I never liked Solid Iron Heart on the Rocket House album. Well, I should qualify that statement: I was drawn in by Chris’s haunting voice and entranced by the lyrics, but my ears rebelled against all the extraneous sound production in the album version. I mean, really, why such noise should obscure such intense … Continue reading
Soon after the ATCW Facebook group was formed, Christian Lacroix shared audio from Chris and the Vast Combo’s 2003 performance in Cluses, France. Christian indicated that he might have video of the full performance (devoutly to be wished!). Here are the two songs Christian shared:
This three-part interview seems to have been recorded after Din, which Chris discusses extensively.
The thing I hate most about Facebook as a host for our group is that the now thousands of posts are presented linearly – no feature to allow the user to group posts by topic (e.g., as one would in a discussion forum), to create a chain/thread of related posts, or to easily/quickly access posts … Continue reading
I was pleasantly surprised when, viewing files Hiroshi Suda had sent me of 1999-02-05 (Quasimodo’s, Berlin), I came across a video of Chris and Pat MacDonald singing Dylan’s “Billy” – still brings a smile! Today I ran across some additional audio files of that duet plus of Pat’s solo performance. I’m sharing them … Continue reading
Many thanks to Andi Lechner for writing this post about one of Chris Whitley’s signature pieces of gear. Andi is a musician (singer-songwriter) based in Austria, where he fronts his band (Ghost and the Machine) playing resonator guitars. ======================== NOTE: This article should just provide information about the pick-ups that Chris used on his Nationals. … Continue reading
In Cleveland last fall, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame held a tribute to blues guitarist Robert Johnson. Of the renowned blues, pop, folk and jazz performers at two concerts that weekend, Chris Whitley was the only discernible musical and spiritual link to the fabled bluesman. The powers that be could have scrapped … Continue reading
This is the second set only: Taped by Joel Keller.
Many guitar enthusiasts have inquired about the slides, pedals, amplifiers, and other “accessories” Chris used. yadda yadda…………….. Slides In the Dust Radio documentary, Rick Kelly (Carmine Street Guitars) discusses how Chris made his cutaway slide from an old bicycle handlebar – an original concept which Rick notes Chris should have patented! The photo … Continue reading
“Since Hendrix, there’s not a lot that blows me away,” Whitley said.* We’re all familiar with Chris’s cover of Hendrix’s “Drifting” on the Perfect Day CD. But did you know that he covered other Hendrix songs? That one of the first albums he bought (with money his grandmother had given him for his … Continue reading
