Keith Whitley
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| Keith Whitley | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Jackie Keith Whitley | |
| Born | July 1, 1955 Sandy Hook, Kentucky, United States |
|
| Died | May 9, 1989 | |
| Genre(s) | Country | |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar | |
| Years active | 1970–1989 | |
| Associated acts |
Clinch Mountain Boys | |
Jackie Keith Whitley (b. July 1, 1955 in Sandy Hook, Kentucky d. May 9, 1989) was an American country music singer.
Contents |
[edit] Solo years
Whitley's first solo album, A Hard Act to Follow, was released in 1984. However, the songs off of the album didn't get much airplay. while Whitley was working hard to achieve his own style, the songs he produced were inconsistent. Critics regarded the album as too erratic. Because of this, the follow up album had more of a pop sound. The producer, Blake Mevis, had been in the music business for some time and had several hit records under his belt with other artists.
L.A. to Miami, released in 1986 would give him his first Top 20 country hit single, "Miami, My Amy." The song was followed by three more hit songs: "Ten Feet Away," "Homecoming '63," and "Hard Livin." The album also had included "On The Other Hand" and "Nobody In His Right Mind Would've Left Her." Both George Strait and Randy Travis waited to see if Whitley would release these two songs as singles; when he didn't, Strait grabbed "Nobody in his Right Mind Would've Left Her", and Travis did the same with "On the Other Hand." Both Strait and Travis scored big on both songs, landing both at number one on the country charts.
During his tour to promote L.A. to Miami, he met and started dating Lorrie Morgan, a fellow country singer. The pair were married in November, 1986, and they had their only child, a son, Jesse Keith Whitley, in 1987. Keith also adopted Lorrie's daughter Morgan from her first marriage.
During the new recording sessions in 1987, Whitley started feeling that the songs he was doing were not up to the way he wanted them, so Whitley approached RCA and asked if the project of fifteen songs could be shelved. He asked if he could have more of a say in the songs and production. The new album, titled Don't Close Your Eyes, was released in 1988, and and the album did extremely well. The album contained one of the many songs that Whitley had a hand in writing in his years at Tree Publishing, "It's All Coming Back To Me Now." Also on the album was a remake of Lefty Frizzell's classic song, "I Never Go Around Mirrors," and the song became a huge hit at Whitley's concerts. The first three singles off of the album -- "When You Say Nothing at All," "I'm No Stranger to the Rain," and the title cut -- all reached number 1 on Billboard Magazine's country charts during the fall of 1988 and the winter of 1989. "I'm No Stranger To The Rain" also earned Whitley his first and only Country Music Association award.
[edit] Alcoholism and death
Keith Whitley was a longtime alcoholic, who had begun drinking early in his career at Bluegrass concerts -- long before he was legally allowed to drink alcohol. Many times he had tried to cure his alcoholism, but these methods had failed. Whitley preferred to drink alone, making it tough for anyone to detect that he had a drinking problem.
On the morning of May 9, 1989, after a weekend of drinking and partying with friends, Whitley woke up and spoke with his mother briefly on the phone and was visited by his brother in law, and the two of them had planned a full day over a cup of coffee. The day would be with golf, a good lunch, and also that evening Keith had planned to start penning more records for him and Lorrie to possibly return when she came home from her tour. His brother in law had to leave for a bit and told Keith to be ready within an hour. Upon returning Whitley was found face down on his bed. He was pronounced dead at 11:16 a.m. He was 34 years old.
The cause of death was alcohol poisoning, and the coroner report stated his blood alcohol level was five times over the legal limit to drive. Everyone that knew and loved him wondered how he could be gone with such a huge career taking off.
The day after his death, music row was lined with black ribbons in memory of Keith.
[edit] Posthumous career
Although Whitley's voice was silenced, his influence on country music has persisted long after his death. At the time of his death, he had just finished making his fourth and final studio album, I Wonder Do You Think of Me. The album was released three months after his death, on August 1, 1989. The album produced two more #1 hits, with the title track and "It Ain't Nothin'." "I'm Over You" also saw the top ten in the spring of 1990, reaching No. 3.
In 1990, a collection of Keith's greatest hits was released. It has gone on to sell more than three million copies over the years for RCA.
On the greatest hits collection was a demo record that Whitley made in 1987, called "Tell Lorrie I Love Her," and also a new song to which Lorrie Morgan added her vocals to and created a duet called "Til A Tear Becomes A Rose". The song rose to No. 13 and won them 1991's CMA award for Best Vocal Collaboration.
RCA also released a compilation of old performance clips (from his days in the Clinch Mountain Boys and the New South), interviews, and some previously unreleased material under the title Kentucky Bluebird, a moniker that became Whitley's nickname. The CD has become a huge collector's item among fans over the years due to it being out of print. The CD produced several huge hits for Keith as well, including a duet with Earl Thomas Conely which rose to number #2 in the fall of 1991.
In 1994, Whitley's widow, Lorrie Morgan, organized several of Whitley's friends in bluegrass and some of the big names in country at the time to record a tribute album to Whitley. The album included covers of Whitley's songs from artists such as Alan Jackson, Diamond Rio, and Ricky Skaggs. The album also included several previously unreleased tracks recorded by Whitley in 1987. One of the songs was a duet that Lorrie and Keith did in the summer of 1987 called "I Just Want You". The tribute album gave Keith again another award for reaching more than 500,000 copies.
However, the hit single to come from the tribute album was Alison Krauss & Union Station's rendition of "When You Say Nothing at All", which rose to #3 on the Billboard country charts. The song also was re-mixed with Keith's version and Allison's to create a duet that country radio played to help the sales of the album and keep Keith's memory alive. Many fans have said that if the song had been released that way as a duet, it would have been bigger than Keith's original release in 1988.[citation needed]
Garth Brooks, paid tribute to Whitley in his music video for The Dance.
