Parish
RIP Lou Whitney
RECEIVED Tue., Jan. 6, 2015
Dear Editor,
It was disappointing to note that your musicians RIP list [“Critics Poll,” Music, Jan. 2] did not mention the passing of Lou Whitney, engineer/producer, bassist/vocalist, and bandleader for the Symptoms, the Skeletons, and the Morells; three of the greatest Midwestern bar bands from the late Seventies to the late Aughts. For the past two decades, Lou also produced, engineered, or played bass on albums in his Springfield, Mo. studio for the likes of the Del-Lords, Dave Alvin, the Bottle Rockets, Wilco, Exene Cervenka, Jonathan Richman, and Robbie Fulks. It was Fulks, in his eulogy for Whitney, who called him "the last of the deeply funny recording engineer/philosophers of the Old World." I had the privilege of visiting Lou last June in the studio and spending an afternoon in his company, even though he was preparing to record the Domino Kings' new album. He even treated me and Domino Kings' guitarist Stevie Newman to lunch nearby, regaling us with his sharp wit and tales of rock & roll excess. Afterward, he invited me to sit in on the recording sessions, but I declined since I did not want to take advantage of the man's hospitality. Although I had met him only once after a Morells gig, he treated me as if I were a long lost friend, as he apparently did most everyone, musician and non-musician alike. Lou Whitney passed on Oct. 7 at the age of 71. We will not see the likes of him again, and the music world is a sadder place for it.
It was disappointing to note that your musicians RIP list [“Critics Poll,” Music, Jan. 2] did not mention the passing of Lou Whitney, engineer/producer, bassist/vocalist, and bandleader for the Symptoms, the Skeletons, and the Morells; three of the greatest Midwestern bar bands from the late Seventies to the late Aughts. For the past two decades, Lou also produced, engineered, or played bass on albums in his Springfield, Mo. studio for the likes of the Del-Lords, Dave Alvin, the Bottle Rockets, Wilco, Exene Cervenka, Jonathan Richman, and Robbie Fulks. It was Fulks, in his eulogy for Whitney, who called him "the last of the deeply funny recording engineer/philosophers of the Old World." I had the privilege of visiting Lou last June in the studio and spending an afternoon in his company, even though he was preparing to record the Domino Kings' new album. He even treated me and Domino Kings' guitarist Stevie Newman to lunch nearby, regaling us with his sharp wit and tales of rock & roll excess. Afterward, he invited me to sit in on the recording sessions, but I declined since I did not want to take advantage of the man's hospitality. Although I had met him only once after a Morells gig, he treated me as if I were a long lost friend, as he apparently did most everyone, musician and non-musician alike. Lou Whitney passed on Oct. 7 at the age of 71. We will not see the likes of him again, and the music world is a sadder place for it.
Chris Owens
