The Box Tops in 2001: (left to right: Talley, Chilton, Cunningham, Smythe)
The Box Tops were an American rock band, formed in Memphis in 1963. They are best known for the hits “The Letter”, “Cry Like a Baby”, and “Soul Deep” 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 & 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. Vocalist Alex Chilton went on to front the power 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, including “Neon Rainbow”, “I Met Her in Church”, and “Sweet Cream Ladies, Forward March”, are considered minor classics. 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.”
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By January 1967 the group was composed of founding member Danny Smythe, along with newer arrivals John Evans (guitar, keyboards, background vocals), Alex Chilton (lead vocal, guitar), Bill Cunningham (bass guitar, keyboards, background vocal; son of Sun Records artist Buddy Blake Cunningham and brother of B.B. Cunningham Jr., lead vocalist for 1960s Memphis group The Hombres), Gary Talley (lead guitar, electric sitar, bass, background vocal), and Larry Spillman (drums). They would soon change their name to “Box Tops” to prevent confusion with another band recording at the time with the name “The Devilles”.
“The Letter” and international success (1967-68)
As the Box Tops, they entered the studio under the guidance of producer Dan Penn to record Wayne Carson Thompson’s song “The Letter.” Though under two minutes in length, it was an international hit by September 1967, reaching Billboard’s number-one position and remaining there for four weeks. The record, produced by Dan Penn, sold over four million copies and received two Grammy Award nominations and was awarded a gold disc. On 20–27 October 1967 “The Letter” and The Hombres’ “Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)” were 1-2 on the WLS (AM) Silver Dollar Survey, marking a rare quinella involving two brothers of the same family (the aforementioned Cunningham brothers), each in a different top 40 act.
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By January 1968, John Evans and Danny Smythe returned to school, thereby avoiding the draft. They were replaced by bassist Rick Allen (born January 28, 1946, Little Rock, Arkansas) (from the Gentrys) and drummer Thomas Boggs (born July 16, 1944, Wynne, Arkansas, died May 5, 2008, Memphis, Tennessee) (from the Board of Directors).
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Cunningham left the Box Tops to return to school in August 1969 and was replaced by Harold Cloud on bass. Eventually the group’s tolerance for the disrespect and fleecing they had endured as teen musicians from managers, lawyers, and promoters 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.
Each of the original members went on to work in the music industry in subsequent years after leaving the Box Tops.
On July 6, 2016, Danny Smythe died.
Read more on The Box Tops’ History:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Box_Tops
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Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths…
July 2016
13: El Lebrijano, 75, Spanish flamenco singer; Steven Young, British musician (Colourbox, MARRS).
9: Geneviève Castrée, 34, Canadian musician and comic book artist, pancreatic cancer; Maralin Niska, 89, American soprano.
8: Gérard Bourgeois, 80, French composer and lyricist.
7: Om Prakash Sonik, 77, Indian composer, cardiac arrest.
6: Danny Smythe, 67, American drummer (The Box Tops).
5: Alirio Díaz, 92, Venezuelan classical guitarist and composer; Gladys Nordenstrom, 92, American composer.