Musicians - Box Tops

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	Musicians - Box Tops

The Box Tops were a Memphis pop music group of the late 1960s. They are best known for the hits "The Letter," "Soul Deep" and "Cry Like A Baby," and are considered 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 and Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, and songs written by their producers, Dan Penn and Chips Moman. Vocalist Alex Chilton went on to front the pop 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.

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. Many of their lesser known Top 40 hits are considered minor classics; these include "Neon Rainbow," "Sweet Cream Ladies," and "I Met Her in Church." As rock critic Lester Bangs wrote in a review of the group's Super Hits album, "A song like 'Soul Deep' is obvious enough, a patented commercial sound, yet within these strictures it communicates with a depth and sincerity of feeling that holds the attention and brings you back often."

Early group history

The Box Tops began as The Devilles, who had started playing in Memphis in 1963. As the band's personnel changed from time to time, so did the band name on occasion, which at one point became "Ronnie and the Devilles" and then later changed back to "The Devilles." By January 1967 The Devilles group was composed of founding member Danny Smythe (drums), along with newer arrivals John Evans (guitar, keyboards, background vocals), Chilton (lead vocal, guitar), Bill Cunningham (bass guitar, keyboards, background vocal), and Gary Talley (lead guitar, electric sitar, bass, background vocal). They were soon renamed a final time. They changed their name to "Box Tops" to prevent confusion with another band recording at the time with the name "Devilles."

As the Box Tops, they recorded Wayne Carson Thompson's "The Letter." It was an international hit in late 1967, reaching Billboard's number-one position and remaining there for over a month. The record, produced by Dan Penn, sold over four million copies and received two Grammy awards nominations. Their single "Cry Like a Baby" was a major hit in 1968, and the album of the same name contained a song written by Spooner Oldham and Penn, "Fields of Clover." Some of their recordings' instrumental tracks were performed by session musicians like Reggie Young and Bobby Womack at Moman's American Sound Studio, although the actual group members performed on a number of the recordings, including their first hit, "The Letter," and on all live performances.

By January 1968, John Evans and Danny Smythe returned to school and were replaced by Rick Allen (from The Gentrys) and Tom Boggs (from the Board of Directors). The band recorded seven more singles, including the Moman-produced "Soul Deep," which was the group's final Top 40 entry. Bill Cunningham left to return to school in August 1969 and was replaced by Harold Cloud. But eventually, the group's tolerance for the disrespect and fleecing they had endured as teen musicians from managers, lawyers, and promoters they had made rich came to an end. According to a 2004 article in Puremusic.com by Talley, a December 1969 British tour was cancelled by the band after arriving in London to discover that instead of respecting the rider agreement, the local promoter insisted they play the tour with the opening reggae act's toy drums, public address system amplifiers (instead of proper guitar amplifiers), and a keyboard with a broken speaker. Finally, in February 1970, the remaining founding members, Talley and Chilton, were ready to move on and disbanded the group.

Later work

Each of the original members went on to work in the music industry in subsequent years after leaving the Box Tops. Chilton's career path included work performing with Big Star, Tav Falco's Panther Burns, and his solo trio, as well as briefly producing groups like The Cramps. Guitarist Talley went on to work in a variety of styles as a sessions guitarist and songwriter in Memphis, Atlanta, and Nashville. Artists and producers he has worked with have ranged from Hank Ballard, Chips Moman, Billy Lee Riley, Billy Joe Royal, Webb Pierce, Waylon Jennings, Tracy Nelson, Willie Nelson, and Tammy Wynette to Sam and Dave's Sam Moore, and others. Bassist Cunningham (son of Sun Records artist Buddy Blake Cunningham and brother of B.B. Cunningham Jr., lead vocalist for 1960s Memphis group The Hombres, of "Let it All Hang Out" Top 40 hit fame) won a spot in the White House orchestra in Washington, D.C., after completing his master's degree in music. During his classical music career, he played with some of the world's best performers; at Cunningham's last public classical music performance, for instance, he performed at the White House with Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman. In the 1980s, he earned an MBA and changed careers. Evans played occasionally in Memphis groups after the Box Tops, while working as a luthier, eventually switching to a computer network administrator career. Smythe performed in Memphis soul and blues groups in the 1970s, later changing to a career in art by the 1980s, but returned to music performance in the 1990s.

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Musicians - Box Tops

Early group history

Later work

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