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No touring for DC in 2023
Ultimate Classic Rock spoke to David Coverdale and from the looks of it, the future of Whitesnake is up in the air. The band had to cancel their ‘Farewell’ tour halfway through the European leg in July 2022. Subsequent North American dates were cancelled as well.
Last year, I was so incredibly compromised by, without any doubt, the worst sinus infection I’ve ever had in my life. And as a singer, I know them like fucking relatives of mine. This was one of the ugliest illnesses I think I’ve [ever] had. For seven months, I was taking ever-increasingly strong antibiotics and horrifying Prednisone steroids.
He continues that the doctors got his infection under control only by January, but by that point he had already advised his musicians to make other plans for 2023, telling them “I don’t know what kind of condition I’m going to be in for 2023”. Further touring plans have not been completely ruled out, though, but he’ll spend the year addressing other health issues, such as his torn rotator cuff.
I really don’t know [when we’ll be back onstage]. I’ll be 72 this year. But, you know, my passion is that of a much younger man, particularly with the new creative team that I have, working on these legacy projects and also new things at the same time.
Thanks to Ultimate Classic Rock for the info, and to BraveWords for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Not to be cruel, but I couldn’t care less. Saw Whitesnake the last time in 2019. His voice was shot. Also I really missed Doug Aldrich when he left the band. To me I wish he stayed, he is better than Beach and Hoekstra combined.
April 7th, 2023 at 04:21A sad end but he was performing at such a poor level for years, I guess it would be better not to try again…
April 7th, 2023 at 08:44The last tour was so pathetic, I was sad for him… Good luck DC and stay well
David is a very clever guy, He sold his mansion in lake Tahoe, then he sold his Whitesnake catalogue for a lump sum and now he is enjoying the fruit of his hard labour by making the most of retirement.
April 7th, 2023 at 08:59Everyone is different but I think when you get to 72 and find everyone around you is dropping then it’s a clever move.
That’s not to say that the guys in DP should do the same but life is too short so make the most of it while you can.
Wishing you all good health and a long life.
Peace ✌️
So in fact that’s a good news !
April 7th, 2023 at 09:26Get well soon DC !
Che-sera-sera !
@3 said qt.”Everyone is different, but I think when you get to 72 and find everyone around you is dropping, then it’s a clever move”.
LOL !!! You have such a way with words 🙂 !
Peace !
April 7th, 2023 at 10:19Half expecting DC to formally announce the formal end of touring on the 50th anniversary date of his arrival in Deep Purple. His live voice has been shot for a very long time now.
April 7th, 2023 at 14:40Well it’s not a surprise. I do think it’s probably time to call it a day, he’s not been on the top of his game, vocally, for some time and I don’t see that changing as he turns 72. Suspect the lure of performance is still strong and he’ll try something….maybe he could go low- vol, acoustic/unplugged style. Otherwise, so long and thanks!
April 7th, 2023 at 17:25Hey, Moderators, you could at least have used a current picture of the ole diva!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAc3XtDH4Bs&t=50s
April 7th, 2023 at 17:30David has become the curator of his own work. If he grows tired of that one day, I would still like to hear him sing again age- and range-appropriate material, probably best in an unplugged setting.
Whitesnake should go the way of all once mighty reptiles and stay a fossil.
April 7th, 2023 at 17:34Uwe @8:
Can you offer one with a permissive license?
April 7th, 2023 at 19:55Nick: Oh, so that’s the reason, understood. You’re forgiven then (the look is also quite new).
Is this one with the proper license?
https://www.rafabasa.com/wp-content/uploads/imagenes/web/whitesnake/david_coverdale_feb2023_2.jpg
If you google “David Coverdale new look”, you get a couple of hits, also on twitter:
“DC@71+
@PaytonTMurphy
Make Up Jenna Peterson
Hair Josh Stinnett pic.twitter.com/c6iX7VmGYr
— David Coverdale (@davidcoverdale) March 8, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ pic.twitter.com/EIX4ucrnPA
— David Coverdale (@davidcoverdale) March 8, 2023
©2023 Cox Media Group”
I don’t think he intends it to be a state secret. And we should all send messages of gratitude to his wife Cindy. Now if he only also left her makeup box alone! (And I’m not talking about a little powder so you don’t look glossy under photo shoot lighting.)
April 7th, 2023 at 22:03Not trying to be a smartass or anything, but I saw WS in 1980 when they opened for the “new look” Jethro Tull. DC’s voice was already shot then.
April 7th, 2023 at 23:58There is still time for one or two hard-rock-blues albums,a return to British RnR roots and traditions…
April 8th, 2023 at 06:04Waow he just looks awful… Just compare to IG who doesn’t give a f… about looking younger and si still very handsome. That says a lot about personnalities.
DC now looks like an old porno star in love with his plastic surgeon, makes me sad…
April 8th, 2023 at 08:46Gregster @5
It’s nice to make someone laugh 😊
April 8th, 2023 at 11:27Have a lovely Easter 🥰
Peace ✌️
Never been a particularly good live performer. Quite like some of his solo and early Whitesnake recordings but very inconsistent on stage and has always used lots of f word outbursts and audience mic pointing to cover the notes he can’t reach which is irritating and tiresome.
Give it up now for good.
April 8th, 2023 at 17:39Coverdale live just can’t cut it anymore. Like Here I Go Again, their biggest hit, Coverdale hardly sings it, he turns it into a sing a long with the audience, and he doesn’t even try hitting those high notes in it anymore.
April 8th, 2023 at 21:05Sorry Guys but please be more realistic and balanced with your comments about Coverdale singing live.
April 9th, 2023 at 09:05Ian Gillan hardly sings high notes on stage anymore and 90 percent of the music is instrumental on DP shows hence the extended jamming and the songs selection.
Coverdale is great when he is in form but age and health limitations has an end.
Ozzy is a very good example.
Stop throwing stones when your house is made of glass.
Respect
Peace ✌️
@15…Thank-you very much Adel, & yes, I did laugh quite loudly ! Have a safe & happy Easter holiday too !
Enjoy the short break everyone, & have a great Easter !
Peace !
April 9th, 2023 at 10:15Early Whitesnake probably gigged too much and already put a strain on David‘s vocal cords – I first noticed that his voice sounded strained when Come & Get It was being toured. In hindsight, there might be a case for the argument that David was making his voice do things it was not made for once Glenn was no longer effortlessly doing the high parts (if you listen to Mk III & IV, even on not so great performances, Glenn‘s issue was never not being able to reach the high notes, in fact he was often a little too high – a side effect of unbridled cocaine consumption).
