Tag: Micky Moody

Whitesnake – ‘Little Box ‘O’ Snakes (The Sunburst Years 1978-1982) – Box Set (The David Coverdale Series)

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Back in 2011, Whitesnake released a box set called ‘Box ‘O’ Snakes (The Sunburst Years 1978-1982)’. It was a massive 9 CDs, 1 DVD and a 7″ Single of ‘Snakebite’. And if you missed it, like me, you would have to pay the late tax which means you’d be paying a pretty penny to get it now. Probably over $200 with shipping if you were lucky. Luckily, in 2013, they re-released it and called it ‘Little Box ‘O’ Snakes’. This time around there are only 8 CDs, no DVD and no 7″. You also miss out on an extra live show. But you do get a lot of stuff.

As David Coverdale doesn’t own the rights to these albums from the Sunburst Years, we won’t be seeing those massively incredible Deluxe Box Sets he has been doing from ‘Slide it In’ and forward. For now, this will do. I already have all of these on vinyl, but I didn’t have the CDs so this was a cheap easy way to get them all in one bunch. I think I paid around $30 for the set. Much better than the $200 for the original set. For now, this will do. 

The set comes in a sturdy card board box and each CD is housed in a cardboard sleeve similar to a vinyl album cover. No CD cases to house them. There is also a booklet accompanying the set. All-in-all, you get 8 albums which includes the first E.P., 5 Studio albums and 2 live albums. A ton of music to get through and an incredible line-up of songs and bandmates.

David Coverdale coming off of Deep Purple put together a stellar band with the likes of Micky Moody and Bernie Marsden on guitars and what a duo that would be. You also get a rhythm section like no other with Neil Murray on bass and Dave Dowle on drums for the first few albums then the incomparable Ian Paice thereafter. If that wasn’t enough, you had Jon Lord on keyboards/organ. What a beast he was and I don’t think there was anyone his equal at that time. Now, what’s in the box?

‘SNAKEBITE E.P’ (1978)

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Whitesnake – ‘Live at Hammersmith’ (1980) – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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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.

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Whitesnake – “Fool For Your Loving” – Single Review (The David Coverdale Series – Bonus Edition)

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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. 

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My Sunday Song – “Slow An’ Easy” by Whitesnake

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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…”

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My Sunday Song – “Take Me With You” by Whitesnake

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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.

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My Sunday Song – “Blindman” by Whitesnake

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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.

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Whitesnake – ‘Slide it In’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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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.

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Whitesnake – ‘Saints & Sinners’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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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.

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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.

 

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Whitesnake – ‘Come An’ Get It’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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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.

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Whitesnake – ‘Live…in the Heart of the City” – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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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”).

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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:

  1. Come on
  2. Sweet Talker
  3. Walking in the Shadow of the Blues
  4. Love Hunter
  5. AIn’t No Love in the Heart of the City
  6. Fool For Your Loving
  7. 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:

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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:

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“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 Stars mainly 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.

Up next…Whitesnake – ‘Come An’ Get It’.

The David Coverdale Series:

  1. Deep Purple – Burn
  2. Deep Purple – Stormbringer
  3. Deep Purple – Come Taste the Band
  4. Deep Purple – Made in Europe
  5. David Coverdale – Whitesnake
  6. Deep Purple – Last Concert in Japan
  7. David Coverdale – Northwinds
  8. David Coverdale’s Whitesnake – Snakebite
  9. Whitesnake – Trouble
  10. Whitesnake – Lovehunter
  11. Whitesnake – Ready an’ Willing
  12. Whitesnake – Live…in the Heart of the City
  13. Whitesnake – Come An’ Get it
  14. Deep Purple – Live in London
  15. Whitesnake – Saints & Sinners
  16. Whitesnake – Slide It In
  17. Whitesnake – “Give Me More Time” 12″ Single (Bonus Review)
  18. Whitesnake – ‘The Best of Whitesnake (Bonus Review – 1982 release)
  19. Whitesnake – Whitesnake (1987)
  20. Whitesnake – “Is This Love” 12″ Promo (Bonus Review)
  21. Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue
  22. David Coverdale – “The Last Note of Freedom” – Single Review
  23. Coverdale/Page – Coverdale/Page
  24. Coverdale/Page – “Take Me For A Little While 12” Single (Bonus Review)
  25. David Coverdale & Whitesnake – Restless Heart
  26. Whitesnake – Starkers in Tokyo
  27. David Coverdale – Into the Night
  28. Whitesnake – Live…In the Still of the Night (DVD)
  29. Whitesnake – Live…In the Shadow of the Blues
  30. Whitesnake – Good To Be Bad
  31. Whitesnake – Forevermore
  32. Whitesnake – Live at Donington 1990: Monsters of Rock
  33. Whitesnake – The Purple Album
  34. Whitesnake – The Purple Tour (Live)
  35. Whitesnake – Flesh & Blood
  36. Whitesnake – The Rock Album
  37. Whitesnake – The Albums Ranked Worst to First
  38. David Coverdale – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

Other David Coverdale Albums reviewed – (Box Sets and Bootlegs):

  1. Whitesnake – 1987 (30th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
  2. Whitesnake – Slide It In (35th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
  3. Whitesnake – Unzipped – Box Set
  4. Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (30th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
  5. Whitesnake (Snake) – Still of the Night Live in Battle Creek, Mich. July 26, 1987 (Bootleg)