Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well! A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group: "As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
He was such a GREAT musician, and I was lucky enough to meet him personally in Seattle through a radio station, and he was the loveliest person who was so shy and quite insecure about his guitar playing. I quickly assured him that he was Fabulous, with a capital F
Chris Whitley was a true artist . Dumb F'ing record co.'s didn't seem to want to market him or get behind him , after his debut album - but he put all those stupid "Grunge" bands to shame , just him and a guitar = powerful . Rest in peace , Chris - thanks for the music.
watch the old '60 minutes' piece they did on Eva Cassidy to see another tragedy of a wildly gifted american artist totally overlooked. The A&R guy from Blue Note admits how badly they fucked up even. she was dead at 33. Listen to her Autumn Leaves on youtube. Her and Chris are my favorites. So damn sad though.
Working at Camelot, this was in the promo "dust bin." Kicked the stones right out of my damn head! Stuck me back in Ticketmaster- scored front row center for Petty & Chris. Walked over 20 miles to see them where metro transport would not go! Worth every damn step. RIP Tom, Howie & Chris.
RIP Chris Whitley. You are still one of the best singers/guitarists that we were lucky to have with us then,now and forever. We share the same birthday August 31st. Love you!!
Tell ya what, Paul Shaffer knocked out those harmonica parts EXACTLY like the album. And the dude on lead guitar had no easy task getting that "desert slide" sound out of a Kramer.👍
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well! A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group: "As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
So under rated. Loved the guy ever since listening to 'Living With The Law' on New Zealand radio waves in mid '91. I spent the summer of that year of '91 at Christmas time watching sky divers at a local aerodrome compete in the New Zealand Sky Diving Championships/Nationals perform. I am a complete left leg amputee as a result of my near-death motorcycle accident in 1990 when I was 26. I booked a tandem parachute jump and went for it. What a TRIP! Best jump of my life. So for around a week I watched those sky divers while all the time listening to Chris Whitley and his first album 'Living With The Law' on cassette tape on my car stereo system. Man did those car speakers get a thrashing. Met a chick who was sky diving too...all I can say about that was it was great while it lasted...a short time; 'You be putting your soul up on ice Well now mama sad son what's your hurry? Mama don't know what I done For the poison girl, poison girl'...
I never comment on stuff here but the comments dissing this band are ridiculous. These guys are the best in the business and if I had a dream gig that would be it.Think about the fact they play with EVERYONE every day. A daunting task that very few could ever step up to the plate for. Not to mention they play on so many recordings it's insane. Wil Lee is the most recorded voice on the planet. I think Chris is one of the most important musicians in the past 100 yrs but you guys are idiots to diss a band of this caliber. I bet they went through it maybe once or twice before performing it.
It's all a matter of opinion, and we all know what those are worth. Mine is that the folks in Paul's band are all great musicians--lousy singers tho, except for Felicia, who could get by fronting her own band if she had to--but able to back up/augment almost anybody. (Witness their long-running stint at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, for one). But that's kinda the point: Chris Whitley wasn't just anybody. He was a rarely, singularly gifted, pure Artist. There was obviously no groove, no blues, no feeling, no rapport between them. Shaffer's harp playing was particularly egregious and soulless. Whitley must have felt like he'd been beaten over the head with his own song, but knew he had to do it for the record company. Thank god he was able to follow his own path and keep putting out records and playing his own way after that brush with the big-time biz.
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well! A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group: "As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
We musicians ripp whenever we want. We do it all the time, make comparisons with acts and in this musician’s opinion, mine, I never cared much for the other bands of that time nearly as much as the timeless genius of Chris Whitley. In other word he’s my favorite artist from that era. On another plane!
Such a great song!! First time I heard it was watching Thelma & Louise. I was instantly hooked. Then I was fortunate enough to see Chris only once on a tour with Tom Petty. He was amazing. RIP CW!!
Yes I heard it in Thelma & Louise and could not rest until I found out who this was and go get the music - this before internet days. Best musical discovery of my life. Other is Cry of Love if you've never heard them.
i remember seeing this show and the next day i went out hunting for the album all over calgary. took almost a month of searching but found it and DOE to boot. awesome summer driving in the mountains... rip
Thanks so much for posting this. I have been a huge fan ever since I saw a part of his Big Sky Country video on VH1 back in 1991 and had to buy his album. Such a great voice and a talented musician, So sad to have died so young.
