signature — Neil calls it “a big and exciting work-out with lots of solos
in it.” Most definitely, armed with this track, Whitesnake is indeed exploding
out of the gates. Next, the band take it way down for a light-hearted lope of funk
called “Love To Keep You Warm,” which is followed up by “Lie Down (A Modern
Love Song)” which could be described as a typical Whitesnake rocker from the
early 1980s but with more pure pop than the band would dare utilize, at least
through the course of the next two albums.
Next the band apply their
slow-burn funk rock ethic to a cover of The Beatles’ “Day Tripper,” chopping it
up with pregnant pauses and then further overhauling the song (sacrilegiously)
during the chorus. There’s copious talk box too, just in case we didn’t think the
band had a sense of humour!
“I thought it would be good to do a funky
version of it,” recalls Marsden. “And then David Dowle, the original drummer,
he was a really good funk drummer in that vein — he’d been with Brian Auger’s
band — and we were in rehearsal one afternoon, and I just said to him, ‘Let’s
try this.’ And it was a jam in the rehearsal room, to be honest with you. And then
we kind of crafted it down a little when we got into the studio. The studio, by
the way, was about eight feet square. Yeah, by the time they put Jon Lord’s
equipment in there, we could hardly move [ laughs ]. But ‘Day Tripper’ was
a big success; it got a lot of people talking about it. The first Whitesnake
hit ever was a Beatles song, and we played it live sometimes; it was quite fun.”
“Nighthawk (Vampire Blues)” gets its
title from Coverdale’s beloved mum’s name for David, who’s not afraid to bring
up the good woman from time to time in interviews. Notes Marsden, “I just had the
idea for that, and then David came up with that kind of dark lyric, which
turned it into a vampire song. But I just had the music ready for that one,
ready to go, and he came up with all the words on that one, which was
brilliant.” This one’s a maelstrom of blues fusion mixed with hard rock, on
which Marsden and Moody get their work out. “Nighthawk” is scattered
Whitesnake, but Whitesnake nonetheless.
“The Time Is Right For Love” plays to a
brisk shuffle more the signature of Uriah Heep, although Coverdale’s got his
own version of “Easy Livin’” [from Heep’s Demons & Wizards album] and
it’s called “Breakdown.” Jazzy chord changes belie the bench depth of David’s
band of brothers, as does the percolating bass line, while the
Lizzy-esque opening sequence speaks to the twin guitar comfort of Moody with
Marsden.
Next up, is Trouble ’s title track,
which in a normal world, might have been the Lieber/Stoller classic. But that
was left to Coverdale doppelganger Ian Gillan to cover, with his band Gillan,
working very much the same UK-centric career path as David with a lag of a year
or two. Whitesnake’s “Trouble” was actually a reclined hard rocker, in the
pocket, a bit funky but not particularly bluesy.
Weirdly, the two bands never crossed
paths. “No, not really,” recalls Moody. “I don’t even know Ian Gillan. I only
met him once. So we never ran across each other, and we never played any gigs
or festivals together, so that didn’t even come into the equation, for me.
Maybe for David it did — of course obviously, he was following on from Ian. But
for me, you know, I didn’t even give it a thought, to be quite honest.”
Following “Trouble” is “Belgian Tom’s Hat
Trick,” another funky shuffle, but an instrumental. It is of note that
Coverdale, who fancies himself as a bit of a guitarist, says he had taken a
shot at a solo for it, but cooler heads prevailed and his take was wiped.
Marsden is full-on sceptical of the story but nonetheless affirms, “He’s quite
a good guitar player, David Coverdale, but he never did add any guitar, I mean,
not even rhythm guitar. No, he was quite happy to
in it.” Most definitely, armed with this track, Whitesnake is indeed exploding
out of the gates. Next, the band take it way down for a light-hearted lope of funk
called “Love To Keep You Warm,” which is followed up by “Lie Down (A Modern
Love Song)” which could be described as a typical Whitesnake rocker from the
early 1980s but with more pure pop than the band would dare utilize, at least
through the course of the next two albums.
Next the band apply their
slow-burn funk rock ethic to a cover of The Beatles’ “Day Tripper,” chopping it
up with pregnant pauses and then further overhauling the song (sacrilegiously)
during the chorus. There’s copious talk box too, just in case we didn’t think the
band had a sense of humour!
“I thought it would be good to do a funky
version of it,” recalls Marsden. “And then David Dowle, the original drummer,
he was a really good funk drummer in that vein — he’d been with Brian Auger’s
band — and we were in rehearsal one afternoon, and I just said to him, ‘Let’s
try this.’ And it was a jam in the rehearsal room, to be honest with you. And then
we kind of crafted it down a little when we got into the studio. The studio, by
the way, was about eight feet square. Yeah, by the time they put Jon Lord’s
equipment in there, we could hardly move [ laughs ]. But ‘Day Tripper’ was
a big success; it got a lot of people talking about it. The first Whitesnake
hit ever was a Beatles song, and we played it live sometimes; it was quite fun.”
“Nighthawk (Vampire Blues)” gets its
title from Coverdale’s beloved mum’s name for David, who’s not afraid to bring
up the good woman from time to time in interviews. Notes Marsden, “I just had the
idea for that, and then David came up with that kind of dark lyric, which
turned it into a vampire song. But I just had the music ready for that one,
ready to go, and he came up with all the words on that one, which was
brilliant.” This one’s a maelstrom of blues fusion mixed with hard rock, on
which Marsden and Moody get their work out. “Nighthawk” is scattered
Whitesnake, but Whitesnake nonetheless.
“The Time Is Right For Love” plays to a
brisk shuffle more the signature of Uriah Heep, although Coverdale’s got his
own version of “Easy Livin’” [from Heep’s Demons & Wizards album] and
it’s called “Breakdown.” Jazzy chord changes belie the bench depth of David’s
band of brothers, as does the percolating bass line, while the
Lizzy-esque opening sequence speaks to the twin guitar comfort of Moody with
Marsden.
Next up, is Trouble ’s title track,
which in a normal world, might have been the Lieber/Stoller classic. But that
was left to Coverdale doppelganger Ian Gillan to cover, with his band Gillan,
working very much the same UK-centric career path as David with a lag of a year
or two. Whitesnake’s “Trouble” was actually a reclined hard rocker, in the
pocket, a bit funky but not particularly bluesy.
Weirdly, the two bands never crossed
paths. “No, not really,” recalls Moody. “I don’t even know Ian Gillan. I only
met him once. So we never ran across each other, and we never played any gigs
or festivals together, so that didn’t even come into the equation, for me.
Maybe for David it did — of course obviously, he was following on from Ian. But
for me, you know, I didn’t even give it a thought, to be quite honest.”
Following “Trouble” is “Belgian Tom’s Hat
Trick,” another funky shuffle, but an instrumental. It is of note that
Coverdale, who fancies himself as a bit of a guitarist, says he had taken a
shot at a solo for it, but cooler heads prevailed and his take was wiped.
Marsden is full-on sceptical of the story but nonetheless affirms, “He’s quite
a good guitar player, David Coverdale, but he never did add any guitar, I mean,
not even rhythm guitar. No, he was quite happy to
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