But I do also remember early Whitesnake gigs where the warmth and expression of his voice filled the (then still smaller) halls (I first saw WS in June 1979 in a large tent in Bavaria before not more than say several hundred people, Motörhead was one of their openers, WS played blindingly well, Jon Lord was enjoying himself hugely and the Dowle/Murray rhythm section was nuanced and shit-tight) and his butch charm captivated everyone.
April 9th, 2023 at 13:34It is a difficult one retirement for many men. Some can handle it, a life of relaxation & watching the days drift by. Many cannot & have to have something to do to keep busy etc. I am not only talking about musicians. Old Cov’s will be trying to be positive in keeping a flame burning in hope, to have something to aim for. A bit like Ozzy these past few years, although the writing was on the wall with him in regards to many health issues gradually appearing. The putting off of events & re scheduling concert dates to keep that flame flickering. This is why we see so many ‘men’s sheds’ everywhere these days & for good reason, it gives the chaps somewhere to go & chat & tinker with things, to keep busy & have something to look forward to especially if they cannot have that at home. If they are lucky to still be at home & physically & mentally active, they are usually building something, doing mechanical work, renovating or creating something, always to keep going. As soon as many of them cease activity, unfortunately they struggle. Chin up Mr Coverdale & keep active. Cheers.
April 9th, 2023 at 22:01@21…There’s always the home studio & keeping busy making music ! I’m sure people will appreciate more music from the band, even if traveling / touring may be relegated to the past, though a bummer if one still likes the road.
Better something than nothing !
Peace !
April 9th, 2023 at 23:15Hey Uwe,
about that Whitesnake gig, how was your hearing after Motorhead? I saw Lemmy and company open for Sabbath in 94, and 95, and the last time on the Masters of Metal tour in 2007. Motorhead’s volume was frightening, I never heard any other band come close to how loud they were. The second loudest would be Ted Nugent for me, but Nugent was a distant second to Motorhead.
April 10th, 2023 at 02:45Yes , is new look…Hahaha! Agree with Peter J. #14. Lol.
The truth is , it’s his keyboard and guitar players that are the real singers in WS. And of course the audiences.
Sad but true , DC cannot sing a song anymore.
And like some said earlier , he is pathetic.
Lucky I did not go to see him. I would have regret it.
We have the albums, the songs , thank you for the music Mr Coverdale but really… Just retire… Time has come…
Long live DP family.
Richard Legris.
April 10th, 2023 at 03:34I would love to see, and especially hear, Mr David Coverdale doing a similar job with his first two albums: “White Snake” and “Northwinds”
April 10th, 2023 at 16:19Someone else???
@ 23 – Lemmy, I came so close to experiencing that bass sound & more in 1984. Bummer the gig was cancelled. A friend in the support band said that just with the stage set up alone they were frighteningly loud, running through a few songs earlier that afternoon. Even though the mixing desk was faulty it was suggested that Motorhead could have easily played the gig in that small hall anyway. Not having anything of that Mr Lemster ruled. And with an Iron Fist he would have meant it. Oh well at least my ears were spared. I remember Lemmy saying years ago in response to being so loud that people were allegedly left totally deaf afterwards. His response a classic ‘well at least Motorhead will be the last thing they remember hearing’. Cheers.
April 11th, 2023 at 06:53Well, I went to one of the shows on last year’s tour and I enjoyed it. Yes, he was fully supported by other singers but the band were good and so was he at times. The audience seemed to appreciate the show but as a final tour it should have been more career spanning. It was a long way from the show I saw in March 79 when Whitesnake was a really, really good rock n’ roll band with a great lineup and one of the best front men in the business. As for the comments above about him not being a particularly good live singer… utter rubbish. He was one of the best. Huge voice, great power mixed with soul and yes, sometimes a long way from perfect; just how rock music should be.
April 11th, 2023 at 12:29I really think David should have done a Robert Plant at least 10 years ago…playing and recording grown up music to suit his range. I guess the money wasn’t there which is a shame.
Maybe he will finally go acoustic (get Doug, Bernie and Adrian in please) but maybe the money won’t work. Who knows? Johnny Cash thought it was all over and then he met Rick Rubin. Never count Coverdale out.
“I would love to see, and especially hear, Mr David Coverdale doing a similar job with his first two albums: “White Snake” and “Northwinds”
Someone else???”
By now, people who think like you, Fernando, are probably in the majority here (I’m with you too). Mind you, a lot of what David did on those first two albums would be outside of his range today, he was in his mid-twenties when he recorded those albums and at his vocal peak within his natural range back then. (A lot of that incredibly high singing in the 80ies was studio trickery in comparison, he always had issues reproducing it live.)
But the varied debut and the more somber Northwinds can still serve as inspiration for David’s potential future work as regards the sparseness of some of the music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsjdA1BNKlg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3x0PtxAVso
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWozM3ShBD8
Three things: (i) he would have to stick to his natural range and make allowances for his age and the wear and tear his vocal cords suffered since the 80ies, (ii) he would have to tour less and in more intimate venues, (iii) the musical setting would have to discard twin guitar walls of sound and heavy metal drums in favor of an empathetic, sparse backing. Coverdale’s voice doesn’t need more than one guitar, a piano/organ player + bass and a – small – drum set. Giving him an acoustic guitar to play might also help, less grandstanding, more concentration on the music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID0AzfA8ehw
April 11th, 2023 at 17:27@ 27 – can the Coverdale ego handle a ‘unplugged’ scenario is the bigger question me thinks. Robert Plant let go of a large proportion of his ego to move forward & distance himself from the Zep albatross hanging around his neck. Coverdale doing something similar? I just can’t see that happening. Cheers.
April 11th, 2023 at 20:59Sidroman, I have seen Motörhead three times:
– In the classic Lemmy/Philthy/Fast Eddie line-up opening for Whitesnake as reported. I wasn’t exactly overwhelmed, Lemmy isn’t DC vocally if you know what I mean. They looked cool though and I liked Metropolis and No Class (their version of ZZ Top’s Tush) as songs.
