Is David Coverdale old?
David Coverdale is best known for his work with Whitesnake, a hard rock band he founded in 1978.Before Whitesnake, Coverdale was the lead singer of Deep Purple.A collaboration with Jimmy Page resulted in a Platinum album.In 2016 Coverdale gave a speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Deep Purple.Coverdale has a powerful blues-tinged voice.[4]
Thomas Joseph Coverdale was born in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, on September 22, 1951.He began developing his voice at the age of 14.He told Sounds in 1974 that he didn't think his voice had broken.I first learned how to sing with my stomach, which sounds silly, but it's completely different from a normal voice.Local bands Vintage 67, The Government, and Fabulosa Brothers performed with Coverdale.
In 1973, Coverdale saw an article about Deep Purple auditioning for singers to replace Ian Gillan.After auditioning and sending a tape, Coverdale was admitted into the band, with Glenn Hughes adding his own.
Burn, Deep Purple's first album with Coverdale and Hughes, was certified Gold in the US and the UK on 20 March 1974 and 1 July 1974 respectively.In 1974 Coverdale and Deep Purple performed to over 200,000 fans at the California Jam.
Burn and Stormbringer both ranked at Gold album status in the US and the UK in December 1974.One of the reasons why Ritchie Blackmore left the band was due to the fact that the previous record's influences were even more prominent here.[6]
Coverdale was instrumental in persuading the band to continue with Tommy Bolin.Jon Lord said that David Coverdale came up to him and begged him to keep the band together.Tommy did an album with Billy Cobham.Tommy was invited to try out after we liked his playing on it.In 1975, the band released a studio album with Bolin.At the end of the tour, Coverdale handed in his resignation and was told there was no band left to quit.The last remaining original members of Deep Purple, Lord and Ian Paice, made the decision to end the band some time before the last show.In July 1976, the break-up was made public.In an interview, Coverdale said that he was frightened to leave the band.All the same, Purple gave me my break, but I wanted out.[8]
After the demise of Deep Purple, Coverdale embarked on a solo career.White Snake was his first album.The songs were written by Coverdale and Micky Moody.It's difficult to think back and talk about the first album.White Snake was written and recorded in the aftermath of Deep Purple's collapse.The name of Coverdale's future band was inspired by the title of the album.
The second solo album by Coverdale, Northwinds, was received better than the previous album.He formed a new band before the album's release.
The band Whitesnake was formed after Coverdale recorded Northwinds.This was originally a touring band for Coverdale's first solo album, but soon became a full-time band.In June 1978 the band released a full album called Snakebite, with the B-side taken from Coverdale's Northwinds album.Jon Lord is a former Deep Purple colleague of Coverdale's.Ian Paice was a member of Whitesnake's 1980 album Ready an' Willing.The band's biggest hit was "Fool for Your Loving", which was featured in Ready an' Willing.13 is on the British charts.There is a song on the US Hot 100.Ready an' Willing was followed by Come a' Get It in 1981.After looking after his sick daughter, Coverdale decided to put Whitesnake on hold.The band was reformed by David Coverdale after he returned to music.
According to British heavy metal magazine Kerrang!, Coverdale was considered for the vocalist position with Black Sabbath in 1982, but he declined.
Whitesnake was popular in the UK, Europe, and Asia.The album didn't hit the US charts enough to be considered a hit.In time for the US release of Slide It In, Coverdale made a calculated attempt at updating Whitesnake's sound and look by recruiting guitarist John Sykes from the remnants of Thin Lizzy.There was a more contemporary, aggressive guitar sound with him and he had stage manners to match.When Jon Lord left to re-form Deep Purple, the last remaining connections were severed.Ian Paice left Whitesnake in 1982.
The next album was supposed to be written by Sykes and Coverdale in 1985 but they were forced to abandon the project due toCoverdale's illness and doctors thought he might never sing again.Recording continued after Coverdale recovered.Before the album was recorded and released, Coverdale had dismissed Sykes from the band.According to reports, the split with Sykes was not easy.
