Pizza with Alex Chilton

The Box Tops – The Letter

Alex Chilton was 16 when The Letter was a hit for his band.

This song was on the jukebox in Joey’s Pizza. Joey’s was a tiny place, maybe four tables and a few seats at the counter. Every Saturday we’d sit at that counter and watch Joey make pizza. He’d talk to us, ask us about school and our favorite tv shows while he flipped the dough and ladled on the sauce. He’d let us eat handfuls of shredded mozzarella cheese and slices of pepperoni while we watched him.

And always, this song was playing. There was a photo of the Box Tops on the jukebox, just a black and white picture of the band with “The Letter” written over it in white block letters. 115. That was that was the number of the song. Joey would put a quarter on the counter and say “115″ and one of us would go over to the jukebox and play The Letter.

I was maybe ten at the time. I was enthralled with Chilton’s gravelly voice, the aching sweetness of the chorus, the jangly rhythm and the way the song trailed off with the sound of an airplane that gave it a happy ending. I never got sick of listening to this while we watched Joey make pizza. Sometimes I’d walk there after school, get a slice and coke for 45 cents and use a quarter of my change to play this song before Joey even asked.