Chris Whitley RIP (1960-2005)
11-22-05, 07:46 AM
#1
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 7,935
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Chris Whitley RIP (1960-2005)
Chris Whitley died from lung cancer the other night...
http://www.chriswhitley.com
Words from Trixie Whitley:
"My father took his last breath last night the 20th of November. I would like to make it clear that the people he needed and loved the most were with him while and when he left in peace. Those were Dan, Susanne, me and Chorinne. I would also like to ask you guys to understand there is a very fine line between Chris Whitley the legendary musician and Chris Whitley the Father, Brother, and Lover.
This was my Dad's favorite line from the first song I ever wrote, this is for you Daddy:
"Like the feather we blow away, in the thoughtlessness of words others say."
All faith and peace,
Trixie Whitley
Words from Dan Whitley:
I just wanted to add Chris passed over surrounded by lots of love. The time we spent with Chris in these last days were something I'll never forget and these woman whom I shared Chris's last moments with were just amazing.
Susann Buerger who was by his side nonstop (Chris planned to marry Susann) held him in his arms the moment he passed in absolute and total peace, the reason I mentioned this is I always felt being held by someone you love while you passed over was a truly special thing. Trixie my niece is one of the strongest young woman I have ever met and Chris was always so proud of her whenever we spoke, Im also incredibly proud to be her uncle and love her beyond words.
Chorinne gave her home to Chris and the rest of us in this time of need and didnt stop taking care of things that needed to be taken care of the entire time, she gave us all a sanctuary to take care of Chris in and went way out of her way to help from the beginning and is still helping.
Me, I pretty much just cried my ass off when I wasn't helping Susanne with Chris....still crying.
I hope you all will mourn my brothers death but more important celebrate his life as Chris was all about life and living... I started the celebration by cranking up Dirt floor in his honor...crying still.
Chris Whitley's Legacy will no doubt transcend all time.
Love and Light,
Daniel
Last edited by atlantamoi; 11-22-05 at 07:48 AM.
11-22-05, 12:46 PM
#6
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 7,935
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by The_Infidel
Who the hell is Chris Whitley?
Chris Whitley is a Texas-based singer-songwriter who initially began his career as a bluesy roots-rocker, but as his career progressed, he moved deeper into rock & roll and alternative rock. Though Whitley's albums usually received postiive reviews, they rarely sold, and his tendency to rework his sound prevented him from developing a sizable cult following among singer-songwriter fans.
As a child, Whitley moved frequently through the Southeast, eventually moving with his mother to Mexico when his parents divorced when he was 11; they later settled in a log cabin in Vermont. At the age of 15, he began playing guitar, inspired by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Johnny Winter and Jimi Hendrix, eventually learning how to play slide guitar. He quit high school a year before graduation, moving to New York City, where he busked on the streets. One of his performances was witnessed by a listener who ran a travel agency, and decided that Whitley would be a success in Belgium and offered to send him to Europe. With nothing to lose, Whitley accepted the offer.
Once in Belgium, Whitley recorded a series of albums that flip-flopped between blues, rock and funk. The records made him a minor success in Belgium, but he decided to return to New York anyway in 1990. He happened to meet producer Daniel Lanois later that year. Impressed by Whitley's songs, Lanois helped set up a deal with Columbia Records for the songwriter, and produced his first album. Released in the spring of 1991, Whitley's U.S. debut Living with the Law was an atmospheric set of blues and folk-rock that received glowing reviews and earned him a slot opening for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.
Though Living with the Law seemed to position Chris Whitley for a breakthrough into a cult audience, he waited four years to deliver his second record, Din of Ecstasy. An attempt to connect with the hard-edged mainstream alternative-rock audience that developed in the years following the release of Living with the Law, the grunge-flavored Din of Ecstasy — which was released on Columbia's recently developed "alternative" subsidiary, WORK — received mixed reviews and alienated his roots-rock audience without winning him new fans. Two years later, Whitley released Terra Incognita, which combined elements of his first two records. Dirt Floor followed on the Messenger in 1998, restoring Whitley to a level of critical acclaim that rivaled his early work. Live at Martyrs' followed in the spring of 2000, and just a few months later, the spare studio effort Perfect Day appeared on the Valley imprint. Rocket House (2001) expanded on more soulful grooves, and boasted eclectic collaborations with Bruce Hornsby, Blondie Chaplin, and Dave Matthews. It was also his first for Matthews' own imprint, ATO Records. A year later, Long Way Around: An Anthology 1991-2001 compiled his years at Columbia.
