The Smiley Smile Message Board

Shocked to learn a short time ago that one of my oldest and dearest Beach Boys related friends, Chris White, has just passed away. Some of you may know of his 1976 British hit record, "Spanish Wine". I'm shocked and stunned beyond belief, and my heart goes out to his wife and children.

R.I.P.

I'm sorry to hear about your friend Andrew.
It's sad when we lose someone we love at any time, but losing them at this time of year always seems to compound that sadness.

 :(

Deepest condolences Andrew.  

Should add for the benefit of those unfamiliar with him, that he was a different Chris White from the one who played bass for The Zombies. Though his album Mouth Music had a cover of the calypso number Zombie Jamboree (also recorded by Nilsson around that time), which is one reason some people have confused them.

The recordings of this Chris White were never issued on CD - apart from one very rare Japanese release on the Vivid Sound label -and vinyl copies tend to be scarce. But on eBay right now there's a copy of Mouth Music for $10, which includes his cover of Surfin USA, and a later non-LP 45 of Don't Worry Baby is also listed.

What sad news. I'm stunned and crushed. I loved this guy's music, have been listening since my friend Alan Forbes turned me on to it in the late '70s. His album "Mouth Music" on Charisma sounds like what the Beach Boys should have been doing during the same period. (And it did come out on CD as an expensive import about 10 years ago, but is probably out of print.) Chris also recorded as the Surfonics later, and his skills and singing were strong as ever. Chris also was extremely kind to Alan, the aforementioned friend, after he wrote to Chris and sent him rare Beach Boys tapes; in return, Chris mailed rare and unreleased stuff of his own, all of which was as good or better than what he had released. What a loss. Thank you, Andrew, for letting us know. I hope everyone explores Chris' music and gets to hear it. You can find a little of it on YouTube, at least.

This is so sad. Chris was a steadfast guy and a fine talent. I met him on my trips to the UK in 2002 and 2004.  May his soul rest in peace.

Very sad to hear this. 'Mouth Music' is a great album.

I've always had a soft spot for 'Frisbee' in particular. I Wonder how many Frisbee songs are out there? Can't be many!

RIP - Thank you for the music, Chris...

Worth mentioning that Mouth Music was one of the comparatively rare post-1973 productions of Who/Kinks/Easybeats producer Shel Talmy.  In interviews in recent years, when asked what his biggest disappointments in the music biz were, Shel has always mentioned the failure of Chris' "Don't Look Down" to get chart action when it was released as a single.