29 October 2010

TGIF Rock-n-Roll Oldies: The Box Tops 1967


The Box Tops were a Memphis rock group active in the mid-to-late 1960s. Known for such hits as The Letter (below), Neon Rainbow, Soul Deep, I Met Her in Church, and Cry Like A Baby, the band is historically significant as a major "blue-eyed soul" group of the period. 

They performed a mixture of current soul music songs by artists such as James and Bobby Purify and Clifford Curry, pop tunes such as A Whiter Shade of Pale by Keith Reid, Gary Brooker and Matthew Fisher of Procol Harum, and songs written by their producers, Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, and Chips Moman. 

The Box Tops' music combined elements of soul music and light pop. Their records are prime examples of the styles made popular by Moman and Penn at American Sound Studio in Memphis.

Vocalist Alex Chilton went on to front the powerpop band Big Star and to launch a career as a solo artist, during which he occasionally performed songs he had sung with the Box Tops...  




Previous RR Rock n Roll Oldies features -here-