Remember that driving beat and the opening line
"gimme a ticket for an aeroplane" that made you want to jump
up and start dancing? Alex Chilton was only 16 years old
when featuring his knock you out vocals propelled the Wayne Carson
Thompson song, "The Letter" to #1
on the 1967 charts. "The Letter" sold over four million
copies and received two Grammy nominations. Their 1968 follow up single
"Cry Like a Baby" was also a major hit. Seven more singles would
follow until
their final Top 40 chart entry,
"Soul Deep".
After finishing school, each of the original members worked on other projects in the music industry.
Alex Chilton's performed with Big Star, Tav Falco's Panther Burns, and his solo trio, as well as briefly producing
groups like The Cramps. Gary Talley worked in a variety of styles as a sessions guitarist and songwriter throughout the south.
He has worked with many well known artists and producers in a variety of genres. Bassist Bill 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.
John Evans played occasionally in Memphis groups after the Box Tops, while working as a luthier, eventually switching to
a computer network administrator career.
Danny Smythe performed in Memphis soul and blues groups in the 1970s, changing to a career in art
in the next decade and returning, once again, to music in the 1990s.
Bill Cunningham organized a reunion of the band in 1996. They have since released an album of new material and have
toured internationally. The Tear Off! album included a new original song by guitarist Gary Talley ("Last Laugh"),
covers of "I'm in Love" (Bobby Womack), and "Big Bird" (Eddie Floyd), which has often been covered in solo concerts
since the 1980s by Alex), "Keep on Dancing" (The Gentrys), and a new recording of "The Letter." B.B. Cunningham Jr.
played a guitar on the album's cover of "Trip to Bandstand," his 1959 Memphis novelty single. The album also featured
horn arrangements and performances by The Memphis Horns, who have since appeared in some of the group's live concerts.
All original members of The Boxtops are back, serving up a hot helping of blue-eyed Memphis soul.