– In the Brian Robertson line-up at the 1983 Monsters of Rock open-air in Nürnerg where ironically a heroin-ridden Thin Lizzy also had their last (very bad) gig ever. Robertson joined them on stage for their final encore. It was a sad sight, because earlier on you had seen that he didn’t feel comfortable in Motörhead either, showing it via sartorial protest: He wore red jogging pants and a white T-shirt when playing with Lemmy and Philthy, you can see him here with henna dyed red hair watching the Lizzy gig from the wings, probably devastated at what had become of them, Lynott is all puffy from drug abuse, Gorham was in heroin withdrawal pain at that last gig as he would reveal decades later, it’s also the gig where DC (Whitesnake in the early Powell line-up were headliners) decided to poach Sykes (I even saw Micky Moody throw a glance at Thin Lizzy and John Sykes, he wasn’t impressed judging by his look):
https://thin-lizzyfan.com/home/component/ajax/?p=image&src=file%3Dimages%252Flizzy%252Fgallery%252Fmonsters-rock1983%252F830904p2.jpg%26type%3Dwebp%2C85%26thumbnail%3D%2C%2C&hash=b2fbe4c1
– And some years back in the then current line-up. That gig had a giant cock-up when during Phil Campbell’s extended solo spot the background ‘atmospheric’ keyboards were in the wrong key and he did not notice. It sounded awful for several minutes as he kept on playing a half-note or two totally off key. Not that anybody in the Motörhead-banger audience visibly noticed of course! They were waiting for Lemmy to return to stage and make some more noise.
In each case, they didn’t sound any louder than heavy bands generally do. Lemmy basically played a baritone rhythm guitar and didn’t have a lot of bass frequencies in his sound, so Motörhead live actually sounded thinner than, say, Judas Priest or even Whitesnake. What Motörhead would have needed was actually a true bassist to cover the bottom! That said, I was never the greatest Motörhead fan on earth, they overstay(ed) their welcome with me after two or three songs. I preferred Lemmy both vocally (he sang the Silver Machine single) and bass-wise (he was quite melodic) in his Hawkwind daze/days. His chord hammering over several strings on bass over a Marshall guitar amp with zero bass tweaked in did nothing for me, he became a one-trick-pony with Motörhead. But I always liked his interviews – he was a perceptive man – and he was a great fan of Jon Lord because Jon – while still playing with The Artwoods – gave a young Lemmy living in the boondocks the recommendation to move to London if he wanted to make music his profession. Lemmy took it in, moved to London, became a roadie first for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, then joined Hawkwind … and the rest is rock’n’roll history as they say.
The loudest bands I’ve witnessed in 47 years of concert-going? My selection will surprise you:
– Slade (They used all of their outsize PA in a club, they were so loud that the guy beside me had nose bleed when they turned up the PA in full, he still dug the gig!)
– Böhse Onkelz (In theory they had a perfect sound, crystal-clear even, but it was way too loud even for a large hall like Frankfurt Festhalle, physically painful. I got tickets for free because I was a neighbor of their management offices and recording studios at the time.)
– Queensryche (It was the Slade-syndrome again – a much too large PA in a too small hall in the town where I live, the physical pain drove half the people out the hall while Geoff Tate’s mood visibly soured on stage; I don’t think he realized what the reason was for people leaving in droves, they should have fired the soundman who wore closed headphones and was oblivious to the sonic mess he had created.)
– Elton John (Yes, I’m not joking, it was an open-air in Dresden, a full Elton John Band performance of the Yellow Brick Road album and for some reason Elton’s piano was so mercilessly loud, it hammered painfully against your eardrums during the faster songs – Elton has an incredibly forceful attack on the piano.)
But too loud is better than too quiet – hearing heavy music at too low a volume is like sex with three condoms slipped over – gratification-killing. I don’t like going to open-airs because the volume there is generally not sufficient for me (well, Elton proved me wrong!). And in case you wonder: My hearing is fine, I just lost a few highs to the cymbals of the various drummers I’ve played with over the decades! My wife hears beeping noises of our refrigerator (or at least she claims she does) that leave me undisturbed. ; – )
April 12th, 2023 at 00:51Ooops, @28, my linking of the Blondie vid at the end of my post was a mistake, I meant this here, Coverdale unplugged all by himself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys96ueKOST8
April 12th, 2023 at 00:55Time for an unplugged version of Burn / Stormbringer with RB
April 12th, 2023 at 11:52I could see a Flamenco version of that working:
La ciudad es una hoguera, el pueblo esta incendiado
Las llamas de la mujer siguen creciendo
Fuimos tontos, le dijimos mentirosa
Todo lo que oigo es: “QUEMAAAAAAAR !!!”
Candice could dance to it!
Scat a cappella, Mambo and Smooth Jazz versions are optional, maybe as B-sides?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rCzeNW1l4o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7hxGZMWew4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w1WuuG6XgA
April 12th, 2023 at 13:59I saw DC on tour with Whitesnake on their Greatest Hits tour in 2016 in the US. It was the only time I was able to see him live. What struck me was how he presented himself. He was very much the rock god when he came out on stage, a living legend. He was also very funny and gracious. It was a really good show, DC and the band gave it their all. Reb played the Crying in the Rain solo almost note for note, like Sykes.
April 12th, 2023 at 15:39I like Reb Beach‘s playing, sometimes more so than the one of Doug Aldrich. When Aldrich left, Beach‘s role became more prominent (he was always sidelined with Aldrich), DC would introduce him as “our musical director“. You could tell he especially enjoyed the Purple stuff.
I last saw WS in 2018 and before that on the Purple Tour. David was ok‘ish on the 2018 gig, but only a shadow of his former vocal prowess.
April 12th, 2023 at 21:03Thanks Uwe
Speaking of Slade I’m not really familiar with them, I know they had a lot of hits in the UK and Europe but they never really made an impact in the States so I’m only familiar with a couple songs by them.
April 12th, 2023 at 23:21Being a big Who fan, I was on a Hiwatt amps site, and I remember seeing Slade’s back line of Hiwatts I think it was sometime in the mid to late 70’s and they had a ton of them. So your explanation about them being the Loudest band you heard is very believable!
The big difference with Plant/Coverdale. Plant after Zeppelin went in a much different direction, and sort of found a new audience. I remember my older brother in the 80’s who never was a big Zep fan really liked Plant’s solo work.
April 13th, 2023 at 05:01Coverdale’s early Whitesnake never broke the states until they became the hugely successfull Hair Metal band. David did try to go in a different direction with Restless Heart, Into the Light, and Starkers in Tokyo. I liked that material, unfortunately he’s known for the 87 album and Slip of the Tongue here in the States. I remember going to see Whitesnake on the Purple Tour. My friend and I shared an Uber with a young couple in their early 20’s that was also going to the show. They stated they didn’t know why Whitesnake was calling it The Purple Tour! I had to give a few minutes of David’s back history to fill them in……
“I remember my older brother in the 80’s who never was a big Zep fan really liked Plant’s solo work.”
