Danny Whitten

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Daniel Ray Whitten (born May 8, 1943 in Columbus , Georgia , USA ; † November 18, 1972 in Los Angeles , USA) was an American singer / songwriter, who was mainly the guitarist of the band Crazy Horse , who had several albums recorded with rock musician Neil Young . He also wrote the hit song I Do not Want To Talk About It , which many artists gecovert was.

biography

After his parents separated, he and his sister Brenda lived with their mother, who worked as a waitress. When Whitten was 9 years old, his mother remarried and the family moved to Canton, Ohio.

Whitten met Billy Talbot in Los Angeles. Together with Talbot and others, he founded the band Danny and the Memories , which also included Ralph Molina's cousin, who then brought him into the group. After recording the commercially unsuccessful single Can't Help Loving That Girl of Mine , the group moved to San Francisco, where they renamed themselves The Psyrcle , changed their musical style and now played folk psychedelic rock. Danny Whitten played electric guitar, Molina played drums and Talbot played bass and piano. When the two guitarists George and Leon Whitsell and the violinist Bobby Notkoff joined them, the formation was called The Rockets . A studio album was recorded and the group met Neil Young during a live performance. After his band Buffalo Springfield split in 1968 and Young's debut album was released, the latter showed interest in recording his second album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere with Whitten, Talbot and Molina . This brought the end of the Rockets from which Crazy Horse emerged . The formation also took part in the recording of Young's next album After the Gold Rush , before the 1971 studio album Crazy Horse was recorded. This also includes the song I Don't Want To Talk About It . a. has been covered many times by Rod Stewart , Rita Coolidge and Everything but the Girl .

Around 1970 Whitten became addicted to heroin. Neil Young addressed this in his song The Needle and the Damage Done .

After the release of Crazy Horse's debut album, Whitten's drug addiction had worsened so much that he had to leave the band. Without any further musical project, his problems got further out of control. In the fall of 1972, Young invited Whitten to take part in rehearsals for his next studio album and the tour that followed. Young's condition was that Whitten should be drug-free. This accomplished the requirement by replacing heroin with alcohol. However, it soon became apparent that he was unable to play. Therefore, he was released by Young on November 18, 1972 while recording the album Harvest . Whitten flew back to Los Angeles, where he died of a combination of valium and alcohol that evening. He was found dead in the bathroom by a roommate. Because of his drug problems, suspicions quickly arose that a heroin overdose was the cause of death. However, an autopsy confirmed poisoning by diazepam and ethanol .

Discography

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biography at allmusic.com
  2. ↑ Crazy Horse album at allmusic.com
  3. ^ Stewart's Atlantic Crossing at allmusic.com
  4. ↑ Coolidges Anytime ... Anywhere at allmusic.com
  5. ↑ Idlewild from Everything but the Girl at allmusic.com
  6. ↑ Jimmy McDonough: Shakey - Neil Young's Biography. Anchor, 2013, p. 274.
  7. ↑ Downtown The Danny Whitten Story by Micheal St John, page 43. ( Memento of the original from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dannyraywhitten.com
personal data
SURNAME Whitten, Danny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Whitten, Daniel Ray
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer, songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Columbus , Georgia , USA
DATE OF DEATH November 18, 1972
Place of death Los Angeles , USA