11-23-05, 01:22 AM
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 632
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wow,
I'm blown away so few people knew who he was, but I guess, he was a bit obscure now that I think about it. I bought one of his CDs at a used music store about seven years ago and bought every cd since. I only saw him live once and that was at the house of blues in N.O. opening for Social Distortion, which are also a fave of mine. The man put on a great show. I can't even start to tell you how good the man was. To this day, it’s still one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen. The guy had a gift of singing and guitar-playing with intensity and charisma like nothing I've witnessed before.
And the above is correct, he NEVER stopped changing his sound, which I think did hurt him a bit. And this is EVEN in concert, he was always changing tunings and stuff. He sounded different from album to album because he liked to use different types of guitars and different styles of playing, and it's hard for some folks to stick with that. And the man could truly play any style you could imagine, from jazz, to funk, to country, etc His early sound on Living with the Law was sort of like a singer songwriter who played in a bluesy country sort of style. I couldn't stand Din of Ecstasy just because it was SO FAR from the first album and very experimental. Some of the songs did grow on me, but it just didn't work IMO. Then Terra Incognita changed that, truly combining Living's bluesy style with a less harsh version of the sound from Din... that worked. The songs on that cd are addictive as hell too. After this, he went in to blues mode, producing some of the most interesting blues music (but often not typical blues sounding) albums you'll ever hear. If the man had one thing going for him, he could truly write interesting music that never quite "fit" in the typical niche of the market, yet stuck in your head. The only person I can think of that had many of the same abilities as Chris was Jeff Buckley. Though they were VERY different people and artists, but they always were connected somehow in my mind. They both were unusual artists stuck in a mire of corporate music. What's interesting, is Chris' musical path really did seem to mirror Buckley. Both took long times to follow up their first well recieved album and both never really were the hit they should have been. Had Buckley lived, I think he would have gone the same route as Chris and split from a major label. I hope Chris' music goes through a discovery period like Buckley's did, as he truly was a great great singer/songwriter and guitar player. If I was going to suggest some cds to check out, these in this order:
Living with the Law
Terra Incognita
Weed
Dirt Floor
War Crime Blues
Rocket House
Perfect Day
Honestly, the first two are ones I keep on a constant rotation in my cd player. Long Way Around is a nice overall collection as well.
And the above is correct, he NEVER stopped changing his sound, which I think did hurt him a bit. And this is EVEN in concert, he was always changing tunings and stuff. He sounded different from album to album because he liked to use different types of guitars and different styles of playing, and it's hard for some folks to stick with that. And the man could truly play any style you could imagine, from jazz, to funk, to country, etc His early sound on Living with the Law was sort of like a singer songwriter who played in a bluesy country sort of style. I couldn't stand Din of Ecstasy just because it was SO FAR from the first album and very experimental. Some of the songs did grow on me, but it just didn't work IMO. Then Terra Incognita changed that, truly combining Living's bluesy style with a less harsh version of the sound from Din... that worked. The songs on that cd are addictive as hell too. After this, he went in to blues mode, producing some of the most interesting blues music (but often not typical blues sounding) albums you'll ever hear. If the man had one thing going for him, he could truly write interesting music that never quite "fit" in the typical niche of the market, yet stuck in your head. The only person I can think of that had many of the same abilities as Chris was Jeff Buckley. Though they were VERY different people and artists, but they always were connected somehow in my mind. They both were unusual artists stuck in a mire of corporate music. What's interesting, is Chris' musical path really did seem to mirror Buckley. Both took long times to follow up their first well recieved album and both never really were the hit they should have been. Had Buckley lived, I think he would have gone the same route as Chris and split from a major label. I hope Chris' music goes through a discovery period like Buckley's did, as he truly was a great great singer/songwriter and guitar player. If I was going to suggest some cds to check out, these in this order:
Living with the Law
Terra Incognita
Weed
Dirt Floor
War Crime Blues
Rocket House
Perfect Day
Honestly, the first two are ones I keep on a constant rotation in my cd player. Long Way Around is a nice overall collection as well.
Last edited by Linn1; 11-23-05 at 02:38 AM.
11-23-05, 01:38 AM
#8
DVD Talk Legend
Originally Posted by atlantamoi
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p...e8o1vsjzzba~T1
Chris Whitley is a Texas-based singer-songwriter who initially began his career as a bluesy roots-rocker, but as his career progressed, he moved deeper into rock & roll and alternative rock. Though Whitley's albums usually received postiive reviews, they rarely sold, and his tendency to rework his sound prevented him from developing a sizable cult following among singer-songwriter fans.
