David Coverdale
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| David Coverdale | |
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| Born | September 22, 1951 Saltburn-by-the-Sea, England |
| Genre(s) | Hard Rock |
| Affiliation(s) | Whitesnake Deep Purple Coverdale-Page |
| Years active | 1973 - present |
| Official site | Official Whitesnake Website |
David Coverdale (born September 22, 1951 in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, England) is a rock vocalist most famous for his work with the English hard rock band Deep Purple, and his later band Whitesnake.
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[edit] Career
Coverdale was largely unknown until he replaced Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan in September 1973. He was working in a clothes shop in Redcar, Yorkshire when he sent in an old Boy Scout picture of his along with a demo tape to Deep Purple. Impressed by his deep blues timbre, Coverdale was recruited to the band, sharing vocal duties with bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes. His three year tenure ended in March 1976 when the band finally split up. Moving to Germany, he laid down a vocal track on a multi-artist project organised by Eddie Hardin, released by RCA Records as Wizard's Convention.
Unable to perform in England for contractual reasons, Coverdale then recorded vocals for both his solo albums in Germany while the backing tracks were laid down in London. The backing musicians who played on these albums were retained for touring purposes, and effectively became the original line-up of Whitesnake, Coverdale's personal group.
According to British heavy metal magazine Kerrang!, in 1982, with Whitesnake's lineup and career in flux, Coverdale was considered for the vocalist position with Black Sabbath following the departure of Ronnie James Dio. Coverdale declined, and Sabbath hired Coverdale's predecessor in Deep Purple, Ian Gillan. Powell joined Coverdale for Whitesnake's 1984 album Slide It In and tour. There are two versions of this album: the European one having Colin Hodgkinson on bass with long-time Whitesnake member Micky Moody and relative newcomer Mel Galley (joined 1982) on guitar, and the U.S. version having Neil Murray on bass and John Sykes, formerly of NWOBHM band Tygers Of Pan Tang and Thin Lizzy's guitarist added his parts to Moody and Galley's original ones.
Whitesnake recorded a series of blues influenced hard rock records in the late seventies and early eighties, gaining popularity in the UK and Europe. North American success remained elusive though, until the multi-platinum 1987 self-titled Whitesnake, co-written to the most part with John Sykes, hit the racks. Before "1987" (the name as it has become popularly known as) hit the shelves, Sykes and the rest of the recording band had parted company with Whitesnake. With "1987" North America was finally won, the album has sold 8 times platinum since its release. Through the late 80's and early 90's, caught in the "hair-band" craze era, Coverdale kept Whitesnake going with great success and with changing line-ups until the end of 1991. It is no secret that Coverdale wanted out of the business at that point, he'd grown uncomfortable with the corporate, image driven entity he felt that Whitesnake had become. In a candid period interview Coverdale sums it up in one sentence:
"It got louder and louder, and so did I, to the point now where I have to get dressed up as a "girly man" and tease ones questionable bants (pants) or hair and it's all getting a bit ... boring."
Coverdale felt that he'd lost the passion for music, it had all become business. Coverdale took a time-out after the Whitesnake tour of 1991 ended. In early 1992 however Coverdale was offered and accepted to work with former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page on what was to become the Coverdale-Page project. David Coverdale was revitalized by this work and the debut album, Coverdale-Page, was released in the spring of 1993. In 1994 Whitesnake was put on the road again in support of a Greatest Hits compilation, citing weak sales figures for the same compilation Geffen Records elected not to renew Whitesnake's recording contract and Whitesnake was again put on ice.
Inevitably, you might say, another Whitesnake re-formation was around the corner; though it was not intended as such to begin with. Coverdale's intention was to do a solo album under his own name but the record company executives wanted a Whitesnake album, so Whitesnake it was yet again. Whitesnake's 1997 "comeback" album Restless Heart represented somewhat of a return to Coverdale's R&B heritage. As he told the press on its release, he had tired of the more cartoonish elements of Whitesnake's image:
"I've had enough of the Tarzan impressions. I wanna sing. Less strain on the old Calvins."
This direction, but to a greater extent, was also pursued on Coverdale's third solo album, Into the Light; although there was also the occasional lapse into hard rock bluster mode. Now settled in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, Coverdale looks set to remain a fixture in rock's middle-aged hierarchy.
In December 2002, Coverdale re-reformed Whitesnake again for an American and European tour, with Tommy Aldridge on drums, Marco Mendoza (bass), Doug Aldrich (guitar), Reb Beach (guitar) and Timothy Drury (keyboards). In 2004-2005 saw Whitesnake embark on a tour of the U.S., South America and Europe. A live DVD, shot during the 2005 tour at the legendary Carling Apollo (better known as the Hammersmith Odeon) in London, was released in February 2006. In June 2006 David Coverdale signed a new record deal with Steamhammer/SPV. The first release under the new contract was the double live album Live: In The Shadow Of The Blues (released Nov. 27th 2006), the album also contained 4 brand new studio tracks signed Coverdale/Aldrich.
