Chris Whitley

Biography

Christopher Becker Whitley (August 31, 1960 – November 20, 2005) was an American blues/rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. Whitley's sound was drawn from the traditions of blues, jazz and rock and he recorded songs by artists from many genres. During his 25-year career, he released 17 albums. While two songs landed in the top 50 of the Billboard mainstream rock charts and he received two Independent Music Awards, he remained on the fringes of both the blues and alternative-rock worlds.
He died in 2005 of lung cancer at the age of 45.

Early life

Whitley was born in Houston, Texas to a father who was an art director in corporate advertising and a mother who was a sculptor and painter. He had a three years younger brother named Dan, and a sister named Bridget.
His parents "grew up on race radio in the South" and their musical tastes—including Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix—influenced Whitley.
In 1971, his parents moved from Texas to Connecticut and later that year separated. The children continued to live with their mother, who had a hard time providing and was moving from place to place, including hippie communes in Mexico, Oklahoma and in a log cabin in Vermont.
At the age of fifteen Whitley taught himself to play guitar by ear, inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Creedence Clearwater Revival. In 1977, he went to New York, working in a Greenwich Village deli.

Career

From 1977 until 1981, Whitley was busking on the streets of New York City and then collaborated with musicians Marc Miller, Arto Lindsay and Michael Beinhorn.
In 1981, he was given a plane ticket to Ghent, Belgium, where he lived for six years. He formed a band named A Noh Rodeo with his girlfriend Helene Gevaert and her brother Alan. He recorded several albums and played with the bands Kuruki, 2 Belgen, Nacht und Nebel, Alan Fawn.

In 1988, Whitley moved back to New York. He was introduced to the producer Daniel Lanois, who was instrumental obtaining his first recording contract with Columbia Records and supported him during the recording process.
In 1991, Whitley's debut album was released, and two of his songs charted on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts: "Big Sky Country×Big Sky Country5 April 2005 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Big Sky Country4:462Automatic3:493Living With the Law3:424Poison Girl3:265Weightless3:066Never2:487New Machine3:198Alien4:119Narcotic Prayer3:4610A Pint of Lotion [demo version]3:40" (number 36) and "Living with the Law×Living With the Law2 July 1991 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Excerpt0:172Living With the Law3:433Big Sky Country4:464Kick the Stones4:135Make the Dirt Stick3:336Poison Girl3:277Dust Radio5:098Phone Call From Leavenworth4:479I Forget You Every Day4:3310Long Way Around4:2711Look What Love Has Done3:1612Bordertown4:3013[untitled]0:18" (number 28).
From 1997 until his death in 2005 he produced one album each year.
In 1998, he produced his fourth album, Dirt Floor×Dirt Floor17 March 1998 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Scrapyard Lullaby3:432Indian Summer3:393Accordingly3:284Wild Country3:095Ballpeen Hammer2:386From One Island to Another2:177Altitude2:528Dirt Floor2:109Loco Girl3:1010The Model2:5811Alien4:4612Living With the Law3:57, which was starkly different from his prior three in its acoustic simplicity.
In 2000, Whitley recorded his album Perfect Day×Perfect Day25 July 2000 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Spanish Harlem Incident2:382Smokestack Lightning4:413China Gate3:094Drifting2:345She's Alright3:566Perfect Day3:317Wild Ox Moan3:098Crystal Ship3:199Spoonful5:0510Stones in My Pathway3:16114th Time Around3:47, an album of cover songs, with Chris Wood and Billy Martin and followed up with the album Rocket House×Rocket House5 June 2001 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1To Joy (radio edit)3:412Radar (radio edit)3:513Radar (live)3:454Time Bomb Baby!5:195Say Goodbye (acoustic version)3:316Vertical Desert (acoustic version)3:557Invisible Day3:538Breaking Your Fall3:119Shadowlands (acoustic version)5:0110Rocket House (acoustic version)4:40 in 2001. He created annual albums until his death; He collaborated with Jeff Lang on an album called Dislocation Blues×Dislocation Blues2006 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Stagger Lee7:262Twelve Thousand Miles4:363When I Paint My Masterpiece5:004Rocket House5:095The Road Leads Down2:526Dislocation Blues5:277Forever in My Life3:558Velocity Girl4:529Ravenswood5:2310Underground4:1911Changing of the Guard6:4212Motion Bride1:2613Hellbound on My Trail5:49 in 2005. His last album was Reiter In.

Style

Whitley's style drew on an array of influences. In 2001, The New York Times described him as "restless, moving into noise-rock and minimalist jazz evoking Chet Baker and Sonic Youth as much as Robert Johnson". He recorded songs by Robert Johnson and Bob Dylan as well as Lou Reed, James Brown, J.J. Cale, The Clash, Nat King Cole, The Doors, Willie Dixon, The Flaming Lips, Jimi Hendrix, Howlin' Wolf, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, The Passions, Prince, The Stooges, and Sonny Boy Williamson II.
Whitley used various alternate tunings and, among other musical instruments, often played slide guitar on a National Triolian resonator guitar nicknamed “Mustard”.

Personal life and death

In 1988, Whitley married the Belgian musician Helen Gevaert. They had a daughter, Trixie Whitley. They divorced in 1995.
In 2001, he moved to Dresden, Germany to live with Susan Buerger who was 17 years younger, and had managed gigs for him. She witnessed his alcoholism which worsened after his mother died in 2004. In the documentary Dust Radio: A Film About Chris Whitley he admits having been through 4 rehabs.
In the spring of 2005, Whitley returned to New York for a US club tour, which he accepted even though his health was declining.
In the fall 2005, Whitley canceled his last tour, as he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Five weeks later in November he was reported to be terminally ill and under the care of hospice. He died on November 20, 2005, in Houston, Texas, at the age of 45.
At the time of his death Whitley was survived by his brother Dan and his musician daughter, Trixie Whitley, as well as his father Jerry Whitley in Red Bank, N.J., and sister Bridget Anderson in Saxtons River, Vermont.

Posthumous

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 underappreciated losses in all of music."
In 2017, the documentary Dust Radio: A Film About Chris Whitley was released.
Notable fans of Whitley's music include, ATO co-founder Dave Matthews, blues guitarist Robert Lockwood, Jr., Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Bruce Hornsby, Tom Petty, Jacob Golden, Myles Kennedy, Don Henley, Iggy Pop, Alanis Morissette, Sandi Thom, John Mayer, Gavin DeGraw, Joey DeGraw, Johnny A., Joe Bonamassa, Keith Richards.