Last week, I got to catch up with Bill Cunningham, the original bassist for the Box Tops, who, along with the group’s enigmatic lead singer Alex Chilton (best known, of course, for his post-Box Tops work with the band Big Star), guitarist Gary Talley, and drummer Danny Smythe, is slated to perform at the Memphis Italian Festival at 9:45 p.m. tonight.
Some 40 years after their biggest hit, the American Studios-recorded smash “The Letter,” hit the top of the Billboard charts, the Box Tops (seen here in their heyday, with rhythm guitarist John Evans) occasionally regroup; their last local appearance was at the Cannon Center four-and-a-half years ago.
In the downtime, Chilton catapulted to cult hero status, bouncing between Memphis, where he formed Big Star and produced the Cramps’ debut album, and New York City, where he alternately drove a cab and performed alongside Chris Stamey and Richard Lloyd during the then-nascent CBGBs scene. After landing back in Memphis in the late ’70s, Chilton joined Tav Falco’s Panther Burns and went on to record his gloriously messy roots-mined epic Like Flies on Sherbert and several subsequent critically acclaimed albums, including A Man Called Destruction and High Priest.
The 59-year old Cunningham’s non-Box Tops career has been no less stellar. After his stint in the Box Tops, he went on to have a career as a classical bassist, performing behind-the-scenes with Jim Henson’s Muppets and playing for the likes of Henry Kissinger and President Jimmy Carter. Today, Cunningham works in the international trade division for the federal government. He was happy to fill me in on his life, in — and outside of — Memphis.
