''Live...in the Heart of the City'' is a 1980

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own entit ...

. Originally released as a double-vinyl album, and double-play cassette, it utilises recordings made in 1978 and 1980. The album charted at number 5 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

, and number 146 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Release

Sides 1 and 2 of the vinyl are recordings made with the

Rolling Stones Mobile Studio The Rolling Stones Mobile Studio (also known as the RSM) is a mobile recording studio inside a DAF F1600 Turbo truck, once owned by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Numerous bands and artists have recorded music using the RSM, including ...

at the

Hammersmith Odeon The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ha ...

, during the band's 1980 World Tour. Sides 3 and 4 are from a 1978 recording, previously released in Japan in March 1980 as ''Live at Hammersmith''. In North America, the album was released as a single record, excluding the live material from 1978. The first UK CD version (EMI CZD 94) was a double set, issued in 1988, in what is now known as a 'fat-boy' double-CD case. Sides 1 and 2 of the 2-LP set were CD1; sides 3 and 4 were CD2. The later 1994 release was a single CD version, the 1978 recording of "Come On" being dropped to match the restrictive running time of the single CD. ''Live...in the Heart of the City'' has since been remastered and was released in March 2007 as a 2-CD set (in a slimline double-CD case), once again featuring all the tracks of the original album, plus a 1980 recording of "

Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" is a 1974 R&B song written by Michael Price and Dan Walsh, and first recorded by Bobby "Blue" Bland for the ABC Dunhill album '' Dreamer''. Background While it is ostensibly a love song, some critics and ...

". The 1978 performance of ''Might Just Take Your Life'', originally recorded by singer

David Coverdale David Coverdale (born 22 September 1951) is an English singer who is best known as the lead vocalist of Whitesnake, a hard rock band he founded in 1978. Before Whitesnake, Coverdale was the lead singer of Deep Purple from 1973 to 1976, after wh ...

and keyboardist

Jon Lord John Douglas Lord (9 June 194116 July 2012) was an English orchestral and rock composer, pianist, and Hammond organ player known for his pioneering work in fusing rock with classical or baroque forms, especially with the British rock band Deep ...

as members of

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

in 1974, featured guitarist

Bernie Marsden Bernard John Marsden (born 7 May 1951) is an English rock and blues guitarist. He is primarily known for his work with Whitesnake, having written or co-written with David Coverdale many of the group's hit songs, such as "Fool for Your Loving", ...

singing the middle eight part as originally sung by Glenn Hughes on the Deep Purple recording. The sleeve art is by British artist Jeff Cummins. "We were sent on some silly promotional stunt for the album that involved a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

elephant," recalled

. "Yes, an elephant, not a snake. Lord knows why."

Track listing

Live in the Heart of the City (23/24 June 1980)

Live at Hammersmith (23 November 1978)

Single CD version

Double CD version

Personnel

Whitesnake

– vocals *

Micky Moody Michael Joseph "Micky" Moody (born 30 August 1950) is an English guitarist, and a former member of the rock bands Juicy Lucy and Whitesnake. He was also a founder-member of Snafu. Together with his former Whitesnake colleague Bernie Marsden h ...

– guitar, backing vocals *

– guitar, backing vocals, additional lead vocal on Might Just Take Your Life * Neil Murray – bass guitar *

Ian Paice Ian Anderson Paice (born 29 June 1948) is an English musician, best known as the drummer and last remaining original member of the rock band Deep Purple. He is often cited as one of the greatest drummers of all-time. He remains the only member ...

– drums on disc 1 recordings from 1980 *

Dave Dowle David 'Duck' Dowle (born 20 October 1953 in London, England) is an English drummer who has played with the bands Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, Streetwalkers, Whitesnake, Runner, Midnight Flyer, Bernie Marsden. Biography Dave Dowle started ...

– drums on disc 2 recordings from 1978 (not credited in the original printing) *

– keyboards

Production

Martin Birch Martin Birch (27 December 19489 August 2020) was a British music producer and sound engineer. He became renowned for engineering and producing albums recorded predominantly by British rock bands, including Deep Purple, Rainbow, Fleetwood Mac, W ...

– producer, engineer

Charts

Album

Singles

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Whitesnake live albums Albums produced by Martin Birch 1980 live albums Liberty Records live albums Polydor Records live albums United Artists Records live albums Albums recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo Live hard rock albums Live blues rock albums Mirage Records albums Atlantic Records live albums