Alex Chilton/hi Rhythm live album coming in May
In the fall of 1999, an epic one-off union of Memphis music icons Alex Chilton and Hi Rhythm took place at the New Daisy, as part of a benefit for saxophonist Fred Ford.
Now, the results of that performance are being released for the first time by Los Angeles-based Omnivore Recordings. The label — which has put out a series of archival projects by Chilton, who died in 2010 — will release the Chilton/hi Rhythm record “Boogie Shoes: Live on Beale Street” on CD, LP and digital on May 7.
One of Memphis great saxophonists and co-founder of the Beale Street Music Festival, Ford had been diagnosed with cancer in 1999. Memphis music promoter David Less organized a fundraising concert that October called “Fredstock,” to help defray his medical bills (Ford would pass away the following month).
As part of the performance Less enlisted Chilton — the front man of hitmaking blue-eyed soul combo The Box Tops and later co-founder of power-pop cult heroes Big Star — to appear on a bill that included Rufus and Carla Thomas, Lucero, Emerson Able and Sidney Kirke, and Charlie Wood.
Chilton’s appearance would take on unique significance when Hi Rhythm — the crack R&B unit nurtured by producer Willie Mitchell and who recorded with Al Green, Ann Peebles, Ike & Tina Turner and O.V. Wright, among others — was enlisted as his backing band.
Hi Rhythm — guitarist Mabon “Teenie” Hodges (who died in 2014), bassist Leroy “Flick” Hodges, organist Charles Hodges, keyboard player Archie “Hubbie” Turner and drummer Howard Grimes — was boosted by a horn section led by Jim Spake on saxophone, Ronald Kirk Smothers on bari sax, and Scott Thompson on trumpet.
The loose and lively 10-song set includes Chilton/hi Rhythm renditions of hits by the Supremes (“Where Did Our Love Go”), Otis Clay (“Trying to Live My Life Without You”), Chuck Berry (“Maybellene”), Little Richard (“Lucille”), Wilson
Pickett (“634-5789”), Jimmy Reed (“Big Boss Man”), Wilbert Harrison (“Kansas City”), Fats Domino (“Hello Josephine”), Jackie Moore (“Precious, Precious) and the title track cover of KC & the Sunshine Band.
The package was produced and includes liner notes by Less, author of the recent book “Memphis Mayhem: A Story of the Music That Shook Up the World.”
In his liner notes, Less recalls that he “never saw [Chilton] have so much fun on stage. Without rehearsal, Alex called songs and the band locked in. The horn section consists of top Memphis session guys who huddled together when each song was called creating parts on the fly. The pure joy of playing this music so freely with such legendary musicians comes across in every groove of the record.”
“Boogie Shoes” will also be available as part of a limited-edition bundle that features the LP and a numbered print of the album cover, painted by Memphis folk artist Lamar Sorrento.
All versions of the record are available for pre-order at omnivore recordings.com.