What does it sound like?:
David Coverdale has one hell of a voice. His time with Deep Purple (and indeed with the early ‘UK’ version of Whitesnake) produced some great rock music. This album, reissued to mark the fiftieth anniversary of his debut with the band, selects material from the three Purple studio albums he sang on – Burn, Stormbringer and Come Taste The Band – and reinterprets them with the then current line up of Whitesnake, who prove more than capable of recapturing the original magic. There’s certainly some superb songs to cherry pick from this era – the title tracks of the first two albums stand out as of course do Soldier of Fortune and the epic Mistreated. However there are a number of maybe less well known pieces too, the likes of Sail Away, You Fool No One, Lay Down Stay Down and Holy Man. The original 2015 album has now been expanded into a two cd plus bluray set, augmented with live recordings (and videos) from the ensuing tour plus half a dozen alternate mixes. There are also several demos of ideas for the Stormbringer sessions, but the most intriguing part of this extra content is Coverdale’s 1972 four song demo tape submitted to Deep Purple after the departure of Ian Gillan, which was obviously good enough to gain him an audition and then the job itself. The reel to reel tape was only discovered when the singer was going through his late mother’s belongings – isn’t it amazing what mothers hang on to! If you’re a fan of this era of Deep Purple, then the set gives good value for your money, with plenty of studio and live covers, plus lots of video content on the bluray including a previously unseen behind the scenes documentary on the making of the record and a new song by song commentary by DC himself.
What does it all *mean*?
It’s a mighty long way from Saltburn by the Sea to Lake Tahoe.
Goes well with…
Singing in the shower.
Release Date:
13 Octiber
Might suit people who like…
Hard rock, Purple, Whitesnake.
Yes indeed!
At last! Someone admits to singing in the shower.
Got into the Snake round about Fool for your lovin’ (which is still a great song actually) and then worked back a little to Ain’t no love in the heart of the city and the live album. Followed them for a few more albums but started to lose interest thereafter. The American years weren’t much cop as far as I was concerned.
Strangely I don’t think I’ve heard him with the Purps. I think he became a bit of a ham really but Whitesnake certainly had their moments.
Yup, first five albums are great (six including the live outing).
Slide It In was OK, but missing “something”.
1987 though – sold in bucketloads, but isn’t up there with previous
Freddy, you have written what I was thinking!
Apart from hearing him with Deep Purple. Burn is a fantastic album and worth a listen.
I like bits n bobs. The band winds up the cool police, for a start, and that’s got to be a good thing. You can’t fault the track “Burn” or “Fool for your lovin’ “, and I thought “Still of the Night” was a masterpiece of trad rock cliches, which I have a soft spot for. There’s a magnificence about the late 70s version that the slick LA version with its bloody power ballads could never touch.
They were a key band for me in my early to mid teens, the first one I saw on a few consecutive tours (and headlining Donington Monsters of Rock in ‘83). During lockdown I found he was good fun on Twitter as well, a combination of motivational memes and bawdy humour.
For all I know he still is, but a few months ago he posted a picture of himself on stage with one of his band. His posture, hair gesture made him look extraordinarily like Robert Plant. ‘Who do think that is?’, I said to my other half, pointing at him. ‘That’s Robert Plant’, she said. So I posted a reply reading, ‘You don’t half look like Robert Plant in that photo, David’. And he blocked me. Touchy point, apparently.
Touchy point ever since Still the Night, I suppose…
I have a lot of time for David Coverdale. He has a great voice, he can write a terrific rock song, and he plays the part of “big haired rock star” to the hilt. He seems to know that his general themes – which might be summed up as wild women (who are often free with their favours) and the men who love them, plus cars, cities, and the night – might be a bit out of place in today’s music scene, and obviously couldn’t care less.
He takes the music seriously, and quite right too, but doesn’t take himself remotely seriously. His appearances on the Rockenteurs podcasts are terrific, and I also recall Guy Pratt’s description in his book of working with him – it sounded like a hoot from start to finish. He came across as such an interesting character that I needed to check out everything Whitesnake did – before that I knew only the big hits.
In an age when so many music stars are bland and forgettable, DC is unique. Long may he rock on.
Don’t forget fine wines…
Yes he was brilliant on Rockenteurs. “These are dark days for the cocksman, Guido”.
The “Guido” alone was enough to make me smile, as was Bernie Marsden talking about DC inviting him to join Whitesnake: “Ah, Ber-naaard…”
I still have lots of time for DC, and was listening to him only the other day.
Little known fact – I was on a business trip to Malaysia and we were in some bar and the local band were playing and to my surprise ended with “Soldier of fortune”. Now my band used to play “SoF” BITD but we were big fans and that was the 70s not the 90s. Anyway, the whole bar sang along and I discovered SoF was a massive hit in Malaysia and by music law, all bands have to play it. My hosts were equally surprised when I knew all the words too actually.
Par ailleurs, the same law applies in France with “Stand by me”. Every band has to finish with it, regardless of genre. It just is.
My own favourite version from the unplugged Starkers in Tokyo
Slightly shocked at the affection for ver Snake here but it’s a good moment to confess that my first gig was the earliest version of this combo at the Lyceum in 78 – persuaded my mum to take me for my 13th birthday treat and what a one it was, a lean hungry loud blues band with narry a twinkle of spandex in Coverdale’s eye. They did a couple of Purple tunes far superior to the more shredding versions I sampled from this collection. So excuse me while I turn my back on the world and live with my memories…
A great band will always shine through and they were one of them.