In May 1979, the band went back in to the studio to record the follow-up to ‘Trouble’. In a few short weeks they were done and on October 1st, 1979, the band released “Lovehunter’ to the masses. The album was recorded by Martin Birch who did ‘Trouble and they recorded at Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire in the Rolling Stones Mobile and it was later mixed at Central Recorders Studio and Sauna in London. Sauna??? That is freaking weird. Anyway, the album did modestly and reached #29 in the UK Chart. Not a smashing success, but it did chart.
The album was rather controversial. Not for the music, no that wasn’t it. It was that cover. And oh what a cover!! It was a picture of a beautiful lady straddling a huge snake. Oh, and she is naked!! If only the U.S. had this album back in the day…why couldn’t my brothers have owned this one because at 10 years old, I would have really loved this cover. The artist was Chris Achilleos who was known for fantasy artwork and I believe he was very distraught over the controversy as it was the last album cover he did until 2003 when he did the album cover for Glenn Hughes’ album ‘Once and Future King Part 1’.
This album would end up being Duck Dowle’s last album as the drummer for Whitesnake as he was replaced shortly after the release by former Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice which would bring the total of ex-Deep Purple members to three.
I realized I have been making a lot of purchases and yet not everything makes its way on to the site. I figured I would do a wrap up each month of all my purchasing I have made even if they made it on the site during the month or even might make it on to the site down the road.
And this month started out with a bang! A brand new record store opened up in Charlotte, NC called Noble Records. They opened on October 5th which was a Saturday and because of that I got their bright and early. Not grand opening 10am early, but I got there before 11am. I had to take my daughter to her tutoring class at 10 and family comes first…then vinyl…sorry then God, then vinyl!! Okay, maybe more order is skewed, but you get it.
I found two album I have been wanting and I had to grab them as I don’t seem them that often and one was a first pressing (not the RAGE album).
Rage Against the Machine ‘Renegades’ and The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East (1st pressing pink label)
I then found two more albums one I for some reason didn’t have in my collection as it is one of the most popular albums of the 70’s and the other is a 12″ Single from Stryper just in time for Christmas.
Meat Loaf ‘Bat of out Hell’ and Styper’s single “Reason for the Season”
Before David’s second solo album, ‘Trouble’, came out in March 1978, David had already put together a band and the delivered an E.P. called ‘Snakebite’ just a few months later under the name Whitesnake. And by September of that same year, they had a full length album ready to go. The album was produced by Martin Birch and recorded in only 10 days at the Central Recorders Studio in London over those Summer months.
The album was called ‘Trouble’ and was released in September 1978. The album name came from one of the songs, but it was inspired by the fact that David had a son during this time and that could only mean one thing…TROUBLE!!
Now the band had a new member by the name of Jon Lord on keyboards. He replaced former keyboard player Pete Solley. For those that have followed David’s career, Jon Lord is no stranger as he was the keyboard player with David on the Deep Purple Mark III and IV versions of the band. Jon wasn’t there for the recording of the album, however, they overdubbed his parts in the songs after the fact so he could be on the album as he was now a member and thankfully so in my opinion.
The album I picked up had a nice cut-out in the top right corner, but overall still in great shape. It still even included the vinyl inner sleeve which consists of the bands lyrics for the songs and writing credits. The really cool thing on the lyrics was at the end of each song, it let you know who did the solo as it was usually a toss-up between Moody and Marsden and occasionally Lord.
The band for this album consisted of the following:
David Coverdale – Lead Vocals
David Dowle – Drums
Jon Lord – Keyboards
Bernie Marsden – Guitar
Micky Moody – Guitar
Neil Murray – Bass
Now it is time to talk about the music…
SIDE ONE:
The album kicks off with a rockin’ riff on “Take Me With You”. This high energy rocker comes at you at breakneck speed and tempo that it immediately gets you moving. David sounds fresh and throws in a little moaning at the end. There is so much going on musically and always something new each time you listen. The solo on this one is actually a drum solo by Dave “Duck” Dowle, but there are still a lot of guitars including some slide on it so don’t fret.
Next up is “Love to Keep You Warm”. A little slower than the previous and a little more blues feel to it. A nice groove by Dave and Neil. The song is a little poppy at times, but manages to hold on to being a rocker thanks to Bernie Marsden’s guitar solo.
“Lie Down (A Modern Love Song)” is interesting as it is more pop than blues or even rock. It is a very fast tempo’d love song. The vocals at times have this whole Elton John feel to them and even the vibe of the song with Lord’s piano feels like him as well. Not that it is a bad thing.
Then we get the horrible cover of the Beatles’ “Day Tripper”. It is…let’s say…not good. It is uninspiring and bluh. The adding in of the Framptonesque Talk Box doesn’t help and I really can’t stand it. I hope that point is coming across. Skip/Delete whatever you do, just avoid it.