Sidroman, I AM YOUR ELDER BROTHER !!!
https://i.makeagif.com/media/2-15-2016/KWNeLV.gif
He’s like me. I respect Plant for what he’s done after Zep. It has integrity.
Yeah, Slade had Hiwatts (the guitarist I’m still playing with had a Hiwatt 2×12″ combo too in the 80ies, that thing was forceful if not particularly refined or creamy sounding) galore in their backline and the huge PA in that club was their own too, the one they had brought from crisscrossing America (trying in vain to make their break there) back to Europe in 1978 or so. They essentially set up an arena size PA in a large club/small hall and went for it. Jim Lea standing on one one of those PA towers and letting it rip during his bass solo (he’s a hell of a bass player, totally underrated) was an iconic sight of my youth.
But in hindsight, the most painfully loud ones were Böhse Onkelz and Queensryche. I have a pet theory for that: Modern PA systems (their gigs were three decades after Slade’s after all) are very effective and therefore able to sacrifice speaker area – less air is moved. That creates a kind of volume that is much more unpleasant than when you have a mass of speakers hitting out at you.
“They stated they didn’t know why Whitesnake was calling it The Purple Tour!”
Well, isn’t that what DC always wanted (until after Jon’s death really, when he began discovering his Purple roots again), be his own man and be perceived as the own and sole creator of his 80ies success in America a decade after Purple folded? He did what he believed he had to do at the time, but wouldn’t it be nice if one day he brought out a scaled back Rick Rubin produced album entitled, say, “Unknown Boutique Salesman From Redcar …” and visited the musical roots of his youth, that Northern Soul thing?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxSxzdfIPLI
Hopefully, he’s now finally at a point of permanently ditching the mindless metal pop albatross around his neck that is late 80ies Whitesnake. Much like Tawny K (bless her!), it didn’t age well.
April 13th, 2023 at 14:03The Slade versus Deep Purple high school arguments between myself & a friend in the 1974/5 era out here in Australia. Me being Purple of course & he had the single hits of Slade to go on about, I had the album strength. Although Slade Alive was big however not as big as MIJ. Loathing Glam rock at that time I hit him with that constantly. Slade poncing about the place dressed up like poncy gits & Purple dressed ‘normally’ & just standing & delivering. Also DP had global success, not just a ‘teeny bopper’ band for Britain & a few areas near there. Not too mention that xmas song, that didn’t sit well with us hard rockers at the time either. Teenage years eh, supporting our favourite artists to the hilt. The funny thing was a few years later neither band was relevant anymore, of course we both grew up & looked back & laughed. Well sort of grew up, old rockers never die do they? I do remember the really loud volume stories about Slade, although that was another win for me as I had Purple being officially the ‘loudest’ band in the world around that time. Not that I necessarily believed all that hype but it was another string to my bow & of course winning another argument. Purple ruled over Slade big time back then. In Noddy Holder Slade had good a musician there as well as Jimmy Lea. They weren’t that bad were they? Cheers.
April 13th, 2023 at 22:59Thanks Uwe, my brother from another mother lol
Like the acting world, musicians also get typecast.
Plant the ex Zep singer, is the chameleon who can do various other genres of music and have it accepted by a broad range of fans.
Coverdale is the Plant copy soundalike, hair metal singer who got pigeonholed. It’s a shame because I prefer Coverdale to Plant, and that’s mainly because of his Purple connection, although I like various solo albums and early Whitesnake. Also I love Coverdale/Page and really wanted to see them live. Instead in 95 I got Page/Plant instead, and get this, they performed Shake My Tree! I wonder how Jimmy Was able to get Robert to sing that song?
April 14th, 2023 at 00:24@ 40 – probably because the banal lyrics are right up Plant’s Zep era’s tree. A terrible song that & I cannot believe that Plant did that, sheeesh the things we come across each day. I loathe that Page did that album with ‘goldilocks’ Coverdale. The trouble with Coverdale is that he has always ‘followed’ iconic singers. That image thing he still seems to be insecure about, it must be dragging him down, down, down. I suppose he did get his own way with Whitesnake in some aspects, but he will never be as iconic as Ian Gillan, Robert Plant or Paul Rodgers. At least he doesn’t have to apply for a retirement pension. Imagine the answer to that inevitable question, ‘what was your previous paid occupation, in ten words or less’. Cheers.
April 14th, 2023 at 06:32I’m a big fan of Plant’s output the last 15 years. One of my favorite songs is called “Tin Pan Valley” and deals with artists in Plant’s generation. I always think of DC when I hear it.
“I live on former glory, so long ago and gone”
(…)
“My peers may flirt with cabaret, some fake the rebel yell”
Plant has always been a musical archeologist with a love for talking about his inspirations and connections between old and new. I don’t think I’ve ever heard DC talk about his influences or roots, except for maybe in passing. He mostly likes to talk about himself. 🙂
April 14th, 2023 at 06:58I’m quite fond of this version of Private Number he recorded with Delta Deep:
https://youtu.be/OEEqtcfYAMM
The voice has warmth and soul even though it sounds older. Coverdale sounds good singing with someone else, Hughes, Marsden etc. To me this could be his immediate future.
A scaled back project, selected guest players. Soul with some kick here and there. Could be really good.
April 14th, 2023 at 12:10This is like a Led Zeppelin page !?:) last entries
I watched Robert Plant 3 times. His setlists, of 13 songs, 5 from Led Zeppelin period and another cover song. What are you talking about!? I love LZ.. in my opinion, Jimmy Page (is their Lord-Blackmore) is the “First Man”. Without him, Robert Plant would not be what he represents
David is not first voice of DP (it will always be IG) but one of the greatest voices of RnR of all time. More respect to DC
April 14th, 2023 at 17:57What did I do. All these heathenish Plant posts besmudging this Purple tabernacle!
Plant has something cerebral to him. He might be difficult at times or withdrawn and aloof, but one thing he’s not: cringy. That, unfortunately, cannot always be said about the boy from Saltburn-by-the-Sea, who even with his self-deprecating deadpan humor very often comes across as oxygen-robbing larger than life and a bit all-too-grand. Dave’s persona is like the interior design of his former Lake Tahoe mansion, not quite Trump Tower, but getting there.
Zep of course – do we really need to mention them here AGAIN? – were more than the sum of their parts, but Page needed Plant as much as vice versa. Left to his own devices, Page could neither save the Yardbirds nor could he prevent his post-Zep career from doing bugger all. Even Ritchie has done more with his post-Purple career, be it with Rainbow or BN.
