Charlie Whitney

Born Richard John Whitney in Skipton, Yorkshire on 24 June 1944, John “Charlie” Whitney is Family's founding guitarist and the musical half of the Chapman–Whitney writing partnership. His rhythm work, twelve-string guitar and lap-steel were central to Family's sound, yet his playing was rarely built around the conventional lead-guitar spotlight.

From the road to the Farinas (1944–1965)

Whitney's parents, Joe and Maidee Whitney, were circus and variety performers. He spent his first five years travelling with them before the family settled outside Leicester so that he could attend school. Whitney confirmed that history in a 1999 interview for Family Bandstand's print fanzine The Weaver's Answer, adding that it became the basis of the Streetwalkers song Showbiz Joe.

The precise membership and dates of Whitney's first groups depend heavily on later recollection. In 1960 he formed The Rebels, initially playing guitar and singing. With vocalist Tony Bartholomew, the group became Tony Bart and the Rebels; drummer Harry Ovenall, whom Whitney met at Leicester Art and Tech College, joined during this period. A Leicester newspaper advertisement reportedly misprinted Rebels as Revels, and the band kept the more Duane Eddy-like name.

When Bartholomew left in 1962, Alec Woodburn, performing as James King and later Jim King, became the singer. His interest in rhythm and blues and folk-blues helped redirect the band. The developing group became James King and the Farinas, with Whitney, King, Ovenall and changing bass players. The Farinas name came from Pininfarina, encountered by Ovenall in a library book—not from a Cuban bandleader, as some later accounts have claimed.

In his 1999 interview, Whitney remembered the Farinas playing across the Midlands and in London, frequently at the 100 Club in support of the Pretty Things, Graham Bond and the Artwoods. Roger Chapman joined in 1966. The group briefly worked as The Roaring Sixties before advertisements began using The Family that autumn. Kim Fowley encouraged the new name and produced a four-song demo session; Whitney believed that acetates might still exist, but none has surfaced publicly.

Family (1966–1973)

Whitney and Chapman became Family's principal composers, but neither treated the songs as closed arrangements. Whitney brought musical structures that drew on blues, folk, raga and jazz; Chapman supplied most of the lyrics; and the lineup developed the material collectively. That process helps explain why the seven studio albums change character so dramatically as Ric Grech, John Weider, John Wetton, Jim Cregan, Jim King, Poli Palmer and Rob Townsend move through the story.

Whitney's guitar role was equally unconventional. He often anchored the music with chords, twelve-string textures and slide colour, allowing Family's bassists and multi-instrumentalists to occupy the space usually reserved for a lead guitarist. In the 1999 interview he recalled that Family auditioned many bassists before choosing Wetton, and that the first the group knew of Wetton's move to King Crimson was a Melody Maker cover.

The documentary record also corrects a few myths. Whitney said fellow Family member Tony Ashton supplied the spoken narration on It's Only a Movie. He identified Blue Weaver on Good Friend of Mine, Zoot Money on Love Is a Sleeper and Song for Lots, and Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Dave Mason and Chris Wood among the guests on Scene Through the Eye of a Lens. Those recollections are valuable first-person testimony, although the exact division of instruments is not always preserved in contemporary sleeve credits.

The double-neck and the lap-steel

Whitney ordered his Gibson EDS-1275 6/12 double-neck from a 1963 catalogue, paying a 50-percent deposit; it arrived in 1964. He used the same instrument through Family, Streetwalkers and Axis Point. In his fanzine interview he confirmed that he still owned it, albeit with replaced bridges and volume controls. The often-repeated story that Eric Clapton offered to buy it when Family supported Cream in 1967 appeared as editorial “legend” beside the interview, not as a claim Whitney himself confirmed; it should be treated accordingly.

His other signature instrument was lap-steel. Whitney said he always played slide on a steel laid flat—never bottleneck on a standard guitar—and listed Rickenbacker, National, Weissenborn and Oahu instruments among those he owned. Its sound runs from Hey Mr. Policeman, Observations from a Hill and Today to Spanish Tide, then grows more prominent in Streetwalkers, Axis Point and Los Racketeeros. He named Blind Willie Johnson, Muddy Waters, Elmore James and Earl Hooker as foundational influences.