Goddamned shitty house band drowned out an incredible artist. You could tell it was annoying him. I saw Whitley in a small club in Ft. Worth when this album came out. I was sitting at a two seat table directly in front of him. It was just him with three different Nationals & his foot for percussion. He hit a final slide note at the end of "Make the Dirt Stick" that gave me chills. I let out a soft, "whooh" & he heard it & grinned. "Phone Call From Leavenworth" was incredible. The whole show left the audience stunned. I tried to never pass up a chance to see him when he came to DFW.
+Tim Parker I envy you that experience. I would only beg to differ about the band. They really tried to reproduce the album version of the song, and given that they typically only have a couple of hours to work on it, they did fairly well. Watch the drummer. He's brilliant.
+Tim Parker Thank you for reinforcing exactly what I was thinking. Letterman's band is talented in a sterilized studio musician sort of way, but Paul absolutely sucked trying to wing the harmonica part. It made me cringe. I just got turned on to Whitley. Better late than never right? Real Artist/Songwriters are rare and he appears to be the real deal. Great story Tim, and I can tell you as a gigging guitar player, there's nothing better than the genuine emotional reaction from someone in the audience that is really listening to and enjoying your performance. Thanks again for the well worded comment and story. I've had a few of those "whooh" moments listening to players like Eric Johnson and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Great memories.
Thank you, Katie. Absolute genius. Despite what you might say about the band, they have typically a few hours to work with the song before performing it with the artist. Often times they never even meet the performer until the evening of the show. Show business is nerve wracking and you could almost always see it in Whitley's face. The sweat and dirt is what he lived by. RIP, big guy.
+ApollonianKing My opinion counts for little :) - I just don't like Paul Schafer; I should not have allowed my animus for Paul to bleed into an over-generalization about the band. As Sgt. Schultz (Hogan's Heroes) would say "I know NOTHINK!" My apologies ....
Paul Shafer is a silly man, and your opinion is important to me. Shafer is spectacular at what he does. He leads one of the most successful bands of all time. His harmonica was superfluous though and over played, and the production of the video featured the band too much, in my opinion. Keep up the excellent work.
Letterman's band was the best late night t.v. had to offer. They bent over backwards to try to re-create the artists original vision. They had some horrible mixes though... I wonder if they had any control over the mixes from their little sound stage area...??? But they were not out to screw anybody over... check out their work with Dinosaur Jr. on the show... probably some of the loudest live television ever aired!!!
I had the privilege to work with both Steve Winwood and Jeff Beck, both for a 10 year period through the 80s & 90s. We did numerous US TV during this time - Letterman's band were easily the best musicians. Part of my role was to meet up with Paul Schaefer for breakfast on the show day and hand over any samples/key sounds. He then spent the day sorting out charts for the house band - single play back / rehearsal at 4.00pm, then to air / recording at 6.00pm. Agreeably, he hid it well, but this band were always awesome... check out Anton Figg with Joe Bonamassa these days... (also with Mike Rhodes - Winwoods' bassist from the 80s & 90s...)
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well! A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group: "As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
To say Paul Schafer & this band has no talent shows how many non-musicians are watching this. Before you can say someone is "terrible" you gotta out play them FIRST!
+tomigunn777 There's a big difference between an amazingly original artist & a house cover band. "You'd be hard-pressed to find a major musician who wasn't blown away by his talents, his guitar-playing and his singing," Brandon Kessler, Messenger's owner, told Reuters. Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews and Keith Richards were reported to be among his admirers.
No problem. I can say it. I'm not saying they have no talent, but generic music is fit for commercials and psuedo-country pop bands and certainty not a talent like Chris Whitley.
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well! A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group: "As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
This was right up Paul Schafer's alley considering his work with The Blues Brothers before their 1980 movie, in which he could not appear in due to contractual obligations that he had with NBC at the time.
I discovered Whitley because I was a bit of a Daniel Lanois junky. I am Canadian, and I was impressed, and still am, by the talent of Lanois, so I used to listen to all I could at the time, that he either produced or participated in. He did both for Chris Whitley, although I do believe Chris had enough raw talent to make it with anyone, the respect garnered for Daniel in the industry sure didn't hurt his career. I was saddened when I heard Chris had passed along, just as I'm sure most of you were. I will not diss Letterman's house band in this video because obviously Chris needed them just to make the appearance and the really didn't do all that bad.
