After David Coverdale finished recording his last solo album, ‘Northwinds’, he found that his touring band was already trying out new songs and ‘Northwinds’ hadn’t even come out yet.  The album finally came out in March of 1978, but by this time, David had already figured that his current touring line-up was already a band and needed to record its own album, which it did in March and April of 1978.  By June 1978, the band released a four song E.P. titled ‘Snakebite’. It was listed as David Coverdale’s Whitesnake and it was the start of something amazing.

By September 1978, the album was released as an 8 song double E.P..  That is the copy I have and I will be reviewing.  If I ever find an original ‘Snakebite’, you can bet your ass I will be grabbing it.

The 8 song double E.P. has the 4 original songs plus it steals 4 tracks from David’s last solo album ‘Northwinds’.  It took the 4 best and now we have a pretty smokin’ album.

Since this was now a band, let’s see who was in it at this time.

• David Coverdale – vocals
• Micky Moody – guitar
• Bernie Marsden – guitar
• Neil Murray – bass guitar
• Dave Dowle – drums
• Pete Solley – keyboards

Yes, it is a quite a lethal combo on guitars with Micky Moody and Bernie Marsden.  That double guitar work is what makes Whitesnake so incredible.  This line-up changes again for the next album, but by only one person and that person makes a huge difference.  That is a little teaser on what is to come with the next review.

The insert I have for the vinyl sleeve is still in tact and has the lyrics to all the songs and writing credits.  And I think my album might have been a promo or on a cut-out sell as the bottom right corner has a nice slice out of it.

Okay, enough chit chat, let’s get to the heart of the matter…the music.

SIDE ONE:

The first song is “Come On” written by David Coverdale and Bernie Marsden and right away you can hear how big the guitar sound is.  The song is a pure rock song with a great groove and a blistering solo.  A great opener and I love the fact that David has two Deep Purple references in the song…“Soldier of Fortune” and “Gypsy”.

Then we get into the Coverdale penned “Bloody Mary” which opens with a piano and Pete slamming the keys.  Jump up and dance and feel the music. It is pure joy and magic and two songs in and I am already loving every minute of it.

David goes back to his blues roots as he covers Bobby Bland’s “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City” written by Michael Price and Dan Wise.  This love song is down and dirty, a blues rock song slowed down into a beautiful ballad.  Oh, and the solo…wow!  It fit the song so well and pulled out even more emotion.  Not even an original, this song is a signature Whitesnake classic as they are still known to pull this one out and play it live.

The last song from the original E.P. is “Steal Away”.  The writing credits on this one are for everyone in the band which is nice to see.  The opening riff on the  slide guitar is nothing short of spectacular.  The song is gritty and a dirty and I love the blues rock feel.  David’s vocals are spot on and for me this is my highlight on the whole album.

SIDE TWO:

Side two has 4 songs from ‘Northwinds’ as I mentioned earlier.  The first one up is “Keep on Giving Me Love”.  It has a funkalicious guitar riff by Moody that could have come from Glenn Hughes playbook.  “Keep on Giving Me Love” has a great groove and is a rocking opening track and excites me as what is to come.  Coverdale’s vocals have an edginess to it and Moody rips through a nice solo.

“Queen of Hearts” is full of pianos and there is a nice bass thump before the song slams into gear and really gets going.  A groovy and bluesy song that becomes a banging good time.

“Only My Soul” is a fantastic rock ballad with a great soulful feel to it in the guitars playing.  This has Whitesnake all over it.  Alan Spenner, on bass, lays down a nice groove with the keyboards playing along with it during the musical interlude before David comes back and brings it home.

The final track is the most rocking song, “Breakdown”.  It is pure Whitesnake.  Moody & Coverdale hit it out of the park with this one and they rock it out like nothing else. The song is about the downfall of Deep Purple. The 4 songs pulled off ‘Northwinds’ were the most rocking tracks and 3 of the 4 were written by Moody and Coverdale.  When he writes with the guitarists, we tend to get the most kick ass tracks.

Track Listing:

1. Come On – Keeper
2. Bloody Mary – Keeper
3. Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City – Keeper
4. Steal Away – Keeper
5. Keep On Giving Me Love – Keeper
6. Queen of Hearts – Keeper
7. Only My Soul – Keeper
8. Breakdown – Keeper

Track score is easily a 100% with 8 out of 8 tracks being keepers.  As far as the albums overall score, I will break it down in to two scores.  As a 4 song E.P., this is easily a 5 out of 5 Stars as those 4 songs on Side One are spectacular.  What a slamming introduction to the band.  Now, as an 8 song double E.P., I will ding it a little as I think only two of the extra 4 songs are Whitesnake contenders and the other two are just good songs, but not necessarily Whitesnake material.  For that, I give the version I have a 4.5 out of 5.0 Stars which is still pretty freaking great!!  This is a an absolute must have for any Whitesnake fan.

Up next…Whitesnake – ‘Trouble’.

The David Coverdale Series:

1. Deep Purple – Burn
2. Deep Purple – Stormbringer
3. Deep Purple – Come Taste the Band
4. Deep Purple – Made in Europe
5. David Coverdale – Whitesnake
6. Deep Purple – Last Concert in Japan
7. David Coverdale – Northwinds
8. David Coverdale’s Whitesnake – Snakebite
9. Whitesnake – Trouble
10. Whitesnake – Lovehunter
11. Whitesnake – Ready an’ Willing
12. Whitesnake – Live…in the Heart of the City
13. Whitesnake – Come An’ Get it
14. Deep Purple – Live in London
15. Whitesnake – Saints & Sinners
16. Whitesnake – Slide It In
17. Whitesnake – “Give Me More Time” 12″ Single (Bonus Review)
18. Whitesnake – ‘The Best of Whitesnake (Bonus Review – 1982 release)
19. Whitesnake – Whitesnake (1987)
20. Whitesnake – “Is This Love” 12″ Promo (Bonus Review)
21. Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue
22. David Coverdale – “The Last Note of Freedom” – Single Review
23. Coverdale/Page – Coverdale/Page
24. Coverdale/Page – “Take Me For A Little While 12” Single (Bonus Review)
25. David Coverdale & Whitesnake – Restless Heart
26. Whitesnake – Starkers in Tokyo
27. David Coverdale – Into the Night
28. Whitesnake – Live…In the Still of the Night (DVD)
29. Whitesnake – Live…In the Shadow of the Blues
30. Whitesnake – Good To Be Bad
31. Whitesnake – Forevermore
32. Whitesnake – Live at Donington 1990: Monsters of Rock
33. Whitesnake – The Purple Album
34. Whitesnake – The Purple Tour (Live)
35. Whitesnake – Flesh & Blood
36. Whitesnake – The Rock Album
37. Whitesnake – The Albums Ranked Worst to First
38. David Coverdale – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

Other David Coverdale Albums reviewed – (Box Sets and Bootlegs):

1. Whitesnake – 1987 (30th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
2. Whitesnake – Slide It In (35th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
3. Whitesnake – Unzipped – Box Set
4. Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (30th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
5. Whitesnake (Snake) – Still of the Night Live in Battle Creek, Mich. July 26, 1987 (Bootleg)