Chris White - Spanish Wine

[AndiFlatland]

In 1976, singer Chris White had a modest hit with Spanish Wine, and followed it with a very nice album, Mouth Music. Both are still treasured records which get given a dusting off from time to time.
Does anybody know anything about Chris? He seemed to disappear without trace, with no further recordings that I can ascertain. It had long been my belief that he started off as the bass player in The Zombies (She's Not There, Time Of The Season) in the 60s, but recent investigations have said that this is not the case.
Discogs.com have many entries for the name Chris White, but these fail to answer the question.
His (the Zombies guy) Wikipedia entry makes no reference to the hit single or album, and none of the other 'disambiguated' entries are of any relevance. An extensive Google search has also been inconclusive.
Any information would be greatly appreciated, as well as any details of further recordings, if any.

[AndiFlatland]

Chris White - Spanish Wine

In 1976, singer Chris White had a modest hit with Spanish Wine, and followed it with a very nice album, Mouth Music. Both are still treasured records which get given a dusting off from time to time.
Does anybody know anything about Chris? He seemed to disappear without trace, with no further recordings that I can ascertain. It had long been my belief that he started off as the bass player in The Zombies (She's Not There, Tell Her No, Time Of The Season) in the 60s, but recent investigations have said that this is not the case.
Discogs.com have many entries for the name Chris White, but these fail to answer the question.
His (the Zombies guy) Wikipedia entry makes no reference to the hit single or album, and none of the other 'disambiguated' entries are of any relevance. An extensive Google search has also been inconclusive.
Any information would be greatly appreciated, as well as any details of further recordings, if any.

[AndiFlatland]

Sorry, I meant to delete my first post, as I wanted to edit it and re-post - but it didn't seem to work, and I can't find a way to do that. So you've got the same post twice, with 1 minor change to it the second time!

[Fitzer]

This http://badcatrecords.com/BadCat/WHITEchris.htm seems to confirm you are correct with the Zombies link, he seems to have been a replacement bassist for the Zombies after Paul Arnold. Wikipedia isn't always complete by any means

[lolpf]

Sadly Chris passed away in December 2014 from brain cancer. There seems to be very little information on the Internet apart from a few mis-directions. For instance Chris was never the Chris White from the Zombies and this is an error that seemed to follow him around, leaving him a little bemused. If you look at surviving pictures of Chris White with Rod Argent, you can plainly see it's not 'our' Chris. This Chris White had two daughters, one called Jenny and the other I forget but also began with 'J'. They later formed a band called JJ White. 'Our' Chris, had a son.

Chris made an appearance on Top of the Pops in 1976, singing 'Spanish Wine' but sadly - and carelessly, the B.B.C. have lost that appearance although Noel Edmonds can be heard announcing both Chris and the song title on what remains of that week's edition. Mouth Music is no longer available unfortunately as I lent my copy out and never got it back, but you're right, it's a wonderful album and should be treasured. Thankfully I still have my 45 of Spanish Wine and listen to it often.

It's strange that a song of that quality, that sounds as fresh today as it did when I first heard it, should be all but forgotten today. It's up there with Pinball by Brian Protheroe (1974) & Don't Throw it all Away by Gary Benson (1975) three songs which instantly bring back so many memories of my (mis-spent)teenage years.

If anyone does find more information on Chris, I'd love to hear it too.

[glider10]

I stumbled upon this post whilst Googling Chris White. I can support some of what has been written here, but would like to correct other parts. Indeed, Chris was never anything to do with the Zombies, but happened to share the same name as their bass player. The best way of getting more details is to type in 'Chris White Spanish Wine'. That tends to avoid confusion. Cutting a long story short, Chris never stopped writing, and was heavily involved with the 'Beach Boys UK' fan club for many years. This is where his musical passion lay, and most of his songs were of a surfing/Brian Wilson style. A friend of his persuaded him to record an album, and in 1990/91 he asked me, his best pal Bruce and Bruce's brother Graham, if we would record a surf album with him. Hence 'The Surfonics' was formed. Fifteen tracks later, the album was not on general release, but was distributed through various clubs and known surfing outlets. (Apparently it did well in Japan!). Chris White The Surfonics is online, where a few tracks can still be heard. There is much more to Chris's career, but no time here to go into it all. Yes, Chris died just before Christmas 2014, but from Sepsis - not brain cancer. How do I know all this? I am his brother Nick, and we spent many years in various bands, and recording stuff in Chris's home studio. I hope this helps, but as the post is several years old now, it may never be seen!!

[Allante666]

Hopefully ‘glider10’ will see this? I knew Chris in the eighties simply because I was in the motor trade at the time and Chris was working as a rep for a parts company so would come round weekly. He lent us a copy of mouth music which we copied onto cassette. I still have it somewhere. Not sure how to contact you direct glider10? Dad to hear of his passing.