225. Ben Vaughn Discusses Alex Chilton, Like Flies on Sherbert

Singer, songwriter, musician, producer, TV and film composer, radio show host and podcaster Ben Vaughn drops by to introduce Al to Alex Chilton’s 1979 debut solo album Like Flies on Sherbert. Ben talks about the negative impression he got the first time he was exposed to Chilton, when he appeared on a local 1960s television show in Philadelphia, and how he eventually became a fan, friend and collaborator of Chilton’s. He explains why he thinks Like Flies on Sherbert is Chilton’s best album, digging into several of the album’s tracks and discussing the circumstances under which the album was recorded. Ben also talks about his recently-launched podcast Straight From The Hat, as well as his upcoming album with Deer Tick.

Follow Ben on Instagram! He’s at @benvaughnmusic.

You can also learn more about Ben and his work on his website https://benvaughn.org/.

Ben also mentioned that Straight From The Hat has a website. Check out episodes and the extra goodies that Ben talked about at straightfromthehat.com.

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1:48 Ben’s introduction

3:00 Ben revisits his earliest memories of Chilton

6:59 Ben shares the story of how he got introduced to Big Star

9:27 Ben explains how he first heard Like Flies on Sherbert

14:43 Ben talks about the circumstances under which Like Flies on Sherbert was made, as he learned from Chilton himself

18:09 Ben discusses the eclecticism of the album

21:06 Al talks about the album’s different versions

23:33 Al shares his reaction to the album

25:17 Ben talks about the musicians who played on Like Flies on Sherbert and the challenges they must have faced

27:48 Ben discusses the mysterious quality of the title track

30:10 Ben and Al talk about how the album feels unfinished

32:10 Ben explains why he thinks the album resonated with him

33:38 Ben talks about how he became friends with Chilton and how he and Chilton wound up working with Alan Vega

43:12 Chilton’s music used to be hard to find

49:53 Ben discusses the origins of his new podcast Straight From The Hat

57:21 Ben shares news of an upcoming release with Deer Tick

Outro music is from “Magdalena ’94 (live)” by Ben Vaughn.