, Hot Tuna and Jefferson Starship. He also appeared on the other band members solo album projects. Covington recorded his solo album Fat Fandango for Jefferson Airplane’s record label Grunt Records. The single “Your Heart Is My Heart” and the album was released worldwide resulting in high album sales and critical acclaim. Never quite leaving the Airplane family, he co-wrote the award winning and multi-platinum hit in 1976 for Jefferson Starship, “With Your Love” and Papa John Creach’s only top 40 hit “Janitor Drivers A Cadillac”. He remained musically active throughout his life. For the most up to date information see JoeyCovington.com or JeffersonAirplane.com Lauren Taines was born in Detroit, Michigan and raised in North Miami, Florida. She and Covington met in Los Angeles in 1989 at Nan and Max Gail, Jr.’s house during an Indian Sweat Lodge and Baby Shower. “It was love at first sight,” said Taines. “Joey didn’t give me a chance to say ‘no’ and we’ve been together ever since.” Covington performed on June 1, 2013 during the Marilyn Monroe Birthday Celebration for his friend Keith McCormick. According to Taines, her husband wasn’t feeling good one week prior to the fatal accident, because he thought he had a mild stroke. June 4, 2013 was a very sad day. She believes he had another mild stroke and blacked out before impact. He was wearing his seat belt. “Joey wore his heart on his sleeve. He never said ‘no’ to anyone needing help. He made himself very accessible to people and never had an attitude. He will be sorely missed by those who loved him, his friends and his fans.”
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