Chris Whitley 1960-2005
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www.chriswhitley.com]
Well, this is a terrible shock. I will be the first to say, that when I saw glenn mcdonald's "Chris Whitley 1960-2005" on the front of www.furia.com, I gasped but immediately assumed I knew the cause. I've seen Whitley in shows brilliant and appalling, and at times he's been frankly incoherent and obviously stoned. Knowing his substance abuse issues, I figured he had overdosed. (Of course, giving his chainsmoking, I may actually be describing the same process, in slow motion.)
I think Whitley was a genius. Entirely unreliable and frustratingly aimless at times in his artistic goals, but an utterly unique talent and one of the most distinctive musical figures of his time. Like glenn said, I didn't even like all his records, nor all his performances, but it's a dreadful disappointment to hear that there won't be more of them.
