''A Man Called Destruction'' is a studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

musician

Alex Chilton William Alexander Chilton (December 28, 1950March 17, 2010) was an American musician, best known as the lead singer of the rock bands the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops ...

, released in 1995. The album consisted of six songs written by Chilton, and six

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s including

Jan and Dean Jan and Dean were an American rock music, rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf m ...

's " The New Girl in School", which had featured as the B-side to their "

Dead Man's Curve Dead Man's Curve is an American nickname for a curve in a road that has claimed many lives because of numerous crashes. Examples * A curve on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles memorialized in the hit song " Dead Man's Curve" by Jan and Dean. ...

" single. "It's Your Funeral" is based on

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

's ''marche funèbre'' which became the 3rd movement of his Piano Sonata No. 2.

Title

Blues musician

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chica ...

employed a pianist named William "Destruction" Johnson in the late 1940s, and Chilton's title is a reference to him as well as a play on both the title of the Western film '' A Man Called Horse'' and the

Biff Bang Pow! Biff Bang Pow! were an indie pop band from London, England, active between 1983 and 1991, centering on Creation Records boss Alan McGee. History Glaswegian Alan McGee had previously been in the band The Laughing Apple, who released three singl ...

song " A Girl Called Destruction".

Track listing

#"Sick and Tired" (

Chris Kenner Christophe Kenner (December 25, 1929 – January 25, 1976) was an American, New Orleans–based R&B singer and songwriter, best known for two hit singles in the early 1960s, " I Like It Like That" and " Land of 1000 Dances", which became staple ...

) – 3:04 #"Devil Girl" (Alex Chilton) – 2:55 #"Lies" (Keith Keller) – 4:01 #"It's Your Funeral" (Chilton, Jim Spake) – 1:29 #"What's Your Sign Girl" (Daniel Pearson, Anthony Sepe) – 4:37 #"Il Ribelle" (

Adriano Celentano Adriano Celentano (; born 6 January 1938) is an Italian singer-songwriter, actor, showman, and filmmaker. He is dubbed ''Il Molleggiato'' ('the springy one') because of his energetic dancing. Celentano's many albums frequently enjoyed both com ...

) – 2:14 #"You Don't Have to Go" (

Jimmy Reed Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with a wide variety of audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), "Baby Wha ...

) – 4:26 #"Boplexity" (Chilton) – 2:56 #"The New Girl in School" (

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

, Bob Norberg, Roger Christian,

Jan Berry Jan and Dean were an American rock music, rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf m ...

) – 2:10 #"You're Lookin' Good" (Chilton) – 2:54 #"Don't Know Anymore" (Chilton) – 3:28 #"Don't Stop" (Chilton) – 2:46

Personnel

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

on track 7 *Ron Easley –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

on tracks 1–6, 8–12, guitar on track 7, backing vocals on tracks 5–6, 9 & 12 *Doug Garrison –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

on tracks 1–6, 10–11 *Richard Dworkin – drums on tracks 7–9, 12 *Bob Marbach –

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

on tracks 2–3, 10–12 *

Al Gamble John Allen "Al" Gamble (born March 11, 1969) is an American, Memphis, Tennessee and Birmingham, Alabama based, session musician, playing Hammond B-3 organ and keyboards. He is currently the keyboard player for St. Paul and The Broken Bones. Ea ...

– organ on tracks 1–4, 10–11 *

Charles Hodges Charles Edward Hodges (born June 29, 1947 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American organist and songwriter. He is known for his high tone on the Hammond B3 organ, that appeared on records by Al Green, and other musicians signed to Hi Records. Ho ...

– organ on track 8 *Jim Spake – horn arrangements,

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

on tracks 1–4, 10–11 *Fred Ford –

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

on tracks 1–4, 10–11 *Nokie Taylor –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

on tracks 1–4, 10–11 *The Jackies – backing vocals on track 3 *Recorded at

Ardent Studios Ardent Studios is an American recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The studio was founded in the late 1950s by John King, Fred Smith, and John Fry. Over time, it has become a commercially successful recording studio. ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

*Recorded and mixed by Jeff Powell *Additional engineering by Jeffrey Reed *Assisted by Erik Flettrich and Mike Kennedy *Mastered by Larry Nix *Sleeve design by Jeff Kratschmer *Art direction by Claire Boger *Photography by Paula Burch

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Man Called Destruction Alex Chilton albums 1995 albums 1990s covers albums Ardent Records albums