If you follow this site, then you know I am a huge David Coverdale fan. I must be as a spent a year reviewing everything that he has done. I had about 38 posts in the series and we are doing one more to show-off the collection. I have amassed quite the Coverdale collection of Vinyl and CDs and even a DVD.
What do I have…well…lets us go through it. Now before we do, note that I don’t have everything, I am still working on it and some stuff I have on CD, I will be getting the vinyl eventually. For now, this is what I have…
Where it all began…DEEP PURPLE! Have “Burn”, “Stormbringer”, “Come Taste the Band” and “Made in Europe”.
Then David did some solo work then Whitesnake and then more solo work. Here is the Solo work…the vinyl here is both “Whitesnake” and “Northwinds”. You get “Into the Light” as well as the “Coverdale/Page”.
For My Sunday Song #208, we are going to discuss the Whitesnake epic classic called “Sailing Ships” off their 1989 album ‘Slip of the Tongue’. This is a deep deep cut, so deep in fact it is the last song on the album and a very popular song amongst fans even though never a single. At over 6 minutes it is epic in length and in sound. The song was written by David Coverdale and his writing partner at the time, Adrian Vandenberg.
The song seems to be about self discovery. About setting a dream, no matter the size, face down your demons and go after that dream. Don’t be afraid, throw away those fears and remember, you control your destiny. Nothing will happen to you unless you go out and make it happen. But no matter the storms you face, the trouble you find, push ahead and keep moving. It is rather inspiring.
This is not the typical Whitesnake ballad. It sounds a little like Led Zeppelin as the song seems mystical and a has a whole Page vibe to it. The song stays soft for most of the time then explodes towards the end to go out with a bang. The tone of the music and lyrics come across as one of the most serious songs I feel they have ever done and maybe the most experimental at the same time. The sounds Steve Vai can make with his guitar are nothing short of amazing. His solo is just as huge as the song. David’s vocals match the intensity of the lyrics and the music. He gives his all and it comes across as intended. This is a group that is hitting on all cylinders and at the top of their game.
It is one of my all time favorite Whitesnake songs and that is saying a lot. Give the song a listen and let me know what you think. Is it as good as I think it is…yeah it is!! Thanks for stopping by and have a Happy Sunday!!
“Sailing Ships”
Do you remember
Standing on the shore,
Head in the clouds,
Your pockets filled with dreams
Bound for glory
On the seven seas of life,
But, the ocean is deeper than it seemsThe wind was with you
When you left on the morning tide,
You set your sail for an island in the sun,
On the horizon, dark clouds up ahead,
For the storm has just begun
Take me with you,
Take me far away,
Lead me to the distant shore
Sail your ship across the water,
Spread your wings across the sky
Take the time to see
You’re the one who holds the key,
Or sailing ships will pass you by
You cry for mercy,
When you think you’ve lost your way,
You drift alone, if all your hope is gone
So find the strength and you will see
You control, your destiny,
After all is said and done
So take me with you,
Take me far away,
An’ lead me to the distant shore
Sail your ship across the water,
Spread your wings across the sky
Take the time to see
You’re the one who holds the key,
Or sailing ships will pass,
Sailing ships will pass you,
Sailing ships will pass you by…
Take me with you,
Take me far away,
We’ll ride the wind across the sky
Spread your wings and you will see
You control, your destiny,
So sailing ships don’t pass you by
So take me with you,
Take me far away,
We’ll ride the wind across the sky
Spread your wings and you will see
You control, your destiny,
So sailing ships don’t pass,
So sailing ships don’t pass you,
So sailing ships don’t pass you by…
Baby, baby, baby, baby,
You’ll find that you’re the only one
Can sail your ship across the sky
For My Sunday Song #207, we are tackling an early career defining song for Whitesnake called “Walking in the Shadow of the Blues”. The song was written by David Coverdale and Bernie Marsden and is off the 1979 album, ‘Lovehunter’ and although the album did better than the debut, it still didn’t light the world on fire. But looking back on the band’s early albums, this was the one where they started finding themselves and they grew from there.