Returning back to DC, I love Justin Hawkin’s little story about when his mom fell victim to the mighty fanged one (@ 3.12), just too hilarious,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgZB_gF7XPo
and Hawkins gives a very gentle assessment of DC live in 2022, sort of like Jaffa and Andy @27 & 34 above. I really like Hawkins’ wry humor and if you ever have a chance to see The Darkness don’t miss it! They are great live.
April 14th, 2023 at 21:13@ 44 – likewise Page would be where I wonder without the other 3 musicians. That is how it works out, a bit of this & a bit of that, throw it all together & something happens. Poor old James Patrick Page & he seems lost without Percy it seems. All he has done since the 1980’s was, well another version of something along the lines of a poor mans Zeppelin. I did like The Firm for what it was, didn’t last long though. And nothing since the late 1990’s ‘Zep’ foray, forget that so called collaboration with the Black Crowes, what a joke that was. And what about the early Zeppelin plagiarism rip off scenario, devoid of ideas Mr Page? That doesn’t paint you know who into a very pretty picture. Page had his creativity, in spades for a little while but the well did run dry rather quickly & it seems to be without the other three Zep guys. Cheers.
April 14th, 2023 at 21:26Just for clarification purposes increasingly strong antibiotics and horrifying steroids cannot fix a well shot singing voice and the doctor prescribing these should have said “just let Dino do the singing” .
April 14th, 2023 at 23:06@44 Reminder… ago 30 years… since the most underrated rock (real-rock) album Coverdale-Page “Pride & Joy”. After wandering in the eighties, Jimmy found in David a kindred rock soul (much better than Poul Rodgers) and together they recorded a good rock album “Pride & Joy”.
April 15th, 2023 at 05:00@44 Reminder… ago 30 years… since the most underrated rock (real-rock) album Coverdale-Page “Pride & Joy”. Together they recorded a so good rock album .
April 15th, 2023 at 05:02Admittedly, I liked the solitary output from the Coverdale/Page communion too. It was well-written, -performed and -produced. And for all its understandably overt Led Zep leanings, the music was more mature than anything DC had done in a long time. If Coverdale/Page was erotic art, then latter day Whitesnake was budget porn.
I could have lived without poor Jimmy having to do the inane Slide It In live though. Or DC aping Plant on Zep songs.
April 15th, 2023 at 16:38@ 49 -good luck to you ivica in liking an album from some of your favourite musicians. We all do at times & a one off collaboration can be a gem for a few fans. I just don’t like Coverdale post 1982 era, cannot stand him. So I don’t like that Jimmy Page duo thing. Regarding Page from the 1980’s I also liked his Outrider solo album & also enjoyed the Death Wish 2 soundtrack he did, that was wonderful to my ears. I suppose he frustrates certain people, me included & with that he hasn’t done anything since the late 1990’s. He has retired it seems & good luck to him running through all those Zeppelin re releases etc. Cheers.
April 15th, 2023 at 22:36@50
April 16th, 2023 at 06:20Ten yers ago Zepp-snake performans Made in Japan ,WE ( DP fans) “survived” listening “Iron Man” , “Smoke on the Water” (without keyboard support .) your experiences?
Uwe
April 16th, 2023 at 09:33speaking of Coverdale aping Zep, it was before the Purple Tour, I can’t recall the drummers name, not Aldridge, different drummer, single bass drum, Aldrich was still in the band, during Still of The Night, they went into Zep’s How Many More Times, and David still had his voice then, and him and the band jamming Zeppelin was actually pretty good. I’m thinking it must have been 2012 although I may be off by a year, before or after.
I have a couple of bootlegs from Coverdale/Page’s Japan tour. DC did a respectable job on some Zep tunes, but in essence it was vocal method acting, it’s hard to do Robert Plant’s style (which is almost like another melody instrument within the Led Zep sound) justice. I may not like what he does a lot of the time, but he (i) invented it, (ii) nobody does it as well. Coverdale’s voice is nothing like an ‘added instrument’ voice, he’s a traditional front man vocalist in the vein of Paul Rodgers where actually less is more. Plant on the other hand excels in all these vocal embellishments. DC was an uncomfortable fit on those Zep numbers.
And you can’t really compare it to Gillan-fronted Black Sabbath doing SOTW as an encore after their regular set. That to me was just good fun and p(l)aying their respects to a rock classic. They weren’t trying to emulate Deep Purple.
Finally, nobody deserves to have to play Slide It In, not even Jimmy Page (though it was apparently his choice to do that song). That is just an imbecile number with a lame chorus. Terrible. Songwriting-wise, much of the Slide It In album is a car accident. Let’s not even talk about the execution, with Powell’s insensitively hammering drums and Colin Hodgkinson’s helpless “I don’t really know what to do with this kind of music”-stiff and unimaginative bass playing. I missed Bernie Marsden’s melodic playing and songwriting terribly, not to mention the groove and swing of the Murray/Paice rhythm section.
April 16th, 2023 at 14:04I looked at the Coverdale Page collaboration as possibly ‘manufactured’, meaning someone gets a higher than mighty idea at creating the cursed ‘supergroup’ & then sits back & reaps the financial benefits. It rarely ever works out does it? I could be wrong on that though & it may have been a good idea at first, at least on paper, then as it physically unfolds it all goes belly up. Jimmy Page is never comfortable going out on a limb it seems. Maybe he realised the error of his ways & Plant then called him up & asked, please explain? Hence the Plant Page reformation in the mid 1990’s. Page playing it safe again. Regarding the Snake after Saints & Sinners the writing was on the wall, I bailed out. A sort of similar scenario with Gillan the band after Bernie Torme left. Personal changes in a band can do that as well ego & band politics & also money. Wasn’t Gillan in dire straits financially also, a bit like Whitesnake at that time from we have been lead to believe over the years. At least with Sabbath & Ian Gillan they went all out on Born Again & the tour, no expenses spared there ala Spinal Tap. Coverdale with Whitesnake was desperate for the US market & that mirror. The mirror that repeatedly asks, ‘mirror mirror on the wall, who is the most famous of them all? Thankfully DP reunited & put an end to it all, in my book at least. I watched a Ian Paice interview a few days ago from about 2 years past & he talks a little about his time with Whitesnake & also with Gary Moore among other things & as usual Paice was a joy to listen to. Cheers.
April 17th, 2023 at 00:45Of course, Saints & Sinners is already a flawed, largely inspirationless album, but at least the band still worked as a unit, if only just. Slide It In was dysfunctional on so many levels: Jon was unsure about his new role and you could hear it, Galley didn’t gel with Moody like the latter had with Marsden, putting Hodgkinson and Powell together was a bit like asking Chris Squire and Phil Rudd to be the new rhythm section for Fleetwood Mac – I simply cannot fathom what was in Coverdale’s mind when he let that happen. Consummate musician he is, he can sometimes really do daft musical moves.
