For My Sunday Song #201, we are kicking off the next set of 10 songs with this batch from Whitesnake to celebrate as I am coming to the end of my David Coverdale Review Series which started back last August. To kick it off we are going all the way back to the first release of the band on the album ‘Snakebite’ with the song “Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City”.
One of the first songs Whitesnake did was actually a cover song. It was a cover of Bobby Bland’s “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City” written by Michael Price and Dan Wise. The song is now a signature Whitesnake classic as they are still known to pull this one out and play it live all thanks to the live version from ‘Live…in the Heart of the City’, but this is about the studio version recorded a few years earlier. Before Whitesnake became this hair metal giant, they were more a rock & soul band that loved the blues. This was a shining example of that passion.
This love song is down and dirty, a blues infused rock song slowed down into a beautiful ballad full of soul. Between Micky Moody’s hook that is filled with sorrow and along with a little funk filled groove from Bernie Marsden’s guitar and Neil Murray’s bass you are treated to what made early Whitesnake so magical. Oh, and the solo…wow! It fit the song so well and pulled out even more emotion if that was even possible. Now, let’s not forget David Coverdale’s vocals as the tone he is able to pull out as he sings is so well suited for some soulful blues. There is just enough character and maturity to grasp the emotional feel of the song and give you everything the song needs.
The first Snakebite E.P. was such an exciting start for the band. It was hard to understand why they never caught on in the U.S. until years later. Now I know it was due to the their European Record Label and their contract with them. They weren’t allowed to go to the U.S. and make it deal. But that is a story for another time.
I hope you enjoyed. Give it a listen and let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping by and have a Happy Sunday!
“Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City”
Ain’t no love in the heart of town.
Ain’t no love, sure ’nuff is a pity,
Ain’t no love ‘cos you ain’t around.
Baby, since you been around.Ain’t no love in the heart of the city,
Ain’t no love in the heart of town.
Ain’t no love, sure ’nuff is a pity, child
Ain’t no love ‘cos you ain’t around.
Every place that I go,
Well, it seems so strange.
Without you love, baby, baby,
Things have changed.
Now that you’re gone
Y’know the sun don’t shine,
From the city hall
To the county line, that’s why
Ain’t no love in the heart of the city,
Ain’t no love in the heart of town.
Ain’t no love, sure ’nuff is a pity,
Ain’t no love ‘cos you ain’t around.
Every place that I go,
Well, it seems so strange.
Without you love, baby, baby,
Things have changed.
Now that you’re gone
Y’know the sun don’t shine,
From the city hall
Woman, to the county line, an’ that’s why
Ain’t no love in the heart of the city,
There ain’t no love in the heart of town.
There ain’t no love, sure ’nuff is a pity,
Ain’t no love ‘cos you ain’t around.
There ain’t no love in the heart of the city,
There ain’t no love in the heart of town.
Ain’t no love, sure ’nuff is a pity,
Ain’t no love ‘cos you ain’t around,
‘Cos you ain’t around.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 
Great song. I’d never heard this one before.
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Classic tune!
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The riff. Such beauty in simplicity. Recently I really enjoyed the Doug Aldrich version from the Live In The Still Of The Night DVD
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Great DVD!! I enjoyed Doug live, I didn’t necessarily enjoy the studio stuff he did with Whitesnake.
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Doug in the Dio Holy Diver DVD And Whitesnake Live In The Still Of The Night is pretty cool. He looks it and he plays it.
Yeah for the studio stuff, that’s another story.
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It is weird, I can’t explain it.
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Funny enough I’m not especially fond of this one compared to other songs on Snakebite! That said I do like it, just I prefer stuff like “Steal Away” and “Only My Soul”!
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The E.P. was all good, I struggled which one to pick so I went with one they are still known to play so I took the easy way with this one.
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I don’t own the studio version of this one but the live version on Live…In The Heart of the City is mind-blowing awesome.
Just listening to the studio one now. Pretty good, that solo is awesome.
Great post Sir!
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Thank you! So many to choose from for this set, I was hard to pick only 10. And I’ve changed my mind several times pulling ones out and putting other ones in. I think my 10 is complete now.
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I think I have you to thank for most of my Whitesnake knowledge, John – so this series will be interesting to see if I recognize some of the songs from the Coverdale series!
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I hope you enjoy it.
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