• Blues,  Roots Rock

    Chris Whitley and the Bastard Club

    Last July, my brother and I headed up to the Rhythm Room in Phoenix to see Chris Whitley. As I wrote not soon after, it was very sad to watch. Chris was part wasted, exhausted, emotional, and enraged. It was ugly to see. The show ended after a handful of songs, with Whitley being helped off the stage. Four short months later, he was dead of lung cancer. It’s impossible to speculate what was going through his head that night I saw him, so I won’t.

    What we do have left is the music. Earlier this year, the Red Parlor label released ‘Reiter In’ by Chris Whitley & the Bastard Club. The entire album was recorded in the first few days of June 2005 (just a month before I saw him), with Chris being joined by a bunch of his friends in a NYC studio. I haven’t had a chance to hear the whole album yet, but I have heard this one tune, and I’m drawn more and more to it each time I hear it. It’s hypnotic, shuffling, dirty blues. Harmonica, fiddle, snare & cymbal, and Whitley’s signature National Steel bottleneck guitar. Chris’s vocals are sparse but still powerful.

    Chris Whitley & the Bastard Club: All the Beauty Taken from You in This Life Remains Forever (mp3)

    I’m off to eMusic to pick up some more tracks off this album. Other songs include covers of Iggy Pop’s “I Wanna Be Your Dog”, the Flaming Lips “Mountain Side”, and Gary Numan’s “Are Friends Electric”.

  • Blues,  Roots Rock

    RIP Chris Whitley

    Sad news. Chris Whitley has succumbed to lung cancer at the age of 45 [Yahoo News Story].

    My brother and I went to see him over the summer here in Phoenix. It was the first show of his tour, he had just flown over from Germany, and what we witnessed was profoundly sad. The show cut off after around 5 songs after what we thought was substance related behavior (crying, falling off his stool, cursing, and basically saying he didn’t give a shit about anything). Whatever the reason, it was sad to see.

    I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Chris’ work through the years, but I do love his debut album, ‘Living with the Law’ (1991). So in memory of Chris, here are a couple of my favorites.

    Chris Whitley: Living with the Law (mp3)
    Chris Whitley: I Forget You Every Day (mp3)

    Chris Whitley Official Web Site.
    Buy Chris’ music.

  • Rock

    The Malcolm Burn Connection

    Here’s a tune from Canadian band Junkhouse. The band hails from Hamilton, Ontario, home to Daniel Lanois and Malcolm Burn. Burn produced a bunch of Junkhouse tunes, but I’m not sure if he produced this one (anyone?). I found the Lanois/Burn connection interesting since my brother and I recently went to see Chris Whitley. Chris’ debut, ‘Living with the Law’, was produced by Malcolm Burn in Daniel Lanois’ New Orleans mansion. Malcolm also produced Chris’ latest, ‘Soft Dangerous Shores’ (released tomorrow).

    I don’t want to go too deep into it, but last week’s Whitley show in Phoenix was one sad affair. Chris basically played about 5 songs before we all witnessed what amounted to a substance-induced breakdown / meltdown. He cursed, he slurred, he rambled, he cried, he fell off his stool. Before we new it, the house music was up and the crowd was out the door. Much to my complete surprise, he played the very next night in San Diego and apparently played a full, great show. Go figure. From what I witnessed, it didn’t look like he’d see the sun rise.

    At any rate, I found the Malcolm Burn connection interesting when I recently heard this tune, which captures some of the same sort of ethereal, rootsy rocking that shows up in Whitley’s music. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was also a Malcolm Burn production.

    From Rounders: Best of Junkhouse

  • Roots Rock

    From the Swamps of N’awlins

    Our next quality tune comes to you from Chris Whitley’s debut album, “Living with the Law”, released back in 1991 (where the $^#& does the time go?! crap, I’m getting old). This tune is one of the shining moments on the album. This album was produced by Malcolm Burn in Daniel Lanois’ New Orleans mansion.

    Mr. Burn has put his stamp on several projects through the years: the Neville Brothers’ “Yellow Moon” album, Midnight Oil, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris’ “Red Dirt Girl”, John Mellencamp’s “Human Wheels”, not to mention a photography credit on Bruce Cockburn’s “Charity of Night” album. So for some swampy, dirty, rootsy blues-rock, here’s a killer tune from Mr. Whitley:

    Buy “Living With the Law”