+ken barr His daughter Trixie just released her second album 'Porta Bohemica'. She also worked with Daniel Lanois in Black Dub, one of Daniel's projects together with Brian Blade.
+Luc Machiels wow. and brian blade's just out there on the streets accepting all comers.. i'm only finding out about chris tonight but there must be some musical power in that blood.
+ken barr Agreed. Not understanding all the hate being leveled at Letterman's band...Pretty faithful reproduction to my ears,and I am a musician. Maybe the mix isn't in favor of Chris but I still got the message. Great songs translate no matter what the circumstances.
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well! A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group: "As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
Chris is always amazing, what he needed here was a bit more subtle, not Paul's specialty, he's too much of an ego maniac. That said very few people are subtle enough to get what Chris was doing. Thanks for posting.
Really great album by Chris. It's just interesting why he played this song and Poison Girl on the only time he's in the tonight show and Letterman. Maybe if he played Big Sky Country or Living with the Law he may have gotten more fans from the millions of viewers on those two nights. He sure got me hooked on Big Sky Country...just saying. RIP Chris.
Stranded alone on a desert island with one record to choose, as a massive Stones fan I might pick Living with the Law over any Stones record. I just don’t know but I’d consider it.
"Shitty backing musicians" Hysterical. Anton Fig alone has played on more records than I could name off the top of my head. Nonetheless, a great performance from Chris.
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well! A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group: "As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
i was old enough to bare witness to this but was elsewhere. conny ochs brought me here from one of his live sets. i feel like i can feel some of the spirit behind this.
You are soooo right: Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well! A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group: "As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
+Katie Dewitz Wow. You are a very special person, Katie. One day this will all make more sense to me, and the melancholy that pulls at my soul will manifest itself in more positive ways. Understand that his music takes me over and I stop being rational. He is the only artist to ever make me crazy, dirty, tired and sad like this song does. The lyrics speak of a love complicated by madness, something so delicate that only a genius of his magnitude could have even written it. Yet it leaves giant holes in the fabric of the emotional statements. Is he telling the woman to get lost, or just to get her ass in gear? I will never know, will I? All I will ever know is how it feels, and maybe that was his intention to begin with.
I know ... mea culpa. I would edit my description in light of my ignorance, but commenters would lose the opportunity to tell me how very wrong I am about Paul and the band. Pile it on ... I earned it! :)
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well! A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group: "As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
I wouldn't say better, it's just an entirely different type of music that Chris made which can't be compared to the grunge scene. He wasn't limited by genre.
@@thyop89 Fair enough. I was having an emotional moment listening to Chris. And this is what I was listening to when the Grunge scene started. I never got much in to it.
@@Viajealduende yeah thats understandable. I think the grunge scene had that kind of polarising effect, personally, I was into it and saw the value in those artists but I recognise that Chris did something transcendent that was in its own zone. There's was noone like him.
@@thyop89 He was actually a fan of many of those groups. He liked Alice In Chains and the Flaming Lips. I don’t’ know if they were really in that category but that’s just it about Chris Whitely, he himself couldn’t be categorized.
Can somebody pls. explain why I'm allowed to click the like or dislike button on some posts and not others??? (I don't have time to keep up with reading all the stupid new rules Google has imposed on YT, tho I've tried.)
one of the things that always confused me on Letterman when he would have artists on and they would come out and do a song with the band. what about the actual band, the band that actually plays on and wrote on songs, how come they dont get to do their own song. just the singer and the show band.
Schafer & Co. did well supporting Chris who, most likely, was not present at the rehearsal. Paul gave a clear, welcome cue to Chris, "over to you". Is it really necessary to be cool as a cucumber? When music stops being fun we've got serious trouble.
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well! A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group: "As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
Man, some folks need to do some research before putting their ignorance on public display. Look up the resumes of the individuals in this "generic cover band", compare yours, then get back with us...
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well! A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group: "As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well! A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group: "As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well! A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group: "As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
+Katie Dewitz - everyone's opinion counts for something, so no need to apologize to anyone who disagrees with you; and it's easy to understand why any non-musician is bugged by Paul Shaffer, but that band represents some of the best players in New York City history and there's a reason those guys all get the gigs that they have gotten over the years. it was not a great pairing with Chris Whitley, but that doesn't mean they're not great musicians. Nice to debate with an adult for a change. thanks for your response!