I agree that Coverdale Page was manufactured, both were kicking their feet at the end of the 80ies and someone (John Kalodner?) must have put 2 + 2 together. But then that is nothing new: Cream were manufactured as were Asia, not every band with manufactured origins turned out bad music, just look at DP (it’s not like the original DP members had grown up in the same council housing complex together, they were never a band of former buddies/peers like, say, The Beatles, Status Quo, Genesis or Judas Priest).
I’m really looking forward to that announced release of a remixed box of Coverdale Page’s work (which we’ll likely not see/hear before 2004/5). Not everything they did together worked, but some tracks were magic and dwarfed anything hair metal WS had done.
April 17th, 2023 at 15:08The manufactured ‘supergroup’ thing isn’t something I think about regarding Deep Purple’s initial beginnings. They were young musicians on the lookout for others, that is a normal thing to do even with a manager or record label suggesting people should do this or that. They were not from previous big name commercially successful bands. The 1970’s brought that on. Sure Cream may have been an idea of sorts along those lines, but even they were relatively unknown in many ways back then. I get more annoyed about that big business scenario much more after the 1970’s, when things went to the wall & have never recovered. Welcome to the machine etc. Big business creating something purely for money. I always think back to that banker or executive at that Hendrix gig, “this noise makes money & lots of it”. Asia were a prime example, it seemed fine went it went off with a bang, but how long did it last? Steve Howe was out the door after one album, he was on the second album as a player but not so much as a contributor. It was all for the wrong reasons, music wasn’t the prime focus it seems. Regarding Whitesnake yes Saints & Sinners is where I lost interest & reading about issues with the band & Coverdale’s frustration at being an unknown in the States. I don’t think I have ever heard the Slide it In album or anything else after that barring the ‘new’ re released version of Crying in the Rain when I had to play it in a band in 1992. I loathed that new version & of course the hair metal bands & so many other things that went with that. Even by then I was waving the old school flag desperately, clinging on as if my life depended upon it. Looking back it is rather amusing in many ways. With Coverdale & Page I was interested in what Page was doing but NOT with Coverdale at all. Not a good thing to have a perceived expectation of what may follow when I was to listen to that. I just couldn’t get into it, a chip on my shoulder perhaps regarding DC. They were both desperate to go somewhere big, again the wrong reasons behind the get together & to create some new music. Not to worry. Cheers.
April 17th, 2023 at 23:01LOL ! Uwe said…” What did I do ?… All these heathenish Plant posts besmudging this Purple tabernacle !”…
It’s like being at a special-event my friend, with many people gathered, & where all the differing foods & drinks are available for all to enjoy, & sometimes you have to consume somethings that are a little sour-to-taste, to appreciate sweet…
I don’t mind the so-called “super-groups” when they appear, as there’s often some surprising & memorable/lasting music that does come through. The only issue being that they generally don’t have a long life-span…Come & gone usually in a couple or so years at best.
Peace !
April 18th, 2023 at 02:23(furtively-cautiously …) This is now a Led Zeppelin forum, ja??? The Stairway Gazette or whatever it is called?
Well anyway, a country singer daughter doing not such a bad job, even just at a rehearsal/soundcheck …
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DHlF0rpW3Zo
I actually like her better that way, some talent there. Growing up listening to your parents’ CD collection is not always a bad thing. I still remember the phase when my then 12-year old son made the transition from Eminem to Korn to Judas Priest (he’s meanwhile arrived at Delta Blues and Bluegrass). Evolution comes in many guises!
April 18th, 2023 at 15:48Uwe
Speaking of Whitesnake, I never knew why Ian Paice was fired from the band? I’ve heard that David got mad at him because Paicey skipped rehearsals and went to watch Horse Races, I’ve also heard that David simply wanted a harder, heavier drummer, with a bit more charsima, and that’s why Ian was fired and replaced with Cozy Powell. You seem to be the Purple historian on this site. Can you give us more information on Paice’s departure and Cozy’s arrival? Thanks in advance.
April 19th, 2023 at 02:04WS zeppelinization started from album “Slide it in” and the song “Slow en Easy” which reminds of “In My Time Of Dying” with “Physical Graffiti”.Page shadow but
April 19th, 2023 at 06:56Coverdale’s voice is deeper, more powerful than Plant…my opinion
Back to WS
Slide it in” is an excellent album, my WS trinity: Ready An’ Willing, “87” and” Slide it in.
Lots of recognizable atmospheres and rockers … Slide it in and Give Me More Time (AC-DC) Guilty Of Love (Thin Lizzy) Hungry For Love ( riif reminds of RS “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll” … also Whitesnake himself on Whitesnake and the three best songs on the album.Gambler (exciting intro Jon Lord, the song is melodically reminiscent of “Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues”, while “Standing In The Shadow,” on “Don’t Break My Heart Again” while is Love Ain’t No Stranger” structurally similar to “Here I Go Again”.
I love Slide it in album (UK), Coverdale is in his element, the last dance of Jon Lord and Martin Birch..I agree Hodicson is not affected, Neil Murray play is missing.
Sidroman, what I heard and read about Ian’s departure from WS was:
1. Ian had already done the groundwork for conquering America once – with Deep Purple, eg, endless tours opening for The Faces; he felt no inclination to repeat the exercise with/for WS. In contrast, DC had never done groundwork with DP in America. Mk III never had to open for anyone in America or elsewhere, they reaped the harvest of Mk II’s long climb to success. So DC was hungry to prove he could do it himself (and not just be a lateral in an already well-established band) while Ian was “been there, done that, thanks, but no, thanks”.
When Ian joined Gary Moore he had an agreement in place that he would not need to do all US tours, hence you had Bobby Chouinard (from Billy Squier’s band at the time) drumming on parts of Gary Moore’s US tours, opening for acts like Rush and Def Leppard (whose drummers he both rated) wasn’t quite how Paicey saw his career going forward.
2. For whatever reason and it seems hard to believe from today’s vantage point, Ian lost confidence in his drumming around the time of Come And Get It. With John Bonham being regarded as a drummer deity of sorts, Ian began self-doubting his own style and attempted to play simpler, which didn’t work very well. It got to the point where he would freeze in the studio and run out of ideas, even be dissatisfied with his own performance. I wouldn’t be surprised if that led to aborted sessions. And DC is not the man to suffer people with self-doubts gladly or with any patience.