The first side ends with the speedy “Nighthawk (Vampire Blues)”. Now the song is so fast that it doesn’t feel bluesy at all to me. It is rocker, for sure, but not blues. The drumming on this is sensational and the guitar work is fantastic. David sings a hundred miles an hour and you get exhausted after trying to sing the chorus as fast as David. I really dig this one and it even has a solo by Jon Lord to help push it over the top even more.
SIDE TWO:
Side Two opens up with Deep Purple style song “The Time is Right For Love”. It has a nice blues guitar feel to it and has a great beat and tempo that it get stuck in your head and you sing it even when the song is done. On this one, the guitar solos are done in harmony between both Moody and Marsden which is the beauty of having two guitarists. David again performs brilliantly and sounds so good on this one as well.
Next up we get the title track, “Trouble” which is the most blues worthy song of the bunch. David’s lyrics mention a gambler’s son which he uses a lot over the next few decades. The song feels a little like Purple’s “Mistreated” or at least in the same realm of comparability for style and form. The solo on this one goes to Marsden and it is fantastic. He lays down some riffs that have great melody and you could sing along with it if you sing your solos…I do every so often.
The coolest song on the album is “Belgian Tom’s Hat Trick” which is a full assault of an instrumental with 3 different solos. One for Moody, One for Lord and One for Marsden. I don’t see it as out of place as Purple threw in an instrumental on ‘Burn’ and this one is way better. I really love when Jon Lord lays it down and he does just that. The guitar’s have a riff that plays through-out that is the main feel for the song and everything is played beautifully off of that riff.
Then we get a change of pace with Bernie Marsden on vocals instead of Coverdale. The song is called “Free Flight” and is interesting to say the least. Not necessarily in a good way interesting. It does have some great drumming and music, but vocally, ehh! There is a reason David is the lead singer. I think Bernie sounds good on the verses, it is just a horrible chorus. Oh yeah, and Bernie gets the solo so this one is the Bernie Marsden show.
The final song is “Don’t Mess With Me” and David is back with all his glory as we have missed him for the last two songs. This one is a pure rocker, with a great rhythm and groove and filled with two totally brilliant guitar solos for both Moody and Marsden. What a way to end the album. They give you everything you would want and end the album on an utter high note.
Track Listing:
Take Me With You – Keeper
Love to Keep You Warm – Keeper
Lie Down (A Modern Love Song) – Keeper
Day Tripper – Delete
Nighthawk (Vampire Blues) – Keeper
The Time is Right for Love – Keeper
Trouble – Keeper
Belgian Tom’s Hat Trick – Keeper
Free Flight – Delete
Don’t Mess With Me – Keeper
For a track score, you get 8 out of 10 songs or 80% which is pretty solid. However, there a couple things to note. The guitar playing is sensational on this album, but the guitar sound was lacking a little punch in sonics. Also, there are no real stand out tracks that I would consider Whitesnake classics, although, there are some contenders. For those couple reasons, I am giving it a 3.5 out of 5.0 Stars. This an awesome first step for the band and a sign of great things to come, but I really liked the ‘Snakebite’ EP a lot better as it was more blues tinged then this album was. Still this is a solid release and a must have in the collection, I just think they do much better in the coming years.
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:
Come On – Keeper
Bloody Mary – Keeper
Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City – Keeper
Steal Away – Keeper
Keep On Giving Me Love – Keeper
Queen of Hearts – Keeper
Only My Soul – Keeper
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.
After ‘Whitesnake’, David went in a recorded his follow-up solo release, ‘Northwinds’. This was around March / April of 1977; however, the album wouldn’t be released until a year later in March of 1978. I am not sure why the long delay in release, but the bad news for the release was by the time it did come out, Coverdale was done as a solo artist. He had already pieced a band together that would go on to become WHITESNAKE! I will save that for the next release which came out in June of 1978 just 3 months later.
The album did a little better than the debut and sound wise is more of the same. Okay, maybe the production is a little better and the sound starts to get some of the Whitesnake sounds, but not entirely. David is still finding himself with this record which doesn’t mean its bad, it is far from that. It is an interesting look at early David, pre-Whitesnake, and a glimpse into his musical tastes.
I have this on vinyl and it is part of a 2LP set including both David’s early solo albums, ‘Whitesnake’ and ‘Northwinds’. It is a sweet set released in 1988 at the height of the band Whitesnake and they were trying to capitalize on Coverdale’s popularity. I like having this set as these two albums really should be played together to get the full impact of his early songs and to see a young Coverdale growing into a fantastic songwriter.
Welcome to October and the first Friday of new releases for the month. And what a month this will be. I already have something on order for every Friday of the month so it will be my favorite day of the week. Who are we kidding, it already is my favorite day. Now even more so. There are only 2 releases I really care about this week and they are highlighted in Blue. Let me know what has your interest peaked this week or if I missed anything. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!!