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well! A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group: "As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
Man the band just killed it! Paul's harp playing & Sid's slide was very tasty.
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well!
A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group:
"As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
Chris Whitley Living With The Law...one of the best albums EVER! ❤❤ it! RIP - gone way to soon 🕊
yes
there is no one to compare to Chris his originality in his music and lyrics is still unmatched RIP
He was such a GREAT musician, and I was lucky enough to meet him personally in Seattle through a radio station, and he was the loveliest person who was so shy and quite insecure about his guitar playing. I quickly assured him that he was Fabulous, with a capital F
Letterman is holding the CD upside down. That always makes me shake my head. RIP Chris.
Chris Whitley’s amazing. His music is in your face RAW take it or leave it!
What a wonderful talent ☮️
Chris Whitley was a true artist .
Dumb F'ing record co.'s didn't seem to want to market him or get behind him , after his debut album - but he put all those stupid "Grunge" bands to shame , just him and a guitar = powerful . Rest in peace , Chris - thanks for the music.
Hold it right there. Grunge never came to shit on Chris, save it for the fake assholes on the top 40.
watch the old '60 minutes' piece they did on Eva Cassidy to see another tragedy of a wildly gifted american artist totally overlooked. The A&R guy from Blue Note admits how badly they fucked up even. she was dead at 33. Listen to her Autumn Leaves on youtube. Her and Chris are my favorites. So damn sad though.
So underrated
Sid, Paul, Anton. Thinkt they maybe suspected this would not last. TOO good really. Essential.
Working at Camelot, this was in the promo "dust bin." Kicked the stones right out of my damn head! Stuck me back in Ticketmaster- scored front row center for Petty & Chris. Walked over 20 miles to see them where metro transport would not go! Worth every damn step. RIP Tom, Howie & Chris.
Now THAT is devotion! Join the Chris Whitley group on Facebook to meet more devoted fans: facebook.com/groups/allthingschriswhitley/
@@KatieDewitz4ChrisWhitley So honored Katie- thank you!
Beautiful comment!
@@charliegorman1797 Thank you Charlie - priceless memories.
RIP Chris Whitley. You are still one of the best singers/guitarists that we were lucky to have with us then,now and forever. We share the same birthday August 31st. Love you!!
That was excellent. The band did him proud. Great harmonica from Paul too.
Jeff Buckley and Chris Whitley. Bless.
This man. Such a loss.
he was the best.i am from holland and when i saw him i was sold in a way,... such great spirit xx
Man was fuckin' brilliant - saw him twice. Absolutely mind blowing. Chris Whitley onstage with a National resonator guitar - untouchable!!✌❤
Tell ya what, Paul Shaffer knocked out those harmonica parts EXACTLY like the album. And the dude on lead guitar had no easy task getting that "desert slide" sound out of a Kramer.👍
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well!
A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group:
"As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
Cheers Katie 💖
Love Mr. Whitley. Will meet him in heaven. We will do a duet him and I.
I absolutely loved everything Chris Whitley did. I saw him only once at a club in Denver and he was mesmerizing.
Where is he when music needs him so much?
An artist comme il faut - pure spirit.
So under rated. Loved the guy ever since listening to 'Living With The Law' on New Zealand radio waves in mid '91. I spent the summer of that year of '91 at Christmas time watching sky divers at a local aerodrome compete in the New Zealand Sky Diving Championships/Nationals perform. I am a complete left leg amputee as a result of my near-death motorcycle accident in 1990 when I was 26. I booked a tandem parachute jump and went for it. What a TRIP! Best jump of my life. So for around a week I watched those sky divers while all the time listening to Chris Whitley and his first album 'Living With The Law' on cassette tape on my car stereo system. Man did those car speakers get a thrashing. Met a chick who was sky diving too...all I can say about that was it was great while it lasted...a short time;
'You be putting your soul up on ice
Well now mama sad son what's your hurry?
Mama don't know what I done
For the poison girl, poison girl'...
I seem to have missed your comment over the 5 years since you posted. Kudos to you and your can-do spirit - hope life is good!