3. DC had been keeping an eye on Cozy Powell for a while. He had met him backstage with Dio era Rainbow and was immediately attracted to Cozy’s larger-than-life flamboyance, as a Jeff Beck fan he was also aware of his pedigree, Bernie Marsden hat joined Whitesnake at the recommendation of Cozy Powell, there had been discussions of DC either joining MSG or Michael Schenker and Cozy joining Whitesnake (both bands had the same management for a while). Such was DC’s glee when Cozy finally joined WS (after once again throwing down his drum sticks with MSG because Michael Schenker’s Teutonic rehearsal perfectionism got on his nerves), he paid him the highest wage of all members. Which Jon Lord saw as an insult when he found out later – you don’t do that to rock royalty!
4. I believe DC tends to be uncertain about which type of drummer he likes to play with. Frankly, I didn’t even understand why Duck Dowle had to go, his drumming on the first two-and-a-half (I’m counting the EP too) WS studio outings and the Live At Hammersmith album sounded good and very musical to me. Of course, Ian Paice taking his place was a publicity splash and Jon must have enjoyed having his old buddy back again. Then came Powell followed by Aynsley Dunbar who did a great job on 1987, but was obviously deemed too difficult a person and too complex a drummer (Dunbar lost the drumming stool with Journey when he refused to play simpler there, his drumming on 1987 was under strict instruction of John Sykes and Neil Murray), and after that Tommy Aldridge entered the scene, who Coverdale described at one point as “too technical”, falling instead in love with Denny Carmassi’s (Montrose, Gamma, the criminally underrated St. Paradise with the great Derek St. Holmes from Ted Nugent’s band, Heart) more organic drumming. I read in a Coverdale interview that Aldridge’s return to the WS fold was in fact a rare democratic decision by the other WS members, DC asked them what drummer they would like to have and they unanimously opted for Tommy Aldridge, much to his surprise.
As regards Colin Hodgkinson vs Neil Murray just listen to Colin help- and hapless here …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU1SoiXmCUY
and then what Neil does effortless to the same track:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV19DOc76CE
That’s not knocking Colin, he’s a great stylist on bass (and currently with Ten Years After), but man was he miscast as a player for WS (to be fair: Jon Lord recommended him to DC after having played blues standards with him, Pete York and others on a German club tour – but WS with Cozy was NOT a blues band!).
April 20th, 2023 at 01:35@ 60 – I have been reading up a little on the Snake’s early 1980’s demise & hedonism, lack of money & Coverdale’s ego probably would be a quick assessment of the situation at that time. Also that ‘John Kalodner’ guy, he was also respnsible for the Coverdale Page manufacturing 10 years later. He was apparently pushing young Cov’e at the time to go bigger, harder & flashier etc. He was allegedly on record saying that the current Whitesnake was a mediocre band with ordinary songs. That’s why they re recorded some of those songs for later hits in the US. Enough said there. It says it all really, the biggest is best mentality. The ‘this noise makes money & lots of it’ mentality. Or should that be ‘we sold our soul for rock ‘n roll’. Regarding Uwe being all things Purple, yes possibly, but I would have thought Zeppelin first & Purple a distant somewhere else, he he he. Cheers.
April 20th, 2023 at 04:58For historical truth:
Kalodner did dismember the Galley/Moody/Hodkinson/Lord/Powell line-up, but he had nothing to do with the end of the previous Marsden/Moody/Murray/Paice era.
Kalodner, probably not just coincidentally visually a Rasputin-type figure in John Lennon’esque white business suits,
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSBE6rJoJnHBfcNkxMccupPVyNCFpGjSf_4Zw&usqp=CAU
watched WS on tour from the side of the stage taking notes and decided that Moody and Hodgkinson were hopelessly out of touch with what American rock audiences wanted to see in a live performance and that Mel Galley was likely too old and unglamorous to compete with the new generation of guitar heroes . He was fine with Cozy’s aggressive drumming and showmanship and did not speak against Jon Lord (he has always stressed that), regarding him as British rock royalty window-dressing any band, if irrelevant for WS’ intended future conquest of America.
Kalodner was also violently against the Coverdale/Sykes team splitting – he saw the writing on the wall and that Coverdale would not find another John Sykes and John Sykes never another DC. He was right with both. Yet Coverdale would not listen to him and fired Sykes to reinstate ultimate Coverdale rule in the scaly kingdom. So, ironically, Kalodner was skeptic whether the new WS line-up could sustain the trajectory even as 1987 climbed up the US charts. Well, of course they didn’t and the wheels came off by Slip Of The Tongue. Coverdale Page was Kalodner’s attempt to retrieve that situation one more time by pairing DC with the Zeppelin legend. The outcome wasn’t a commercial disaster, but it didn’t repeat the 1987 huge success, times had changed, Kurt Cobain had arrived, Coverdale Page’s grand rock royalty image felt curiously out of date and touch.
April 20th, 2023 at 13:51@64…. The Sykes thing…. Sykes was not easy to work with. In the studio he was often ridiculous with some daft demands for set ups that would make no difference to the finished recording…. hence some of the guitar parts were finished by others to get the album done. He also suggested to the label that a new singer should be found…hmm. Although Sykes went on to form Blue Murder (an interesting but not great) band he has had a largely momentum-free career since Whitesnake. I understand he enjoys doing nothing most days. I lost any real interest in Sykes when he said Lord dated the band’s sound.
April 24th, 2023 at 15:30Slip was a massive mis-step. Some of the songs were OK (again, not really great) but the execution was awful. A back to basics approach would have worked just fine.
Did Sykes make Coverdale a superstar and a rich man? Maybe. Or was it Sykes, Marsden, Kitaen and Callner with Here I Go Again and Is This Love?
I think Kalodner got it wrong with Coverdale. Sure, for a brief afternoon in the sun everything came up roses but those green shoots soon retreated. Kalodner should have focused Coverdale on creating a real band, focused on the playing and songwriting, not the image, not competing with Motley Crewe and Poison. They should have been above that… a proper rootsy Led Zeppelin for the 80’s. I remember the journalist Ray Coleman writing in 1981 that Whitesnake were the natural successors to Zeppelin’s crown as the band started to get big in the UK and Europe. They could have been ahead of the LA pack, not part of it.
Yeah, the anti-Hammond comment was inane at the time, it totally rubbed me the wrong way too, especially coming from someone who when I saw him with Whitesnake had issues playing in time, excited carpet-peeing-puppy he was. And history proved him wrong too, come the 90ies the Hammond sound (if not always stemming from a Hammond organ) made a return in many forms of rock, while the layered synths that permeate the 1987 album were deemed ‘dated’.
