I was watching Tim’s Vinyl Confessions a few week’s back and they were going through their Whitesnake vinyl and one of the guys had a Japanese Edition of Whitesnake’s ‘Live at Hammersmith’ and I don’t think I had seen it before. So, after the show ended, I went to Discogs and bought it from someone in Japan. I received a week later…yes, only a week from Japan. Heck, I can’t get things from the next town over that fast. And it lived up to expectations and then some. I mean just look at the cover with the deep rich green snake and the back cover is just as cool. This might be my favorite Whitesnake cover ever! It is so awesome.
‘Live at Hammersmith’ was recorded on November 23, 1978 at The Hammersmith Odeon in London. The album was only released in Japan back in November 1980 as a single disc vinyl. I say single disc vinyl, because this album is actually the 2nd LP on the 2LP edition of ‘Live…in the Heart of the City’. I don’t have the two LP version of that album. I have the single version which is the 1st LP which was recored in 1980 on June 23/24 at The Hammersmith Odeon in London as well. You can read that review at the links at the bottom of the page.
I was out and about with my daughter and we actually made an unexpected trip to one of our local record stores called Repo Records. I wasn’t expecting to find anything and I came across a great early Whitesnake single for the song “Fool For Your Loving” but not from the album you are thinking. Nope, this is the 1980 version that you might not known existed. Whitesnake fans that came on board in the late 80’s know this song from the album ‘Slip of the Tongue’. However, this is the original and first release of the song which went to #13 in the UK and #53 in the US. It was actually the band’s first single and first hit outside the UK.
“Fool For Your Loving” was written by Bernie Marsden (who had the riffs and the verses), Micky Moody (who wrote the bridge) and David Coverdale (who did the lyrics). The funny thing about the song is that it was originally written for BB King, however, they soon realized the song was too good to pass up…and they were right. This version of the song is more bluesy and has a nice groove and not as rocking as the hair metal version, but that is okay. You have Bernie belting out a great solo that is so different than Vai’s version.
For My Sunday Song #209, we are going back to the first album that really broke in the states for Whitesnake and one of the songs that helped start it all, “Slow An’ Easy”. The song was the fourth single off the album and was written by David Coverdale and Micky Moody who were the last two remaining original members of the band at the time, Micky wouldn’t last much longer as he was replaced by John Sykes before the album’s release and is guitar parts were replaced by Sykes, but that is whole other discussion.
Whitesnake was notorious at the time with critics for their “cock rock” lyrics and “Slow an’ Easy” is pretty much that to a T. The song is about Sex! No sugar coating it here, it is Sex! I wish I could give you a deeper meaning to the song, but I can’t and I wouldn’t want to as the song is what it is and it is awesome! In the 25th Anniversary edition of the album (and thanks to wikipedia), David had this to say…
“Slow & Easy was recorded at 4 in the morning in Munich after a serious night’s partying…Most of the vocals is just a live ‘jam’ lyric I made up to inspire the band as we recorded…I played around with the lyric later to try and make some sense of it…”
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.
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.
Recording of the ‘Slide it In’ Album started some time in 1983 and this time around Eddie Kramer was onboard to handle productions duties. And let’s just say things did not go well, but was it a band problem (as there were ton of those) or a producer problem, I don’t know. But Eddie was replaced quickly with longtime Snake producer Martin Birch.
The band problems were many on this record and for this tour. Micky Moody was back and recorded the album, but things did not go well on tour and David became an ass to Micky and he had enough and quit after the European tour and his last gig was in October 1983, prior to the release of ‘Slide It In’. His replacement was John Sykes who was the guitar player for Thin Lizzy at the time.
At the same time Sykes was brought on board, Colin Hodgkinson was let go as the bass player and former Whitesnake bass player Neil Murray was brought back in to the fold. Cozy Powell was now the drummer as Ian Paice had left after the last album and then Jon Lord left in 1984 to go reform Deep Purple so Richard Bailey was brought in to fill in. The band was in complete disarray during this time. It is amazing anything got done.
After the album ‘Come an’ Get It’, the band was starting to crack. Issues were developing, tensions were rising. They started to work on the album during 1981, but it wasn’t a smooth ride. In December 1981, Micky Moody left the band. Then in early 1982, David Coverdale put the band on the back burner and took some time off to be with his daughter who had become ill.
The sick daughter wasn’t the only reason Coverdale put things on hold. The band was having financial troubles and he couldn’t understand where the money was going. During the hiatus, he parted with his management and Coverdale started to handle the business side of things. Also during this time, three other members left the band (or were fired). They would be Ian Paice, Bernie Marsden and Neil Murray. Jon Lord was the only one to stay in the band with David. And of course Martin Birch still produced. He hadn’t left yet either.
As a result, David needed a new band. Not to finish the album because it was basically done, but to tour with. David found guitarist Mel Galley from Trapeze and Cozy Powell on drums from Rainbow and lastly, Colin Hodgkinson on bass. The band was complete. However, the album still had some backing vocals needed so Micky came back briefly to finish the backing vocals along with Galley. Galley is the only new player to appear on the album.