A very good song! Lyrics are a bit weird, but love it! Paul nailed the harmonica! He is an amazing studio musician.
Cool stuff- gone way WAY too soon. Love ya CW!⚡️
I never comment on stuff here but the comments dissing this band are ridiculous. These guys are the best in the business and if I had a dream gig that would be it.Think about the fact they play with EVERYONE every day. A daunting task that very few could ever step up to the plate for. Not to mention they play on so many recordings it's insane. Wil Lee is the most recorded voice on the planet. I think Chris is one of the most important musicians in the past 100 yrs but you guys are idiots to diss a band of this caliber. I bet they went through it maybe once or twice before performing it.
It's all a matter of opinion, and we all know what those are worth. Mine is that the folks in Paul's band are all great musicians--lousy singers tho, except for Felicia, who could get by fronting her own band if she had to--but able to back up/augment almost anybody. (Witness their long-running stint at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, for one). But that's kinda the point: Chris Whitley wasn't just anybody. He was a rarely, singularly gifted, pure Artist. There was obviously no groove, no blues, no feeling, no rapport between them. Shaffer's harp playing was particularly egregious and soulless. Whitley must have felt like he'd been beaten over the head with his own song, but knew he had to do it for the record company. Thank god he was able to follow his own path and keep putting out records and playing his own way after that brush with the big-time biz.
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well!
A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group:
"As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
Another genius slips by.
One of the best records I've ever stumbled onto. He was on a different level. Saw him open up for Tom Petty it was staggering. Never forget it
You can learn more about LWTL in these blog posts: wp.me/p3GDKV-1D and wp.me/p3GDKV-nf
I saw and met Chris at an in-store performance in Austin. Truly a memorable experience.
Chris was one bad mofo! I saw him with Petty in Las Cruces,NM, and Chris blew Tom out the water. Reviews of the show agreed with me.
We musicians ripp whenever we want. We do it all the time, make comparisons with acts and in this musician’s opinion, mine, I never cared much for the other bands of that time nearly as much as the timeless genius of Chris Whitley. In other word he’s my favorite artist from that era. On another plane!
I agree with some of the folks here...I'm not crazy about Schafer and his band, but I thought they did a fine job on this tune.
Guitarnowski's Jamarama the best Letterman band was with Jordan on drums and Bullock on guitar after that it was sprinkles and glitz
Such a great song!! First time I heard it was watching Thelma & Louise. I was instantly hooked. Then I was fortunate enough to see Chris only once on a tour with Tom Petty. He was amazing. RIP CW!!
Yes I heard it in Thelma & Louise and could not rest until I found out who this was and go get the music - this before internet days. Best musical discovery of my life. Other is Cry of Love if you've never heard them.
Love this song so much, and miss Chris. RIP, brother.
Such a compelling performer.
i remember seeing this show and the next day i went out hunting for the album all over calgary. took almost a month of searching but found it and DOE to boot. awesome summer driving in the mountains... rip
The band sounds amazing on this. They really did a great job.
Thanks so much for posting this. I have been a huge fan ever since I saw a part of his Big Sky Country video on VH1 back in 1991 and had to buy his album. Such a great voice and a talented musician, So sad to have died so young.
Goddamned shitty house band drowned out an incredible artist. You could tell it was annoying him. I saw Whitley in a small club in Ft. Worth when this album came out. I was sitting at a two seat table directly in front of him. It was just him with three different Nationals & his foot for percussion. He hit a final slide note at the end of "Make the Dirt Stick" that gave me chills. I let out a soft, "whooh" & he heard it & grinned. "Phone Call From Leavenworth" was incredible. The whole show left the audience stunned. I tried to never pass up a chance to see him when he came to DFW.
+Tim Parker I envy you that experience. I would only beg to differ about the band. They really tried to reproduce the album version of the song, and given that they typically only have a couple of hours to work on it, they did fairly well. Watch the drummer. He's brilliant.
+Tim Parker DO YOU KNOW WHO CHRIS IS PLAYING WITH? CHECK OUT SOME OF THE NAMES ROOKIE.
+Tim Parker Thank you for reinforcing exactly what I was thinking. Letterman's band is talented in a sterilized studio musician sort of way, but Paul absolutely sucked trying to wing the harmonica part. It made me cringe.