In 1995, the CD "Wherever You Are Tonight" was released from Keith, the songs were all originally demo songs and remixed with new sound to them to make them sound more up to date. The CD and single both did very well on the charts and opened the door later that year to "Super Hits" and "The Essential Keith Whitley" in 1996 which did extremely well on the country charts. The CD contained the long out of print songs to "A Hard Act To Follow" and an unreleased song from the L.A. To Miami sessions "I Wonder Where You Are Tonight"
The year 2000 brought new material again for Whitley fans, the original album Somewhere Between that Keith recorded in 1983 for Rounder Records was re-released with new material and a new name "Sad Songs And Waltzes". Again the CD was responded well to on the country charts, once again showing Keith hasn't lost his place in country music.
His legacy continues to shine since his passing in 1989, every year there is a memorial ride from Sandy Hook, Kentucky to his resting place where hundreds gather to pay their respects. Also on Labor Day in September every year fans come together for a memorial show in Keith's hometown. It's attended by many loyal fans and family.
In 2004, Keith's memory continued to shine without his music being released, a website called Keith Whitley Blvd. which was running since 1999, started a weekly chat in which fans from around the globe could come and listen to their favorite known songs and also many rare concerts and songs among the fans. On the anniversary of Keith's passing 5-9-04, there were more than one hundred fans in the chat, many of which were singers from around the world who covered many of his songs, the tribute lasted well into the night.
In 2005, writer Jeff Swope began producing a movie called Mirrors about Keith, it has also since been changed over to "Kentucky Bluebird" and is currently in production.
Almost twenty years after Keith's passing fans and fellow singers still wonder what would have happened if Keith had lived, some say Garth Brooks would have taken a back seat to Keith in the 1990's , Tim McGraw and many singers today still are influenced by the man who just wanted to be remembered.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Unofficial Releases
Among the fans over the years, there has come to light many songs of Keith's in the form of demos. Some of these songs include "I've Done Everything Hank Did But Die", "Chip Off The Old Farm" and more. Also among the fans are some of Keith's rare concerts, radio interviews, car ad-commercials and even and Exxon Gas Commercial.
There are also many bootleg cds among fans that contain demos, concerts, radio specials, and more. They are listed below:
- Demo Sessions Volume 1 and 2
- Live From Nashville, Tennessee
- Live From New England, Ohio
- Live From Pasadena, Texas
- Live From Cincinnatti, Ohio
- Live From Burlington, North Carolina
- Live From Austin City Limits
- Live From Holland, England U.K.
- A Tribute Album Radio Special
- The Keith Whitley Story (Two-CD set)
- No Stranger To The Rain/Remembering Keith Whitley (Satellite Radio Special May 2004)
- Road To Bethlehem (Christmas Song Collection)
- Commercials/Interviews/Tributes...(This collection contains radio commercials that Keith did for a car dealership, Exxon Gas, and many tribute songs made to Keith.)
- A mini Christmas album among the fans that contains six songs on it from original recordings to rare demos.
- There's A New Kid In Town
- A Christmas Letter
- Joseph And Mary's Boy
- Bethlehem Road
- There's A New Kid In Town /w Alan Jackson
- A Christmas Letter (Live)
Also among the fans are possibly many many more demos and concerts, two songs that have come to light was in 2004 "She Never Got Me Over You", when singer Scott Hisey recorded the song for his record label, Keith's version is in the form of a demo. In 2005, at a Labor Day gathering of fans in Sandy Hook, Ky. "It's A Bitch At The Bottom" was introduced to fans.
In the chat that ran for a couple of years on Sunday nights in honor of Keith, a fan played a jam session that was to be from April 18, 1988, the session was told to be about 40 minutes long and one of the songs played was "Your Cheatin Heart"
[edit] Albums
- 1984 A Hard Act To Follow
- 1986 LA To Miami
- 1988 Don't Close Your Eyes
- 1989 I Wonder Do You Think Of Me
- 1990 Greatest Hits
- 1991 Kentucky Bluebird
- 1993 The Very Best Of Keith Whitley
- 1994 A Tribute Album
- 1995 Wherever You Are Tonight
- 1995 Super Hits
- 1996 The Essential Keith Whitley
- 1998 Keith Whitley Remembered...The Encore Collection
- 2000 Sad Songs And Waltzes (A.K.A. Somewhere Between)
- 2002 RCA Country Legends
- 2003 Platinum And Gold Collection
- 2006 16 Biggest Hits
- The song "Pick Me Up On Your Way Down" was originally a song on the B-side song of the 1984 single release "Turn Me To Love". It finally appeared on the 2002 release listed above "RCA Country Legends".
[edit] Singles
Mainstream Country Single Releases And Their Chart Position:
1984 Turn Me To Love #59
1984 A Hard Act To Follow #76
1985 I've Got The Heart For You #57
1985 Miami, My Amy #14
1986 Ten Feet Away #9
1986 Homecoming 63 #9
1987 Hard Livin #10
1987 Would These Arms Be In Your Way #36
1987 Some Old Side Road #16
1988 Don't Close Your Eyes #1
1988 I'm No Stranger To The Rain #1
1989 When You Say Nothing At All #1
1989 I Wonder Do You Think Of Me #1
1989 It Ain't Nothin #1
1990 I'm Over You #3
1990 Til' A Tear Becomes A Rose /w Lorrie Morgan #13
1991 Brotherly Love /w Earl Thomas Conley #2
1991 Somebody's Doin Me Right #15
1995 Wherever You Are Tonight #31
1995 A Voice Still Rings True (Various Artists Paying Tribute To Keith) #21