Whitesnake's next album was a make-or-break album for the band, and if not successful, it would be the end of the group.The multi-Platinum self-titled Whitesnake album, co-written for the most part with now-departed Sykes, but including guitar virtuoso Adrian Vandenberg as a session musician, was released in 1987.
"Here I Go Again" and "Is This Love" have propelled the 1987 album to 8 times Platinum and made Whitesnake a headliners in North America.Despite changing line-ups, Coverdale kept Whitesnake going strong through the late 80s and early 90s.
Slip of the Tongue was recorded in 1989 by Coverdale.A wrist injury prevented him from contributing to the solo guitar work on the album.Steve Vai finished the album and re- recorded most of the parts.It was a great success in Europe and the US.
The album was number 10 in the US and has achieved Platinum status.Despite high sales, Slip of the Tongue was a disappointment according to Allmusic critics Steve Erlwine and Greg Prato.Whitesnake's reputation as a giant in the world of hard rock was solidified by the following tour.The tour ended at the end of 1990.
Coverdale admitted that he got "caught up in it" when he became uncomfortable with the entity he felt Whitesnake had become.In one interview, Coverdale stated.
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 one's questionable bangs or hair.It was boring.[13]
The song "The Last Note of Freedom" was written and sung by Coverdale for Tony Scott's film days of thunder.
Whitesnake was dissolved after the last show on the Slip of the Tongue tour in Tokyo.Tired of touring and troubled by his separation and divorce from Tawny Kitaen, Coverdale took private time to reflect and re-assess his career direction.
In the spring of 1991, a collaboration was set up with Jimmy Page.Both parties said that the collaboration rejuvenated them.The Coverdale-Page album was released in 1993.The album was certified Platinum in the US on April 7, 1995 but the tour had to be canceled due to slow ticket sales.After a tour of Japan, Coverdale and Page parted ways.There was a problem with the comparison to Robert Plant who fronted Led Zeppelin with Jimmy Page.Plant referred to the team-up as 'David Cover-version', and some of their audience felt he was merely a Plant clone.The short-lived collaboration only served to inspire Page to hook up with Plant a year later.[15]
A new line-up of Whitesnake was formed in 1994 to tour for the release of the band's greatest hits album.After the tour, the band broke up again.For three years, Coverdale retreated from the music business.In 1997 Coverdale released a new album.The record company forced it to be released under the name "David Coverdale & Whitesnake", even though the album was supposed to have been a solo one.The tour was billed as Whitesnake's farewell tour, during which Coverdale and Vandenberg played two unplugged shows, one in Japan and the other for VH1.The title of the first show was Starkers in Tokyo.After the tour ended, Coverdale folded Whitesnake and took a break from music.
In 2000 Coverdale released his first solo album in 22 years.The album did return Coverdale to the music business even though it wasn't a hit.
In December 2002 Coverdale reformed Whitesnake for an American and European tour, with Tommy Aldridge on drums, Marco Mendoza on bass, Doug Aldrich on guitar, Reb Beach on vocals, and Timothy Drury on keyboards.Whitesnake embarked on a tour of the United States, South America and Europe in 2004.In February 2006 a live DVD was released.In June of 2006 Coverdale signed a new record deal.The double live album Live: In the Shadow of the Blues was the first release under the new contract and contained 4 brand new studio tracks written by Coverdale and Aldrich.
Good to Be Bad was the band's first new studio album in over a decade.The album was extensively toured by the band.Whitesnake embarked on a European Tour in 2008 as part of a double bill with Def Leppard.
Whitesnake and Judas Priest toured together in 2009.Whitesnake were playing a show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado when Coverdale suffered a vocal injury.On August 12th, 2009, it was announced that Coverdale had been suffering from vocal fold edema and a left voice fold arteriosclerosis.The Judas Priest tour was canceled so that the injury wouldn't get worse.[19]