I just got turned on to Whitley. Better late than never right? Real Artist/Songwriters are rare and he appears to be the real deal.
Great story Tim, and I can tell you as a gigging guitar player, there's nothing better than the genuine emotional reaction from someone in the audience that is really listening to and enjoying your performance.
Thanks again for the well worded comment and story. I've had a few of those "whooh" moments listening to players like Eric Johnson and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Great memories.
MyworstEnemy
Thanks much for your comment.
+ApollonianKing The drummer is Anton Figg....plays with all the top artist..i.e. Joe Bonamassa.
Thank you, Katie. Absolute genius. Despite what you might say about the band, they have typically a few hours to work with the song before performing it with the artist. Often times they never even meet the performer until the evening of the show. Show business is nerve wracking and you could almost always see it in Whitley's face. The sweat and dirt is what he lived by. RIP, big guy.
+ApollonianKing My opinion counts for little :) - I just don't like Paul Schafer; I should not have allowed my animus for Paul to bleed into an over-generalization about the band. As Sgt. Schultz (Hogan's Heroes) would say "I know NOTHINK!" My apologies ....
Paul Shafer is a silly man, and your opinion is important to me. Shafer is spectacular at what he does. He leads one of the most successful bands of all time. His harmonica was superfluous though and over played, and the production of the video featured the band too much, in my opinion. Keep up the excellent work.
MAN, that guy was great!
I saw him on the Petty tour and was blown away!
Letterman's band was the best late night t.v. had to offer. They bent over backwards to try to re-create the artists original vision. They had some horrible mixes though... I wonder if they had any control over the mixes from their little sound stage area...??? But they were not out to screw anybody over... check out their work with Dinosaur Jr. on the show... probably some of the loudest live television ever aired!!!
I had the privilege to work with both Steve Winwood and Jeff Beck, both for a 10 year period through the 80s & 90s. We did numerous US TV during this time - Letterman's band were easily the best musicians. Part of my role was to meet up with Paul Schaefer for breakfast on the show day and hand over any samples/key sounds. He then spent the day sorting out charts for the house band - single play back / rehearsal at 4.00pm, then to air / recording at 6.00pm. Agreeably, he hid it well, but this band were always awesome... check out Anton Figg with Joe Bonamassa these days... (also with Mike Rhodes - Winwoods' bassist from the 80s & 90s...)
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well!
A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group:
"As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
Beautiful ❤
I'd have no need to drink if I could sing like that. : )
Gone way to soon.
To say Paul Schafer & this band has no talent shows how many non-musicians are watching this. Before you can say someone is "terrible" you gotta out play them FIRST!
Boom
+tomigunn777 There's a big difference between an amazingly original artist & a house cover band. "You'd be hard-pressed to find a major musician who wasn't blown away by his talents, his guitar-playing and his singing," Brandon Kessler, Messenger's owner, told Reuters. Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews and Keith Richards were reported to be among his admirers.
No problem. I can say it. I'm not saying they have no talent, but generic music is fit for commercials and psuedo-country pop bands and certainty not a talent like Chris Whitley.
Who ever said that? No one with any clue, certainly.
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well!
A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group:
"As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
This was right up Paul Schafer's alley considering his work with The Blues Brothers before their 1980 movie, in which he could not appear in due to contractual obligations that he had with NBC at the time.
Paul S is such a Ham !, hes always in the camera ! RIP Chris We miss you , cant wait to get up there and JAM !
Brad Pitt Gena Davis scene in Thelma and Louise brought me here
pure. lucky to have him for the time we did.
I discovered Whitley because I was a bit of a Daniel Lanois junky. I am Canadian, and I was impressed, and still am, by the talent of Lanois, so I used to listen to all I could at the time, that he either produced or participated in. He did both for Chris Whitley, although I do believe Chris had enough raw talent to make it with anyone, the respect garnered for Daniel in the industry sure didn't hurt his career. I was saddened when I heard Chris had passed along, just as I'm sure most of you were. I will not diss Letterman's house band in this video because obviously Chris needed them just to make the appearance and the really didn't do all that bad.
+ken barr His daughter Trixie just released her second album 'Porta Bohemica'. She also worked with Daniel Lanois in Black Dub, one of Daniel's projects together with Brian Blade.
+Luc Machiels wow. and brian blade's just out there on the streets accepting all comers.. i'm only finding out about chris tonight but there must be some musical power in that blood.
