Biography
William Alexander Chilton, 28 December 1950, Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Chilton began singing and playing guitar while still at school and absorbed the raw-edged cry of local soul singers. His first work experience was with Ronnie And The DeVilles, singing Stax-styled R&B. Teamed with multi-instrumentalist Bill Cunningham (whose older brother was in the Hombres and wrote ‘Let It All Hang Out’), he fronted the Box Tops on guitar and vocals, mixing pop and soul in equal measure. Producer Dan Penn discovered them and recorded ‘The Letter’, released in late summer 1967 on the Bell Records subsidiary Mala. The single reached US number 1 and the UK Top 5. Follow-ups ‘Cry Like A Baby’ (1968) and ‘Soul Deep’ (1969) were quintessential blue-eyed soul hits. In late 1969, the Box Tops broke up. Chilton joined forces with Chris Bell, an old high school buddy obsessed with British beat music, in Big Star. The name...
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