Original Box Tops Members Get Together For New Band

During the late-60’s, the Box Tops made some of the finest crafted music on the radio including such classics as The Letter, Cry Like a Baby and Soul Deep.

Active until 1970 (Bell Records kept the name alive until 1972 with other musicians), the band reunited in the late 80’s and, on occasion, from 1996 to 2010 until original lead singer Alex Chilton died.

On Thursday, original members Bill Cunningham and Garry Talley announced that the Box Tops were reforming with Rick Levy joining them for a new tour. A press release stated:

THE BOX TOPS show will highlight their hit records, and equally important, Memphis music of the 60s, especially some of the songs that influenced the members as young teens growing up in such a musical hotbed. The show will be complete with horns, and promises great memories and music for all.

Cunningham and Talley stayed active in the music world during their time away from the Box Tops. Cunningham left the band in 1969 to return to school and, after graduating, became a member of the White House orchestra playing with some of the greatest classical artists in the world. Talley went on to become a session guitarist in Memphis, Atlanta and Nashville working with artists like Billy Preston, Waylon Jennings, Tracy Nelson and Willie Nelson.

Rick Levy (left) has been in the business for fifty years, managing such acts as Freddy Cannon, Barbara Lewis, Jay and the Techniques and the Box Tops. As a musician, he was in the garage band The Limits in the 60’s and played with Peter Noone’s band for a number of years along with Tommy Roe.