Worse still, DC followed suit and remarked at a WS press conference re the Perfect Strangers album that it was “nice to hear Jon Lord play something other than a Hammond for once”. These days, he re-releases stuff from the 80ies with extra-Hammond added in the aftermath by Derek Sherinian for the remixes, lauding Derek in the liner notes as sounding like Jon Lord! Jon will be smiling in his grave.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdm1zvXBgVQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVfa-lLdKa8
Well, you tell me which version sounds dated today! ; – )
Sykes was no doubt a piece of work, but also 10 years David’s junior. You’re allowed to be idiotic in your early 20ies and you should be able to handle someone like that if you have the seniority Coverdale had back then. But in a knee jerk reaction, Coverdale fired the Sykes-Murray-Powell/Dunbar line-up and that was against the recommendation of Kalodner who had his doubts about the MTV mercenary line-up DC then created for the Still Of The Night vid. Well, they lasted about as long as David’s liaison with Tawny K.
April 25th, 2023 at 15:221.I have seen Whitesnake 3 times in 1990,2003 and 2005. I missed them a couple of years I go when they played in my town together with Judas Priest because I came too late to the Stadium, just before Judas Priest appeared and one more time in 2008 when I bought the ticket and couldn’t fly to Athens(I also missed Def Leppard that time). Every time o saw them they were great as a live act and Coverdale’s voice was superb.
April 26th, 2023 at 16:272. Whitesnake 1978-1987 was imho a different band compared to post 1987 Whitesnake: a bunch of hippies with ridiculous appearance thin guitar sound and really mediocre guitar players, with the exception of John Sykes. I remember reading an interview where Coverdale said that the sound of the early records was like a fart and I couldn’t agree more. Just compare those records with the things that Van Halen, Def Leppard or Scorpions delivered during the same time. As a Hard Rock/Metal fun I was more then happy with the direction that Coverdale choose after 1987 music and appearance included.
3. Most singers with Coverdale’s age or even younger(like Geoff Tate, Klaus Meine, Vince Neil, Don Dokken, and, of course Ian Gillan) can not deliver the same vocals that they delivered during the 80’s. Notable exception is Covs old chap Glenn Hughes. The reason for me is partly his age and partly the fact that he never reached for the help of a good voice teacher, which would help him to maintain a great percentage of his voice capabilities(like Ken Tramplin for example).
4. I think that DC with all of his flaws never forced anybody to keep buying his records or tickets. So don’t to that especially if you like only an forever gone 1978-1984 version of Whitesnake or DC.
Ah Chris, welcome, we needed some dissent here, it was all getting a bit boring! I just luuuv’ contrarians. Happy for you if the later WS was more to your taste – certainly sales numbers don’t lie and the US-based WS was definitely more in tune with the times than the earlier incarnation (which started when Punk and New Wave were raging) ever was.
“… a bunch of hippies with ridiculous appearance thin guitar sound and really mediocre guitar players, with the exception of John Sykes. I remember reading an interview where Coverdale said that the sound of the early records was like a fart and I couldn’t agree more. Just compare those records with the things that Van Halen, Def Leppard or Scorpions delivered during the same time.”
Objection, your Honor! That is a bit like saying AC/DC has a better sound than Little Feat or Wishbone Ash. The original WS had a much more nuanced and detailed sound, the later line-ups sacrificed any sort of subtlety for bigger guitars and drums + more histrionic vocals. That might have been more heavy metal, but it didn’t make the hair metal guitar tandems better than Marsden/Moody, whose guitar work was very much patterned after what, say, the Allman Brothers had been doing. Come on, give it a fair listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHZ55vMvfg8
Hear the harmony twin lead guitars, Neil Murray’s groovy and melodic bass in the verses (immaculately played triplets at a technically demanding speed), the sophisticated drumming? I’ll readily admit it that this is not music designed to pin people against the wall in US stadiums, but it is excellently played.
There is a lot of appreciation for DC here, no worries, he’s an integral part of the Purple family and his eras of self-built success following DP’s demise are well-respected. Yes, voices deteriorate with age. But DC’s took an especially heavy, even tragic hit, you haven’t heard him live during the last 10 years, I have several times. And I went every time to deteriorating quality because he still means something to me.
But welcome to the fold and please participate! You know who my favorite guitarist playing with DC in later incarnations was? You’ll never guess. Ex-Ratt Warren DeMartini! No joke. I though he had feel, played tastefully (also slide) and looked great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZXtc1yW4lA&t=126s
(And I did not post that link because DC is somewhat flat in his vocal notes here, but just for Warren’s solo.)
April 27th, 2023 at 16:45I played the live Whitesnake album ‘In The Heart of The City’ more than the studio albums back then. It was a very good & powerful sounding band to my ears. I listened to the studio albums often but when I craved that little bit more, that live album was grand. Most bands should sound better live, more grit & heavier & possibly improvising etc, depending on the bands lineup. The British band was destined not to last long, hindsight gives us that view of course & it was Coverdale’s ‘baby’ & it was destined to become Americanised as he was fantasising about all that at the time around 1984. Not to worry & I only know the British version from 1979 to 1982 & that suits me fine. Cheers.
April 28th, 2023 at 08:34@67 I think I understand where you are coming from. I first saw the band in 79 and then last year. Many, many times in between. Sometimes they (and Coverdale) have been brilliant and sometimes not. But they have always been entertaining. Now, I’m from that school of thought that says less is usually more. I love that early Snake and as a comparison I always say listen to Marsden’s deceptively simple solo on the original FFYL and compare it to Vai’s version. Yes, Vai is technically gifted, slick and very decorative but where is the feel? Marsden plays like a latter-day Peter Green… he understands the need for space and not just speed. His guitar tone and voice blends perfectly with DC’s. That early Whitesnake wasn’t heavy metal (thank the Lord)… it was a mixture of early FM, Skynyrd and The Allman Bothers, merged into a very British blues rock outfit. Coverdale was the god out front and the band provided the meat in his superstar sandwich. They were often let down by thin production values but that is indicative of the time. As a live band they were amazing and the connection with the audience was often over whelming.
April 28th, 2023 at 14:19I’m not a fan of the 87 but I recognise its importance. Sykes is not really my cup tea. I really started liking WS again when Doug was part of the setup and I really liked how he pushed David to play the old stuff again. The live DVD from 2004 is excellent.
David loves music. He loves old blues and soul. Time to get back to basics.