continuance of a theme (of sorts)
and yet another installment from the "troubled genius whose life was derailed by self-destructive behavior and emotional instability" category...honestly, that's such an anonymous story, one hardly befitting a person whose music was as intuitive and wonderful as chilton's; yet, his "legend" (for lack of a less pious and platitudinous term) seems wreathed by such descriptions. sadly, chilton became less inclined to write and perform his own material as the years went on, leaving a surfeit of albums blemished with cover versions and the implacable suspicion that he'd kind of ceased to care. however, his first few solo albums - "like flies on sherbert" happily included - were more than adequate, approaching a different kind of feeling from that of big star. forsaken though his early solo records are, i think both of them are wonderful in their own delirious way. "bach's bottom" is admittedly inferior to "sherbert," but whereas that album espouses the same scattershot, disintegrating brilliance that gave birth to "3rd," "bach's bottom" settles for more modest aims, instead merrily announcing itself as a fun, albeit highly strange and alternately disturbing record. the first four tracks - "take me home and make me like it," "every time i close my eyes," "all of the time" and "oh baby i'm free" - are actually well-assembled pop songs with humorous lyrics, especially the first track with its line about "call me a slut in front of your family." by the time the beatles cover arrives, though, everything has fallen straight to hell, with spaces opening in the music, mistakes, incidental noise - documentation of things going horribly wrong. the music kind of falls apart after that, making it an uneven record that doesn't reward as nicely as "sherbert" or - from the same period of time - the wonderful "dusted in memphis" album. "bach's bottom" is less essential than either "sherbert" or "dusted," but it serves its purpose, as to my personal psychology: any chilton is better than no chilton.
here's a link from recessed filter (the actual album ends at track 9...everything thereafter is supplemental):
http://recessedfilter.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/alex-chilton-bachs-bottom/
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