CHRIS WHITLEY appreciation thread! And his little girl Trixie...so fine.

Amazing AMAZING blues guitarist and singer...throw in some hard rock, roots rock and soul and you're just warming up!

Chris Whitley



...Christopher Becker Whitley (August 31, 1960 – November 20, 2005) was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Whitley changed his sound frequently, and achieved modest mainstream success while maintaining a small but devoted following. Whitley's style, beginning with his debut album, Living with the Law was rooted primarily in the blues, but drew on an array of influences and was constantly changing. In 2001, the New York Times described his act as "restless, moving into noise-rock and minimalist jazz evoking Chet Baker and Sonic Youth as much as Robert Johnson". Whitley himself refused to be classified in one genre as an artist, and dodged radio-friendly pop songs, insisting that he could never sincerely create and perform them. --wiki

Live on Letterman!

 

Big Sky Country...so fine

 

Damn...

 

Made From Dirt

 

Trixie Whitley & Black Dub (Daniel Lanois)..if you haven't had the pleasure to hear Trixie...do so now!

 

From the brilliant Tiny Desk Concerts... Trixie & Daniel
Trixie is a multi instrumentalist...guitar, piano, drums...

 

Chris & Trixie

 

On The Road---mini doc

 

Chris came to Australia several times
I was lucky to see him perform twice
Brilliant guitarist and performer. He is very underrated

 

Look What Love Has Done...

 

"Living With The Law" is just fabulous and one of my favourite discs of the 90s. What a voice he had and just great songs on that album, which has a very Daniel Lanois-style production by Malcolm Burns (he had worked a lot with Lanois prior to this album) - and Lanois himself plays guitar on the terrific "Poison Girl" which was the first song that I heard by Chris.
I bought his second album ("Din Of Ecstacy") and it's more of a rough hewn affair but still has its moments. I got "Terra Incognita" but it didn't do much for me. I sold it and didn't delve any further. Maybe I'll have a listen to his other stuff one day.
I was very sad when I heard that he smacked out and passed away.

 

From Wiki:
"After his death, musician John Mayer said, "[Whitley's] somewhat prostrated place in pop culture earned him a sidebar of an obituary, but to those who knew his work, it registers as one of the most under appreciated losses in all of music."

 

Din of Ecstasy is a great album. I should pull it out...it’s been a long time...

 

Amazing album. I think it's my favorite. Or maybe Rocket House. His cover album w MMW is AMAZING. His catalog is overdue for a reissue. Vinyl this time.

 

I remember hearing Living With the Law the first time and thinking wtf is this? In a great way, of course. Lots of blues in it but really a unique kind of mix of influences. One of the best albums of the nineties for sure.

Din of Ecstasy was excellent, but songs like Some Candy Talking alluded as one of the subjects of it to a rather too familiar involvement with the dark side of drug culture, if you will. It began to raise a concern. Terra Incognito only increased it, and I don't think that effort was as good as Din of Ecstasy.

I have his later efforts, and I hate to say they became increasingly difficult to enjoy.

But Living and Din are two of the best albums of the nineties. Count me a big fan.

 

Among my friends who know Chris Whitley I think most consider Big Sky Country to be a real radio friendly song, but Poison Girl just floors me every time I hear it.

 

Although it alienated some of his blues fans I loved Terra Incognita.

 

I was formulate enough to see him at the El Mocambo in Toronto in the mid nineties.
He was great.
Love Trixie as well, with Black Dub and her solo album.

 

If you are a vinyl person, try this promo version of Living with the Law- fewer tracks, sounds better: Chris Whitley - National Steel Edition .
Dirt Floor on vinyl is killer. It's hard to get, but was one of the unusual first releases on Classic Records (better known for remasters of standards in the rock, classical and jazz genres).
I wrote a brief retrospective on Chris Whitley a while ago: http://thevinylpress.com/chris-whitley-a-brief-retrospective/
I dig Trixie too, but am not sure about her current direction. The early stuff she did with Daniel Lanois and Brian Blade was wonderful.
Chris was a treasure.

 

Got to second National Steel Edition, my most played Whitley vinyl. Love the final track, Dust Radio, but the whole record is worth tracking down.
I do have Reiter In on vinyl which was apparently recorded all analog , must give it another listen soon. Trouble with a reasonable sized collection, too many records get forgotten until a nutch from a thread like this prompts a revisit.
I'd like to find a copy of Dirt Floor on vinyl but cost is just too high .

 

Got the tip that this was one artist to watch for so I specifically caught him when opening for Petty. Kinda' dwarfed in summer shedland and the Tom crowd but still memorable.
Bittersweetly glad I made the effort.
Cat walked the edge.

 

Dirt Floor on vinyl sounds fantastic, but again, not easy to find. Not sure it's my favorite CW album ever but it's probably my favorite album consisting entirely of one voice and one guitar. (Yeah, that includes Freewheelin'....)

I love Terra Incognita too. "Weightless" is a stone classic. Living With The Law, of course. The later albums have their moments as well. I was lucky enough to see Chris several times (both solo and with a band) and he was never less than 1000% authentic. What a loss for music. Can't believe I'm the age he was when he died now.

 

This one and Din Of Ecstasy are pretty amazing, even though a lot of fans seem to dismiss them.
By the way, his daughter Trixie has a fantastic (albeit small) catalog that is very much worth investigating, with Fourth Corner being especially spellbinding.

 

They don't make em like Chris any more!