Ballad of El Goodo (Big Star)

American power pop begins with Big Star. Formed in Memphis by a duo of creative madmen, Alex Chilton - late of the Box Tops - and Chris Bell, Big Star brought together the bombshell guitars of the British invasion - especially those of Pete Townsend and the Who - with the dazzling harmonies of the Beatles and the Byrds. Big Star was but one fleeting moment in Americana, missed by most, but cultishly loved by all who heard them play.

Cry Like A Baby (Box Tops)

The Box Tops epitomized blue-eyed soul in the late 1960's and introduced the world to one of the true geniuses of rock, Alex Chilton. Alex sang with a Memphis grittiness that belongs to one far older than his teenage years. (Some have compared him with the young Steve Winwood in the Spencer Davis Group.) Chilton went on to form Big Star and become something of a cult hero to later, maturing generations of rockers. But the 2-minute blasts of the Box Tops - best heard on AM radio - remain as fresh and inspiring today as they were in 1967 and 1968. In the throwaway world of sixties pop culture, these singles were simply perfect.