We are now in 1981 and the band is on their 4th album. Whitesnake has started to gain some traction with the album’s ‘Ready an’ Willing’ along with the live album ‘Live…in the Heart of the City’. When ‘Come an’ Get It’ arrives, it goes to #2 on the chart and barely misses #1 thanks to Adam and the Ants’ ‘King of the Wild Frontier’. Yes, an Ant kicked a Snake’s ass!!!
The band’s line-up is unchanged, the producer, Martin Birch, is unchanged and they follow the successful formula of ‘Ready an’ Willing on this album to rather great success (on the charts).
David Coverdale – vocals
Micky Moody – Guitar
Bernie Marsden – Guitar
Neil Murray – Bass
Jon Lord – Keyboards
Ian Paice – Drums
I know this is a favorite Snake album for a lot of people and even a favorite of David Coverdale’s; however, it isn’t one of my top albums. I have spent the longest with this album in hopes that it would grow on me and it has to some extent, but not overall. This was a hard beast for me to get through, well Side Two was. Side One kicks some major ass.
Towards the end of 1980, Whitesnake released their first live album called ‘Live…in the Heart of the City’. It was released on November 3rd, 1980 and was originally released as a double LP with 2 different shows. The first being from June 1980 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London and the second show as from November 23rd, 1978 at the same place. This review, however, is only on the LP version that I have which is only a single LP version with only the 1980 Hammersmith show and missing one song the original had (“Ready an’ Willing”).
The tour recorded for this one is the ‘Ready ‘n’ Willing’ Tour that features new drummer, former Deep Purple master Ian Paice. And it caught the band at a time when they were starting to finally come into their own. The track list of the single LP is as follows:
Come on
Sweet Talker
Walking in the Shadow of the Blues
Love Hunter
AIn’t No Love in the Heart of the City
Fool For Your Loving
Take Me With You
It is short at only 7 songs, but one is 11 minutes long and 2 are over 6 minutes each and all a blast.
SIDE ONE:
Side one opens with the screamer “Come On” from the ‘Snakebite’ E.P. and what a fantastic way to open the show. A high energy romp that gets everyone on their feet and in to the groove of what is to come. The band is on fire and David sounds in top form. The band glides effortlessly in to “Sweet Talker” from ‘Ready an’ Willing’ with loads of Micky Moody’s slide guitar and let me tell you the guitars on here are killer. The tempo of the song is ramped up to 10 and the fly through this one at warp speed. And don’t forget the Jon Lord keyboard solo in this one that goes right in to Micky’s guitar solo…hell yeah baby! Keep it coming!
The band goes in to two straight ‘Lovehunter’ songs starting with the blues song “Walking in the Shadow of the Blues”. Bernie Marsden takes over the lead on the guitar work in this one accompanied by the great Lord on keyboards. Ian supplying just the right amount of drum fills and as he Neil Murray on bass lay down that all essential groove. But it is the song “Love Hunter” that is the showcase on this side. At 11 minutes, including a Micky Moody showcase of his slide guitar work, the live version takes the song in to so many different directions and is what I love about live shows. David singing here is great as well as he isn’t trying to over sing it and he has seem to found his comfort zone.
SIDE TWO:
“Aint’ No Love in the Heart of the City” opens up Side Two and gives us the name to the album. It is a bluesy track that keeps a slow groove and let me tell you that the guitar work Moody does is sensational. The crowd takes over with Murray’s bass thumping away in the background along with Paice keeping time.
And then we get David’s favorite concert saying “Here’s a Song for You” as he does it a lot. They go in to the classic “Fool For Your Loving” from ‘Ready an’ Willing’. The song is a little punchier then the album version, it actually reminds me a little more of what was to come with the song in the late 80’s and I am okay with that. It is a rocking good song.
The last song is the only song from the album ‘Trouble’, “Take Me With You”. The band is amped up on something as they speed this one up to an exhausting tempo that would leave a lesser band spent. They feed off the energy and everyone gets a moment to shine with Jon Lord’s blistering keyboard solo, Bernie’s raging guitar solo, a little of Murray’s bass, and Moody blasting through some riffs. David and company brought all home on this one.
And that is the album. It is a great live set that I thoroughly enjoyed. Short and sweet and captures some great moments. The band was really cooking at this time and they boiled over some fine work with this release. The first of many live albums to come with Whitesnake and this one started it off right. I will give it a 4.0 out of 5.0 Starsmainly for not giving me the whole show. This one is a must grab if you find it out in the wild. Don’t let it slip past you.
A couple months after releasing ‘Lovehunter’ in October 1979, the band was back in the studio by December to start recording the follow-up, ‘Ready an’ Willing’. The band finished up recording in February under the hand of returning producer Martin Birch who has handled all the Snake albums up to this point.
By the time they were back in the studio, drummer Duck Dowle was out and former David Coverdale and Jon Lord bandmate, Ian Paice, was in the band. That now made 1/2 of the band as former Deep Purple members. And if I am not mistaken, the press played that up which didn’t quite sit well with a couple of the band members.