+Epitaphforyesterday Join the All Things Chris Whitley on Facebook to learn much much much more!
+ken barr Agreed. Not understanding all the hate being leveled at Letterman's band...Pretty faithful reproduction to my ears,and I am a musician. Maybe the mix isn't in favor of Chris but I still got the message. Great songs translate no matter what the circumstances.
Paul "The Shiv" Schafer played on and produced The Blues Brothers album....Christ, Whitley couldn't have dreamed of a better backup band.
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well!
A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group:
"As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
Chris is always amazing, what he needed here was a bit more subtle, not Paul's specialty, he's too much of an ego maniac. That said very few people are subtle enough to get what Chris was doing. Thanks for posting.
guitar NEEDS to turn down eh. BRIGHT YELLOW
Really great album by Chris. It's just interesting why he played this song and Poison Girl on the only time he's in the tonight show and Letterman. Maybe if he played Big Sky Country or Living with the Law he may have gotten more fans from the millions of viewers on those two nights. He sure got me hooked on Big Sky Country...just saying. RIP Chris.
Stranded alone on a desert island with one record to choose, as a massive Stones fan I might pick Living with the Law over any Stones record. I just don’t know but I’d consider it.
I remember watching this performance. Life had hope then.
You break my heart. But, yes, I know what you mean....
This video should have 78 MILLION views, not 78,000.
"Shitty backing musicians" Hysterical. Anton Fig alone has played on more records than I could name off the top of my head. Nonetheless, a great performance from Chris.
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well!
A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group:
"As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
i was old enough to bare witness to this but was elsewhere. conny ochs brought me here from one of his live sets. i feel like i can feel some of the spirit behind this.
thank you...
Love you
this guy was no joke...
Nice harmonica, Paul, but I think Chris knows when to come in.
chris whitley singing and lead guitar, blixa bargeld buzz guitar and mick jagger harmonica - that would've been great ..
Paul just looks crazy, but is a brilliant musician.
Damn, talk about a flashback! I f*ckn' remember this show!
Just ferkin awesomeness!
I weep.
He was like Kurt Cobain mixed with Bono and the Edge
Except he can sing and play.
❤
Nice,Paul.
He was Top Notch....Badd Ass
Nothing wrong with this band, Katie.
You are soooo right: Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well!
A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group:
"As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
Does anyone know how to get good quality recordings of Chris?
+Gerard Skennion Join the All Things Chris Whitley group on Facebook - we have LOTS!
+Gerard Skennion Scour my channel for high def versions of his most famous recordings.
+ApollonianKing We've uploaded over 50 full bootlegs of his gigs to the Live Music Archive.
Thanks all!
+Katie Dewitz Wow. You are a very special person, Katie. One day this will all make more sense to me, and the melancholy that pulls at my soul will manifest itself in more positive ways. Understand that his music takes me over and I stop being rational. He is the only artist to ever make me crazy, dirty, tired and sad like this song does. The lyrics speak of a love complicated by madness, something so delicate that only a genius of his magnitude could have even written it. Yet it leaves giant holes in the fabric of the emotional statements. Is he telling the woman to get lost, or just to get her ass in gear? I will never know, will I? All I will ever know is how it feels, and maybe that was his intention to begin with.
Authentic
What do you mean he had to?! The Letterman band was the best!
I know ... mea culpa. I would edit my description in light of my ignorance, but commenters would lose the opportunity to tell me how very wrong I am about Paul and the band. Pile it on ... I earned it! :)
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well!
A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group:
"As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
Cool!!
Woof!!
Hey Pearl Jam! Cover Chris Whitley!
Much better than Nirvana and Pearl Jam! Chris Whitley is the best artist of that generation a thousand times over.
I wouldn't say better, it's just an entirely different type of music that Chris made which can't be compared to the grunge scene. He wasn't limited by genre.
@@thyop89 Fair enough. I was having an emotional moment listening to Chris. And this is what I was listening to when the Grunge scene started. I never got much in to it.
@@Viajealduende yeah thats understandable. I think the grunge scene had that kind of polarising effect, personally, I was into it and saw the value in those artists but I recognise that Chris did something transcendent that was in its own zone. There's was noone like him.