Over on Loudersound.com, an article on Whitesnake by Geoff Barton, quotes David Coverdale on the song and he stated the following:
“That song really summed up my musical approach of the time,” Coverdale says. “It was very much my feeling, my perspective and probably my life’s philosophy back then. The lyric more or less wrote itself. It was very free-flowing, very autobiographical. It was just waiting to be written. Bernie and I put the music together very quickly. It was obviously meant to be as a song. I’m very proud of that one.”
“Walking in the Shadow of the Blues” tells the story of a man who never fit in and was the black sheep of his family. He wanted to live his own life and do what he wanted even if his parents didn’t want him to do it. He packs his bags and his guitar and heads out on his own to pursue that dream which I would say he succeeded.
Starting back on August 1st, 2019, we started the David Coverdale Series of reviews. It was a long process and after 36 reviews, we are capping off the series with not one, but two album rankings. The first one covered only the Whitesnake albums. The second one, this one, will cover ALL albums that David Coverdale has done. The list are only studio albums. No E.P.’s, no live albums and no greatest hits.
David started his career back in 1974 with Deep Purple’s Mark III lineup on the album Burn. Through 20 studio albums that cover Deep Purple, David Coverdale solo albums, Coverdale/Page and of course, Whitesnake, there is so much music to cover in his 46 years of music. It was so much fun tackling this David Coverdale series that part of me hates to see it end, but all good things come to end.
Why don’t we get started and let’s see how David Coverdale albums rank from the Worst to the First.
THE WORST – WHITESNAKE: ‘THE PURPLE ALBUM” (2015):
For My Sunday Song #205, we are going after the opening track to the 1978 debut album, ‘Trouble’, with the song “Take Me With You”. The song was written by David Coverdale and then guitarist, Micky Moody. It opens the album with a bang and gives you a taste of what the new Coverdale project has to offer. The album had moderate success reaching #50 in the UK, but at this point in time had no US presence. That would change in the next decade.
Lyrically the song has a lot to be desired. Back in the early days of Whitesnake, they had a notorious reputation of having overly sexualized lyrics that became known as “cock rock” and this is pretty good example of that. With lyrics like “Gonna spread her pretty legs so I can see, Sweet lip honey be the death of me” and “Sorry little girl, If you can’t stay, Your red light mama gonna show the way” and you get the gist of what I’m saying. And you throw in a lot of sexual moaning at the end of the song by David and it is “cock rock” no doubt!! David is unapologetic about it and rightfully so, this is who they are and no one is going to make them change.
Starting back on August 1st, 2019, we started the David Coverdale Series of reviews. It was a long process and after 36 reviews, we are capping off the series with not one, but two album rankings. The first one, this one, is going to cover only the Whitesnake albums. The second one, next week, will cover ALL albums that David Coverdale has done. The list are only studio albums. No E.P.’s, no live albums and no greatest hits.
Whitesnake started back in 1978 and was a result of David going solo after his stint in Deep Purple and he realized he enjoyed the band aspect and Whitesnake was born after 2 solo albums. The name was taken from the title of David’s first solo album and now David is the only original member. Hell, it was really his band anyway. One of the few bands it doesn’t matter who is in it as long as David is singing. If you want to read the reviews of each album, check out the list at the bottom of the post and click away and go explore each album in more depth. Thanks
The really cool thing I discovered when I went back to compile my list is that no album saw a score of less than a 3.0 out of 5.0 Stars. How many bands can say that. Probably not a lot. Enough chit chat, now let’s get started…
For My Sunday Song #204, we are going after one of Whitesnake’s newest songs and hits of the ‘Flesh & Blood’ album called “Trouble Is Your Middle Name”. The song was the second single off the album and when I heard it, it was the first time in years I had been excited about a Whitesnake song or album.