The album cover for this one was a much more toned-down cover after the controversy the band received for the naked woman straddling a snake (side note: one of my favorites). This was a simple black & white drawing of the band with the Whitesnake logo. Nothing fancy and quite bland. Now, that wasn’t the only controversy the band had. Their lyrics were blasted as well for their whole “cock rock” style and womanizing. And I am not sure this album would not help them in that matter. Oh well.
The inner album sleeve gave us the songs from each side along with the lyrics. It also included who had each solo on the songs which I love that fact. There was no winding snake from one side to the other, instead we get pictures of the band with Coverdale, Lord and Murray on the front and Marsden, Moody and Paice on the back.
The album was the first one to see any real success for the band. They reached #6 in the UK and actually finally charted in the US at #90 thanks in part to the first single which we will discuss shortly. The band was finally starting to break outside the UK which is what they wanted, but it would still be a few more years before they became one of the top acts in the world.
SIDE ONE:
The band’s first single and first hit outside the UK was the song “Fool For Your Loving”. Yes, Whitesnake fans that came on board in the late 80’s know this song from the album ‘Slip of the Tongue’. However, this was the original and first release of the song which went to #13 in the UK and #53 in the US. The song was written by Marsden (who had the riffs and the verses), Moody (who wrote the bridge) and Coverdale (who did the lyrics). The funny thing about the song is that it was originally written for BB King, however, they soon realized the song was too good to pass up…and they were right.
This version of the song is more bluesy and has a nice groove and not as rocking as the hair metal version, but that is okay. You have Bernie belting out a great solo that is so different than Vai’s version. Since I grew up with the ‘Slip of the Tongue’ version, this version feels like a demo to me and I am actually turn to which one I like more. This fits the sound of the band at this point in their career and the other fits that version of the band. Tough choice…I will let you decide.
The next track is “Sweet Talker” which was only released in the US as a single, but didn’t really do anything. This is another song with rather suggestive lyrics and would not stop the controversy on their womanizing lyrics. As a teenager, this would have been great. it is a fun rocking track and it has Jon Lord delivering something he does best…massive keyboard solos. And I don’t want to leave out the great slide guitar work of Micky Moody, always love his slide guitar. This to me is a classic sounding Whitesnake song and one of my favorites on the album…one of many.
The title track, “Ready an’ Willing”, has such a driving groove to it. The blues feel in David’s vocals and lyrics and the sonics of the song, make it a memorable song and why it was released as the 2nd single. Moody handled the solo which was short and perfect for the song. Although the single didn’t do that well, it is still a beast of a track on the album.
Then we get to “Carry the Load” and I have to say I am not real thrilled with this one. Too generic and falls very flat for me. This song feels more like one of David’s solo songs and could have been on ‘Northwinds’. It feels out of place here.
Another favorite on the album is the song ‘Blindman’ which is a re-work of the song from David’s first solo album called ‘Whitesnake’. In what could be David’s best performance to date as he brings so much more emotion and pain in his delivery, this song is the gem in a album full of them. It has a slow groove and is another blues track which has the band at its best. Bernie’s understated solo was what the song needed. It fit perfectly with the vibe. The song was great on the solo album, but taken to another level here.
SIDE TWO:
First up on Side Two is “Ain’t’ Gonna Cry No More” has David singing along to the acoustic guitar before Jon Lord comes in with some soft sounding keyboards in what is starting out as a beautiful ballad. That is until Ian Paice brings it up a notch with his drums and it turns in to pure rock & roll beast with the help of Micky Moody on the solo. The album is quickly becoming my favorite of the Whitesnake albums so far with songs like this.
“Love Man” is a more traditional blues song with a foot stomping beat and some gritty slide guitar. It was what I know and love as blues. Lyrically, it is pure and utter cheese and David delivers it as such, however, I kinda like it. It grabs you and pulls you in whether you want to or not.
“Black and Blue” feels like you are at a honky tonk with the whole live, bar-band feel to it including some piano playing by Jon Lord. Adding the cheering bar crowd to the mix made it feel right at home in the bar. It is a fun, good time track.
And the album ends with “She’s a Woman”, which opens with Lord on the keyboards and then gets turned up a notch when the drums and guitar riffs kick in. Now the highlight is that Jon Lord turns in the best solo of the album. He goes to town and takes you on a magical keyboard journey. Although not the best song on the album, it highlights Lord and that is good enough for me.
Track Listing:
Fool For Your Loving – Keeper
Sweet Talker – Keeper
Ready an’ Willing – Keeper
Carry Your Load – Delete
Blindman – Keeper
Ain’t Gonna Cry No More – Keeper
Love Man – Keeper
Black and Blue – Keeper
She’s a Woman – Keeper
The track is a wonderful 8 out of 9 tracks are keepers or 89%. The songs are the strongest yet of the Whitesnake albums so far. There are some Essential Whitesnake songs on here, more so than the others and this album gets better with every listen. The album was missing some dual guitar solos with Marsden and Moody which I think adds to the songs. The album was also lacking a Bernie Marsden lead vocal song…okay, it really isn’t missing that I guess. Overall, this is a killer album and I will rate it a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars. As much as I love it, there are some I like better but this is near the top.
Up next…Whitesnake – ‘Live…in the Heart of the City’.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 