As a child, Whitley moved frequently through the Southeast, eventually moving with his mother to Mexico when his parents divorced when he was 11; they later settled in a log cabin in Vermont. At the age of 15, he began playing guitar, inspired by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Johnny Winter and Jimi Hendrix, eventually learning how to play slide guitar. He quit high school a year before graduation, moving to New York City, where he busked on the streets. One of his performances was witnessed by a listener who ran a travel agency, and decided that Whitley would be a success in Belgium and offered to send him to Europe. With nothing to lose, Whitley accepted the offer.
Once in Belgium, Whitley recorded a series of albums that flip-flopped between blues, rock and funk. The records made him a minor success in Belgium, but he decided to return to New York anyway in 1990. He happened to meet producer Daniel Lanois later that year. Impressed by Whitley's songs, Lanois helped set up a deal with Columbia Records for the songwriter, and produced his first album. Released in the spring of 1991, Whitley's U.S. debut Living with the Law was an atmospheric set of blues and folk-rock that received glowing reviews and earned him a slot opening for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.
Though Living with the Law seemed to position Chris Whitley for a breakthrough into a cult audience, he waited four years to deliver his second record, Din of Ecstasy. An attempt to connect with the hard-edged mainstream alternative-rock audience that developed in the years following the release of Living with the Law, the grunge-flavored Din of Ecstasy — which was released on Columbia's recently developed "alternative" subsidiary, WORK — received mixed reviews and alienated his roots-rock audience without winning him new fans. Two years later, Whitley released Terra Incognita, which combined elements of his first two records. Dirt Floor followed on the Messenger in 1998, restoring Whitley to a level of critical acclaim that rivaled his early work. Live at Martyrs' followed in the spring of 2000, and just a few months later, the spare studio effort Perfect Day appeared on the Valley imprint. Rocket House (2001) expanded on more soulful grooves, and boasted eclectic collaborations with Bruce Hornsby, Blondie Chaplin, and Dave Matthews. It was also his first for Matthews' own imprint, ATO Records. A year later, Long Way Around: An Anthology 1991-2001 compiled his years at Columbia.
Chris Whitley is a Texas-based singer-songwriter who initially began his career as a bluesy roots-rocker, but as his career progressed, he moved deeper into rock & roll and alternative rock. Though Whitley's albums usually received postiive reviews, they rarely sold, and his tendency to rework his sound prevented him from developing a sizable cult following among singer-songwriter fans.
As a child, Whitley moved frequently through the Southeast, eventually moving with his mother to Mexico when his parents divorced when he was 11; they later settled in a log cabin in Vermont. At the age of 15, he began playing guitar, inspired by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Johnny Winter and Jimi Hendrix, eventually learning how to play slide guitar. He quit high school a year before graduation, moving to New York City, where he busked on the streets. One of his performances was witnessed by a listener who ran a travel agency, and decided that Whitley would be a success in Belgium and offered to send him to Europe. With nothing to lose, Whitley accepted the offer.
Once in Belgium, Whitley recorded a series of albums that flip-flopped between blues, rock and funk. The records made him a minor success in Belgium, but he decided to return to New York anyway in 1990. He happened to meet producer Daniel Lanois later that year. Impressed by Whitley's songs, Lanois helped set up a deal with Columbia Records for the songwriter, and produced his first album. Released in the spring of 1991, Whitley's U.S. debut Living with the Law was an atmospheric set of blues and folk-rock that received glowing reviews and earned him a slot opening for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.
Though Living with the Law seemed to position Chris Whitley for a breakthrough into a cult audience, he waited four years to deliver his second record, Din of Ecstasy. An attempt to connect with the hard-edged mainstream alternative-rock audience that developed in the years following the release of Living with the Law, the grunge-flavored Din of Ecstasy — which was released on Columbia's recently developed "alternative" subsidiary, WORK — received mixed reviews and alienated his roots-rock audience without winning him new fans. Two years later, Whitley released Terra Incognita, which combined elements of his first two records. Dirt Floor followed on the Messenger in 1998, restoring Whitley to a level of critical acclaim that rivaled his early work. Live at Martyrs' followed in the spring of 2000, and just a few months later, the spare studio effort Perfect Day appeared on the Valley imprint. Rocket House (2001) expanded on more soulful grooves, and boasted eclectic collaborations with Bruce Hornsby, Blondie Chaplin, and Dave Matthews. It was also his first for Matthews' own imprint, ATO Records. A year later, Long Way Around: An Anthology 1991-2001 compiled his years at Columbia.