@@thyop89 He was actually a fan of many of those groups. He liked Alice In Chains and the Flaming Lips. I don’t’ know if they were really in that category but that’s just it about Chris Whitely, he himself couldn’t be categorized.
Why rip one thing to support another. We musicians aren't just meat.
This was when Chris started he knew he had to get out of this kind of situation. No disrespect Lettermen but Chris he needed to do it his way
He was so beautiful and so talented. Everyone seems to have their drug. His was tobacco. Go figure.
Tobacco and everything else
Sad...
I hear a strat somewhere, are my ears fooling me?
Can somebody pls. explain why I'm allowed to click the like or dislike button on some posts and not others??? (I don't have time to keep up with reading all the stupid new rules Google has imposed on YT, tho I've tried.)
They don't make them any better than Chris Whitley.
It shows how good Chris really was to be able to shine through that BS.
one of the things that always confused me on Letterman when he would have artists on and they would come out and do a song with the band. what about the actual band, the band that actually plays on and wrote on songs, how come they dont get to do their own song. just the singer and the show band.
Fuck! That shit is good!
He was a fucking angel. An angel with demons, but an angel nonetheless.
Woof!!
Gone too soon.
KD you gotta give it up for Paul on the harp! :-)
No, Paul ruins it. Violates Chris' song. Somebody needs to hit him with a beer bottle.
TheophilusBoone
I agree, these guys don't understand about space, not like Chris does. I agree Paul blows!
Schafer & Co. did well supporting Chris who, most likely, was not present at the rehearsal.
Paul gave a clear, welcome cue to Chris, "over to you".
Is it really necessary to be cool as a cucumber?
When music stops being fun we've got serious trouble.
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well!
A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group:
"As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
Man, some folks need to do some research before putting their ignorance on public display. Look up the resumes of the individuals in this "generic cover band", compare yours, then get back with us...
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well!
A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group:
"As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
Eh.... not too bad. Chris is Chris. I think it's great.
More vocals man, can’t hardly hear him
What a loss.
the band rocks, and if you can't feel it, then you can't feel. the mix is off
Nobody like him at all✌️
I don't get the critisism of the band. Although the mix was truly awful.
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well!
A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group:
"As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
GODDAMN!!!!!! LUCKILY CHRIS SHINES ABOVE THE NO TALENT LETTERMAN & PAUL & STILL KILLS IT. TALENT IS AN ASSET
Too bad Chris didn't have his own band here or could have just played solo. A tv band just don't cut it.
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well!
A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group:
"As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."
Should have played it solo. But even with those shitty backing musicians, Chris nails it, of course.
You are such a clueless clown. My god, your ignorance is staggering.
Funny that you can appreciate Chris Whitley and yet not know what great musicians he's playing with here. You're clearly not a musician yourself.
+murd13 You got me! See my reply to Apollonian King.
+Katie Dewitz - everyone's opinion counts for something, so no need to apologize to anyone who disagrees with you; and it's easy to understand why any non-musician is bugged by Paul Shaffer, but that band represents some of the best players in New York City history and there's a reason those guys all get the gigs that they have gotten over the years. it was not a great pairing with Chris Whitley, but that doesn't mean they're not great musicians. Nice to debate with an adult for a change. thanks for your response!
Mea Culpa - Recent update to my intro: My Bad 2024-05-03: Over the decade since I first posted this video, several commenters have dinged my negative comments re Paul Shaffer (I even got his last name wrong) and the house band. Turns out the man himself - that is, Chris Whitley - might have dinged me as well!
A member of our All Things Chris Whitley FB group and friend of Chris since his early 80s days in NYC WENT WITH CHRIS TO THAT LETTERMAN GIG [!!!!!!!!!!] and shared her memories of that adventure with the ATCW group:
"As I recall Chris was very EXTREMELY HAPPY with the results of the rehearsal & the show for this. I remember it quite well, I was there. .... One more thing to say about this set, the instant mutual admiration society between Chris and the band members who accompanied him was immediate, honest & heartfelt. They did everything they possibly could & then some to get everything just the way Chris wanted it right down to Paul playing the harp. And don’t forget we are talking, aside from Paul Shaffer, Sid [McGinnis] on guitar, Will Lee on bass and freaking Anton Fig on drums. It just doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Many many other artists with phenomenal touring bands opted to play with Letterman’s band back in the day."