[edit] Personal life
David Coverdale was first married in 1974 to Julia, and their daughter Jessica was born in 1978. Coverdale's second marriage was to actress Tawny Kitaen, from February 17, 1989 until their divorce in April 1991. Kitaen was known for her "provocative" appearances in Whitesnake's music videos for "Here I Go Again" and "Is This Love." Currently he is married to Cindy Coverdale (they married in 1997), a renowned author of books (most recently The Food That Rocks) and have a son, Jasper (b. 1996). Coverdale is also a proud grandfather to daughter Jessica's two children. On March 1st 2007 David Coverdale became a U.S. citizen, in a ceremony in Reno. Report on David Coverdale becoming a US Citizen
[edit] Guitarists
Over his 30 year career, Coverdale has worked with many of rock music's most accomplished guitar players. The list of collaborators reads like a "who's who" of guitar giants.
- Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow, Blackmore's Night)
- Tommy Bolin (The James Gang, Deep Purple)
- Micky Moody (Juicy Lucy, Whitesnake, Company of Snakes, M3)
- Bernie Marsden (UFO, Whitesnake, Bernie Marsden SOS, Company of Snakes, M3)
- John Sykes (Tygers Of Pan Tang, Badlands (UK), Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Blue Murder, Sykes)
- Steve Vai (Frank Zappa, Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, Whitesnake)
- Adrian Vandenberg (Vandenberg, Whitesnake, Manic Eden)
- Vivian Campbell (Sweet Savage, Dio, Whitesnake, Riverdogs, Shadow King, Def Leppard)
- Doug Aldrich (Lion, Hurricane, Bad Moon Rising, Burning Rain, Dio, Whitesnake)
- Reb Beach (Winger, Dokken, Alice Cooper, The Mob)
- Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin, The Firm, Coverdale/Page, The Yardbirds)
- Earl Slick (David Bowie, John Lennon, Phantom Rocker & Slick)
- Warren DeMartini (Ratt)
[edit] Discography
[edit] With Deep Purple
- Burn (1974)
- Live in London (1974)
- Stormbringer (1974)
- Made in Europe (1975)
- Come Taste the Band (1975)
[edit] Post-1976 Albums with Deep Purple
- Last Concert in Japan (1976)
- Singles A's & B's (1993)
- On the Wings of a Russian Foxbat: Live in California 1976 (1995)
- California Jamming: Live 1974 (1996)
- Mk. III: The Final Concerts (1996)
- Days May Come and Days May Go, The California Rehearsals, June 1975 (2000)
- 1420 Beachwood Drive, The California Rehearsals, Part 2 (2000)
- This Time Around: Live in Tokyo (2001)
- Listen Learn Read On (2002)
- Just Might Take Your Life (2003)
- Perks and Tit (2004)
- Live in Paris 1975 (2004)
- Burn 30th Anniversary Edition (2004)
- Live in California 74 (DVD) (2005)
- Stormbringer (remastered) (2007)
[edit] Solo
- White Snake (1977)
- Northwinds (1978)
- Into the Light (2000)
[edit] With Whitesnake
- Snakebite (1978)
- Trouble (1978)
- Lovehunter (1979)
- Live at Hammersmith (1980)
- Ready an' Willing (1980)
- Live...In the Heart of the City (1980)
- Come an' Get It (1981)
- Saints & Sinners (1982)
- Slide It In (1984)
- Whitesnake (1987)
- Slip of the Tongue (1989)
- Restless Heart (1997)
- Starkers in Tokyo (1997)
- LIVE In the Still of the Night (DVD+CD Recorded on the 2004 UK Tour) (2006)
- Live: In The Shadow Of The Blues (2 CD set Recorded during the 2005-2006 world tours) (2006)
[edit] Others
- Various artists - Days of Thunder soundtrack (song "The Last Note Of Freedom") (1990)
- Coverdale/Page - Coverdale-Page (1993)
- Butterfly Ball - Behind The Smile (voice)
- Steve Vai - song "For The Love Of God" (voice at the end)
[edit] See also
| Whitesnake |
| Members |
|---|
| David Coverdale - Doug Aldrich - Reb Beach - Uriah Duffy - Tommy Aldridge - Timothy Drury |
| Former members: Jon Lord - Dave Dowle - Ian Paice - Cozy Powell - Denny Carmassi - Aynsley Dunbar - Neil Murray - Rudy Sarzo |
| Bernie Marsden - Mel Galley - Micky Moody - John Sykes - Adrian Vandenberg - Vivian Campbell - Steve Vai - Warren DeMartini - Marco Mendoza |
| Discography |
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Studio albums: Snakebite - Trouble - Lovehunter - Ready an' Willing - Come an' Get It - Saints & Sinners - Slide It In - Whitesnake - Slip of the Tongue - Restless Heart - |
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Live albums: Live at Hammersmith - Live...In the Heart of the City - Starkers in Tokyo - Live: In The Shadow Of The Blues |
Categories: Articles lacking sources from December 2006 | All articles lacking sources | NPOV disputes | English male singers | American male singers | English heavy metal singers | Deep Purple members | 1951 births | Living people | Whitesnake members | Naturalized citizens of the United States | English Americans | People from Saltburn-by-the-Sea