Never heard of him.
11-23-05, 02:21 AM
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 632
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A nice bit from Billboard.com
Singer/Songwriter Chris Whitley Dies
November 22, 2005, 10:45 AM ET
Katie Hasty, N.Y.
Singer/songwriter Chris Whitley died Sunday (Nov. 20) in Houston at the age of 45 after battling lung cancer. The veteran Texas-reared artist recorded for Columbia, ATO and, most recently, Messenger Records, which released his tenth studio album, "Soft Dangerous Shores," in July. A new release, "Reiter In," is due in mid-December on vinyl and will appear on CD sometime next year.
Whitley is survived by his daughter Trixie, his brother Dan and his girlfriend Susanne, whom he was planning to marry. "I hope you all will mourn my brother's death but more important celebrate his life as Chris was all about life and living," Dan wrote on Chris' official Web site. "I started the celebration by cranking up [the 1998 album] 'Dirt Floor' in his honor ... crying still."
"Chris is an example of one of those things that appalls me about the record industry - ATO co-founder Dave Matthews told Billboard in 2001. "That is, how could a talent like his go relatively unnoticed? So few singers have their own personality, and Chris is his own man to the bone. Honestly, I feel more passion for his music than I do for my own. My music I'm critical of. But I have a fervent, religious devotion to the magic that Chris makes."
"What I came to terms with by making some small indie records and meeting other people who work in that way is that, hey, if a record doesn't do blockbuster numbers, then that's OK," Whitley told Billboard in 2001. "I feel more comfortable with my place in the culture now and the fact that I don't have to fear the cool police or this cult of youth."
Dave Matthews really sums up my feelings on Chris' lack of popular notice.
November 22, 2005, 10:45 AM ET
Katie Hasty, N.Y.
Singer/songwriter Chris Whitley died Sunday (Nov. 20) in Houston at the age of 45 after battling lung cancer. The veteran Texas-reared artist recorded for Columbia, ATO and, most recently, Messenger Records, which released his tenth studio album, "Soft Dangerous Shores," in July. A new release, "Reiter In," is due in mid-December on vinyl and will appear on CD sometime next year.
Whitley is survived by his daughter Trixie, his brother Dan and his girlfriend Susanne, whom he was planning to marry. "I hope you all will mourn my brother's death but more important celebrate his life as Chris was all about life and living," Dan wrote on Chris' official Web site. "I started the celebration by cranking up [the 1998 album] 'Dirt Floor' in his honor ... crying still."
"Chris is an example of one of those things that appalls me about the record industry - ATO co-founder Dave Matthews told Billboard in 2001. "That is, how could a talent like his go relatively unnoticed? So few singers have their own personality, and Chris is his own man to the bone. Honestly, I feel more passion for his music than I do for my own. My music I'm critical of. But I have a fervent, religious devotion to the magic that Chris makes."
"What I came to terms with by making some small indie records and meeting other people who work in that way is that, hey, if a record doesn't do blockbuster numbers, then that's OK," Whitley told Billboard in 2001. "I feel more comfortable with my place in the culture now and the fact that I don't have to fear the cool police or this cult of youth."
Dave Matthews really sums up my feelings on Chris' lack of popular notice.
11-23-05, 08:21 AM
#11
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 7,935
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Linn1
I'm blown away so few people knew who he was, but I guess, he was a bit obscure now that I think about it. I bought one of his CDs at a used music store about seven years ago and bought every cd since. I only saw him live once and that was at the house of blues in N.O. opening for Social Distortion, which are also a fave of mine.
BTW, I'm sitting here in my Social Distortion shirt. Raise a glass of wine in a toast, but not the cig.
11-23-05, 02:05 PM
#12
Originally Posted by atlantamoi
I thought more people would have at least heard of him. It seems he made a splash when he came on the scene, but maybe my memory sucks. Interesting comments by Dave Matthews.
"Honestly, I feel more passion for his music than I do for my own." - I know how he meant it, but that Dave Matthews quote is unintentionally both funny & sad.
11-23-05, 03:33 PM
#13
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 7,935
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Lokimok
"Honestly, I feel more passion for his music than I do for my own." - I know how he meant it, but that Dave Matthews quote is unintentionally both funny & sad.