Family played its final concert at Leicester Polytechnic on 13 October 1973.

Streetwalkers and the Tim Buckley session (1974–1977)

Whitney and Chapman continued directly into Chapman Whitney Streetwalkers (1974), recorded with a broad cast before a touring group took shape. Three further studio albums followed under the shorter Streetwalkers name: Downtown Flyers (1975), Red Card (1976) and Vicious but Fair (1977). The partnership retained the contrast at the heart of Family while pushing harder toward R&B and rock.

On 21 May 1974, Whitney accompanied Tim Buckley on BBC Two's Old Grey Whistle Test. The group—Buckley, Whitney, bassist Tim Hinkley and drummer Ian Wallace—performed Dolphins and Honey Man. The recordings were later issued on Buckley's Morning Glory compilation and the performance of Dolphins survives on video.

Axis Point (1978–1980)

After Streetwalkers, Whitney formed Axis Point with keyboard player Eddie Hardin, bassist Charlie McCracken and former Family drummer Rob Townsend. Sessions for the first album took place in May 1978; Axis Point received its UK release in 1979 after earlier issues in Germany and Canada. Bobby Tench joined for Boast of the Town (1980), with additional players including John Gustafson and Les Binks.

Axis Point lasted only two albums, but it is the clearest continuation of Whitney's large-band work after Chapman: riff-led songs, prominent slide and an ensemble approach rather than a guitar-hero vehicle. A reader's report that Whitney, Townsend and McCracken backed former Marmalade singer Dean Ford at Camden's Music Machine in February 1978 remains an interesting lead, but no contemporary notice, tape or set list has yet been found; it is therefore not treated here as an established credit.

Los Racketeeros and independent recordings

After Axis Point, Whitney concentrated on smaller-scale music. Los Racketeeros brought his acoustic, bluegrass and blues interests to London pubs and clubs with Tony Taylor, Alan “Skunk” Rogers and Pete Tomlyn. Their self-titled album appeared on Almajopeg Music in 1995, including a stripped-back version of Family's Burlesque. In the 1996 MOJO feature Faulty Towers, John Bungey found Whitney living in Wimbledon and jokingly described the group's pace as one album in sixteen years.

Whitney also recorded at Hacienda Studio in Wimbledon. His self-titled John Whitney aka Charlie Whitney CD is a 1999 UK release. Whitney played most of the instruments, with Robert A. Roberts on harmonica and production by Whitney and John Darnley. The album closes with a new reading of My Friend the Sun.

The later Whitney Roberts Combo CD paired Whitney with Roberts across original songs and an eclectic cover list. Its exact release date has not been established from contemporary documentation, so the discography retains circa 1999 rather than assigning a false day or month.

Whitney told The Weaver's Answer that he liked touring “in short bursts” but preferred recording. He later moved to a Greek island and withdrew from regular public performance. Chapman invited him to join Family's 2013 reunion concerts, but Whitney declined; Chapman recalled him as content with his music and life in Greece and unwilling to undertake the work required for two shows.

Selected discography

With Family

• Seven studio albums, 1968–1973: Music in a Doll's House · Family Entertainment · A Song for Me · Anyway · Fearless · Bandstand · It's Only a Movie

With Chapman/Whitney and Streetwalkers

• Chapman Whitney Streetwalkers (1974) · Downtown Flyers (1975) · Red Card (1976) · Vicious but Fair (1977), followed by a post-breakup live release

With Axis Point

• Axis Point (1979 UK) · Boast of the Town (1980)

Later recordings

• John Whitney aka Charlie Whitney (1999) · Los Racketeeros (1995) · The Whitney Roberts Combo (circa 1999)

Selected session

• Tim Buckley—Dolphins and Honey Man, Old Grey Whistle Test, 21 May 1974; later issued on Morning Glory

Further reading and sources: Charlie Whitney, interview in The Weaver's Answer, issue 7, Fall 1999, pp. 21–27; John Bungey, “Faulty Towers”, MOJO, August 1996; Family Bandstand's timeline and Axis Point timeline entries; the surviving 1964 Gibson EDS-1275 history; and contemporary record sleeves and inserts preserved in this site's discography.