The song is about a girl. What Whitesnake song isn’t in some way, shape or form. This is about being drawn in to a relationship where you know you shouldn’t, but you so want to despite all the bad that goes with it. The attraction and desire are too much to not give it a try, yet since the girl is so much trouble, you know it isn’t going to end well. And it doesn’t. Not much to it really, but man the song just grabs you.
It grabs you because the music is some of the best the band has done in years. David wrote this one with the great Joel Hoekstra who played with Night Ranger and he plays with Cher and TSO as well. It is great to see David writing with him and Joel brings so much to the band. The song opens with blast of sirens then David singing a verse and the song explodes to life. The drum sound on here is so powerful and with Tommy Aldridge back on the kit, you get some of the best drum sounds you could want.
In the last few years, David Coverdale has been quite busy rehashing old material, but in a good way. He has brought us deluxe box sets for albums such as ‘Slide It In’, ‘1987’, ‘Slip of the Tongue’ and even ‘Unzipped’ the all acoustic box set. And next year in 2021, we will get ‘Restless Heart’. But for now, he is rehashing old material yet again.
This time it is a series called ‘Red, White & Blue’ Trilogy. The Rock Album (White) is up first and then we will get The Love Album (Red) in October and I believe The Blues Album (Blue, duh) in February 2021 (Tentative dates right now). Each album is really a glorified greatest hits albums each with its own them and the titles give you those themes quite nicely.
The big difference on these albums is more than just a remastering. The songs have been tinkered with and given a little touch-up with some re-mixing and even a little touch-up on arrangements and other little surprises. The songs aren’t completely re-imagined, thankfully it is no Bon Jovi “This Left Feels Right”. The songs are still very much recognizable, just enhanced ever so slightly. Continue reading “Whitesnake – ‘The Rock Album’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)”→
For My Sunday Song #203, we are going with a song of ‘Ready an’ Willing’ with the track “Blindman”. This is a deep cut and not a single and one of the songs that is the reason I love the early Whitesnake sound so much. Okay, actually this song is not originally a Whitesnake song, but a David Coverdale song as it was released on his solo album back in 1977 called…well…’White Snake’. So, I can use for this set of Whitesnake songs, I am covering the cover version he did with his band. I don’t think that is cheating.
The song is a pure blues rock track. Think Free or Bad Company as it has that same killer vibe. It starts off as slow burner and builds slow until it becomes a full on scorcher. Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody both hammer it home on the guitar and Bernie’s solo helps make the song such a classic song. You can’t forget the ryhthm section of Ian Paice on drums and Neil Murray on bass either. They keep the pace and groove going perfectly. And listen closely to the beautiful keyboard playing of Jon Lord. They all standout in their little moments. However, the highlight is that sultry David Coverdale vocal style. His vocal talent lies perfectly fit for the blues rock sound. With this more of a slow song, David exudes all the heart he needs to give the song the powerful, emotive feel it needs.
After The Purple Tour, the band would continue and finally record a new album full of all new original Whitesnake songs. This would be the first album of new material since ‘Forevermore’ back in 2011. This would also be the first album that Joel Hoekstra gets to actually perform and play songs that he actually helped write and record and not be a Deep Purple cover band.
Speaking of writing, David likes to write with his star guitarists. This time though, David really has 2 star guitarists that are both very capable and talented writers. David has 3 songs written with Reb Beach and 4 written with Joel. And to get even better, he has 2 written with both of them. And to go even one step further, they all co-produced the album along with Michael McIntyre.
‘Flesh & Blood’ was supposed to come out in early 2018, but was delayed in to the Summer of 2018 due to an illness with David. This is actually the 2nd time an illness had delayed an album. If you remember this happened back for the 1987 album and John Sykes almost staged a coup and move on with out David. Yeah, and that didn’t end well for John. Continue reading “Whitesnake – ‘Flesh & Blood’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)”→
2 Loud 2 Old Music 