The Darkness – Easter is Cancelled – (Canary Dwarf LTD): The Darkness returns with their sixth studio album and if you love that whole retro glam rock feel, then this will be right up your alley. No one does Glam today like these guys do. From the ear-piercing falsettos to the screeching guitars, it is all a blast and this should be no different. Check them out.
Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) – (Rhino Records): Whitesnake brings us yet another box set celebrating one of their big albums. This is the 3rd and the 30th Anniversary Edition of ‘Slip of the Tongue’. The other two were ‘Slide it In’ and ‘1987’ and the were fantastic. Full of live songs, rare songs and remixes and remasters and everything you could want and this one is no different. This is on order but it will NOT be home when I get there as for some reason Amazon isn’t giving me release day delivery. I’m a little pissed, but I guess I will get over it. Check out David’s unboxing video below…
I realized I have been making a lot of purchases and yet not everything makes its way on to the site. I figured I would do a wrap up each month of all my purchasing I have made even if they made it on the site during the month or even might make it on to the site down the road.
This month I ended up at a pop up sale by Noble Records at Cafe Moka over in the Waverly shopping complex in Charlotte, NC. He does these every couple months and when I get to go, I always score some great releases. However, there probably won’t be any more pop ups for a while as Noble Records is finally opening a brick & mortar store in October and I couldn’t be happier. Another place to go hangout and search for records whenever I want. This trip was no different. Major scores.
First up is The Goo Goo Dolls classic album, ‘Dizzy Up the Girl’. It is hard to find albums from around this time and I found this one and more…
And if that wasn’t cool enough, I found a 2LP Yellow Vinyl limited edition of Third Eye Blind’s album ‘Third Eye Blind’. It would have fit in nicely with my Turntables & Vinyl Post on Colored Vinyl a few weeks back.
The Deep Purple tour for the album, ‘Come Taste the Band’ ended in March of 1976. After that tour, we saw the end of Deep Purple as the band called it quits (at least until the early 80’s). David Coverdale was now without a band, but music was still in his blood and new music was ready to come out. In August of that year, David entered the studio and recorded his debut solo album called ‘White Snake’.
Hmmm…that name rings a bell. Where have we heard that before? Oh yeah, the album name would become the inspiration for his band name which would come a couple years later. For now, we will focus on the album, ‘Whitesnake’.
The album was released on February 9, 1977 and the album cover featured David on the cover with a “white” snake curled up behind him ready to strike. The album I have is actually a 1988 release consisting of a 2LP set with both ‘Whitesnake’ and David’s follow-up solo album ‘Northwinds’ which we will discuss later. The package was a gatefold and consisted of commentary by Mark Rutherford.
The album was produced by ex-Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover which is a cool Purple connection. But as we know with David, he likes to attract great guitarists and use them to help him write the songs. On this album, that guitarists was Micky Moody formerly of the band Juicy Lucy. Moody and Coverdale wrote 4 of the 9 songs together and this pattern of finding great guitarists would continue on until today (2019).
I realized I have been making a lot of purchases and yet not everything makes its way on to the site. I figured I would do a wrap up each month of all my purchasing I have made even if they made it on the site during the month or even might make it on to the site down the road.
I like to buy vinyl, but I will also pick up CDs as well because sometimes those albums are not on vinyl and sometimes the CD package gives me a little more than the vinyl would like having a DVD included. One such release was done for that very reason.
The first being The Traveling Wilburys. I couldn’t believe I didn’t have these albums on vinyl and I could probably get them; however, I was at the record store and in the used section was The Traveling Wilburys Collection which included both albums and a DVD with a brief documentary and some music videos and all for a price well cheaper than getting these on vinyl with no DVD. I grabbed it!!
Next up was one I have been wanting to grab as well on vinyl, but when I saw this on CD and at the price, I grabbed it. I got it for less than $8 and considering the album is over $80 now (at least on Amazon), I thought who needs a vinyl. The album is Jimmy Page & the Black Crowes Live at the Greek. I had heard a lot of good things about it, so why not.
Happy Friday!! It is when there are new releases that I want and this has a few. Some I will buy and some I will stream, but it is new music and that is what I look forward to on Fridays…well that and the work week ending. Let me know what you are looking forward to hearing this weekend and let me know if I am missing anything. Mine are marked in Blue. Have a great listening weekend!!
Whitesnake – Flesh and Blood – (Frontiers Records): The first album with Joel Hoekstra on lead guitar and around 8 years since the last album of new material. That is quite a break. Now, I haven’t listened to anything yet as I want to listen to it all for the first time at once. I hope it is heavy, loud and simply fantastic.
Sammy Hager & the Circle – Space Between – (BMG): Sammy and Micheal Anthony seemed to be joined at the happy and Michael is part of every project Sammy does (except the Tequila business). This one throws Vic Johnson on guitar and Jason Bonham on drums. Another one I haven’t listened to anything yet. I will take it all in at one time.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 