Friday, March 13, 2015

Martin POPOFF: "Sail Away - Whitesnake’s Fantastic Voyage"



Review by The Bailey Brothers

It’s a good read and follows Coverdale from his days fronting Deep Purple right through to the modern day 2014. It was Geffen Records AOR genius John Kalodner that masterminded the epic Whitesnake 87 album and was very instrumental in pulling off one of the best selling rock albums at the time. Finally John Sykes gets the recognition he deserves with Kalodner very much an admirer at the time: “Nobody is as good looking as John Sykes except maybe Jon Bon Jovi and the guy was a big manly guy, not some kind of pussy looking guy”.

It may have become the clash of the ego titans but nobody can deny the fact that Coverdale and Sykes wrote some major rock songs together but like many snake fans the Bailey’s were disappointed Sykes didn’t make the videos or the live line up. We asked Coverdale back in the day why? ” Well I don’t know what he’s bleating on about. I made him a millionaire I don’t know why he just doesn’t get on with Blue Carmine or whatever it’s called”. He was talking about  Blue Murder, the band Sykes assembled after Whitesnake with Tony Franklin on bass, Carmine Appice on drums and Sykes on guitar and lead vocals. 

In the end Coverdale dumped Sykes and brought in a new line up supposedly handpicked by Kalodner and the new look Whitesnake were a completely different look and style from the earlier blues rock trio of Marsden/Murray and Moody. Make no mistake though these guys laid the foundation for Coverdale to establish a major foot hold in Europe but the 87 album made Whitesnake global. It’s all in this book and a fitting account and portrayal of a major British vocalist/songwriter and performer, David Coverdale who has always employed some of the finest musicians to his band Whitesnake and for me doesn’t get the credit he deserves for all those decades of great songs and great live shows. Whitesnake fans should enjoy this book from cover to cover. It’s a journey many will remember with a sense of pride.

No comments:

Post a Comment