{"id":751,"date":"2016-10-05T19:14:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-05T19:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=751"},"modified":"2016-10-13T14:19:56","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T14:19:56","slug":"ftv-whitesnake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=751","title":{"rendered":"FTV: Whitesnake"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If there is a lead singer in rock whose career arc is eerily similar to the pro football career of Brett Favre, it would have to be David Coverdale. \u00a0English by birth he now holds dual US\/English citizenship and resides in Reno, Nevada. \u00a0\u00a0Coverdale is remarkably well preserved for a 64 year old rock star. \u00a0Like Favre\u2019s long NFL career, he toiled in the rock and roll trenches much longer than your average lead singer. \u00a0He has retired from the music business multiple times, also like the ultra durable QB. \u00a0\u00a0Unlike Favre, he is still at it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Coverdale\u2019s was no overnight success story. \u00a0His interest in music started when he was 14 years old and he cut his teeth over the years with bands no one on this side of the pond ever heard of: \u00a0<\/span>Vintage 67 (1966\u201368), The Government (1968\u201372) and The Fabulosa Brothers (1972\u201373)<\/span>. \u00a0His fortunes took an upswing in 1973 when he answered an ad in <\/span>Melody Maker<\/span><\/i> magazine about the open lead singer position in Deep Purple. \u00a0Discord in Deep Purple had sent their bass player Roger Glover and lead singer Ian Gillan down the road. \u00a0Purple took a chance with the unknown singer and Coverdale began a long relationship with at least parts of that band. \u00a0His latest album (released in April of 2015 – <\/span>The Purple Album<\/span><\/i>) \u00a0features the music of Deep Purple and was \u00a0more or less intended as a tribute to their late, great keyboard player Jon Lord. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Upon joining Deep Purple, Coverdale found himself recording a new album with them (<\/span>Burn<\/span><\/i>) which was released in February of 1974. \u00a0That album was certified as a Gold Record in March. \u00a0In April of 1974, \u00a0Coverdale embarked on his first trip to America to perform for a crowd of over 200,000 at California Jam in. \u00a0When their second LP together was released in December of 1974 (<\/span>Stormbringer)<\/span><\/i>, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore did not like the band\u2019s slide toward funk and soul, prompting yet another founding member to quit the band. \u00a0The rest of the band was ready to call it a day but Coverdale begged them to continue. \u00a0He convinced them to bring in American guitarist Tommy Bolin (who previously played with Billy Cobham and The James Gang where he had replaced Joe Walsh). \u00a0Lackluster sales of the one album they cut with Bolin (<\/span>Come Taste The Band<\/span><\/i>) lead Coverdale to tearfully tender his resignation at the end of their 1976 tour. \u00a0Unknown to him, the two remaining original \u00a0members of Deep Purple (drummer Ian Paice and Lord) had already made the decision to disband and informed him there was no band for him to quit!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The next seven years found Coverdale forging a solo career, beginning with <\/span>White Snake<\/span><\/i> (1977), \u00a0an album written and recorded with guitarist Mick Moody. \u00a0After adopting Whitesnake as the band\u2019s name, he toured relentlessly behind seven more albums. \u00a0Whitesnake\u2019s live shows began to attract more and more attention to the band . \u00a0Coverdale also ran through a pile of great guitar players. \u00a0Besides Moody, the list would include Bernie Marsden, John Sykes, Adrian Vandenberg, Steve Vai, \u00a0and bassist Rudy Sarzo, \u00a0Coverdale was making a living but was certainly not a household name. \u00a0Even having his old Deep Purple mate Jon Lord join the band didn\u2019t elevate Whitesnake to the highest plateau of rock stardom. \u00a0Coverdale had to put the band on hiatus to a while to deal with his daughter\u2019s illness. \u00a0He was also considered as Ronnie James Dio\u2019s replacement in Black Sabbath, but in the end he chose to stand pat. \u00a0Instead folding Whitesnake completely and moving on, \u00a0Coverdale persevered by producing the eponymous <\/span>Whitesnake<\/span><\/i> album that finally propelled them to worldwide recognition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Most of <\/span>Whitesnake<\/span><\/i> had been written with guitarist John Sykes before there was a less than amicable parting of the ways. \u00a0Working with Vandenberg to finish <\/span>Whitesnake<\/span><\/i>, Coverdale released the album which, to this date, \u00a0has sold 8 times Platinum Record status. \u00a0Featuring the hits <\/span>Here I Go Again, Still of the Night, <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Is This Love, \u00a0<\/span><\/i>the album\u2019s steamy videos featuring Coverdale\u2019s second wife Tawny Kitaen in heavy rotation on MTV certainly didn\u2019t hurt the sales of <\/span>Whitesnake <\/span><\/i>and its\u2019 1989 follow-up <\/span>Slip of the Tongue.<\/span><\/i> \u00a0At the end of the <\/span>Slip of the Tongue<\/span><\/i> tour (March of 1990), Coverdale disbanded Whitesnake again. \u00a0\u00a0Coverdale admitted that he got caught up in the whole rock star thing and, <\/span>“It got louder and louder, and so did I, to the point now where I have to get dressed up like a “girly man” and tease ones questionable bangs or hair and it’s all becoming a bit… boring\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After twenty years in the business, no one would have blinked if Coverdale had simply retired. \u00a0Instead, he and Jimmy Page began working on a collaboration in 1991 what was released as <\/span>Coverdale-Page<\/span><\/i>. \u00a0The album was certified as a Gold Record in 1995. \u00a0After a limited tour for the album, they went their separate ways – some say Coverdale was just Page\u2019s Robert Plant clone and some say it renewed Page\u2019s desire to work with Plant. \u00a0Regardless, Coverdale reformed Whitesnake in 1994 to promote <\/span>Whitesnake\u2019s Greatest Hits<\/span><\/i> before folding the band yet again.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Like Michael Myers from the <\/span>Halloween<\/span><\/i> movie series, Whitesnake rose again and played their farewell tour in 1997-98. \u00a0After a brief break, Coverdale released his first solo album in 22 years (<\/span>Into the Light – <\/span><\/i>2000) and although it wasn\u2019t a big record, it did get him back in the music game after his latest retirement from the business.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Since 2002, Coverdale and Whitesnake have continued their roller coaster ride. \u00a0The band recorded a live concert DVD, a double live album, and an album of new material while continuing to tour. \u00a0Guitarists Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach have hung around longer than most Whitesnake axemen even though the drum, bass and keyboard players keep are in flux. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Brett Favre\u2019s retirement-go-round ended on a frozen field in Minnesota when the durable QB suffered an injury that sent him to his final retirement. \u00a0Coverdale faced a serious injury that by rights should have put also him on the permanently retired list. \u00a0During a double bill with Judas Priest at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, CO, Coverdale suffered a serious voice injury (a severe vocal fold edema and a left vocal fold vascular lesion) which shelved him for the last half of 2009. \u00a0Early in 2010, he announced his voice was healed and headed out on the road once again.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Since returning to action in 2010, Whitesnake has dropped another album of new material (<\/span>Forevermore –<\/span><\/i> 2011) and the previously mentioned <\/span>The Purple Album. \u00a0<\/span><\/i>Maybe, just maybe, Coverdale could get a hold of Brett Favre and get some retirement pointers. \u00a0Until then, I guess he will just keep rocking, retiring, and rocking again. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Top Piece Video – Classic Whitesnake with the afore mentioned Mrs. Coverdale doing her thing:<\/p>\n