"Slow an' Easy" is a song by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

rock 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 en ...

from their 1984 album ''

Slide It In ''Slide It In'' is the sixth studio album by British rock band Whitesnake, released in 1984. It was the first Whitesnake album to be released by Geffen Records in the US, but was remixed for the release. Because of this, two different editions ...

''. The album provided the group with a commercial breakthrough in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and this specific song, which was released as a promo single, became a hit on rock radio. "Slow an' Easy" and "

Love Ain't No Stranger "Love Ain't No Stranger" is a power ballad by the English hard rock/ heavy metal group Whitesnake, and it is taken from the band's U.S.-breakthrough album ''Slide It In''. One of the group's best known songs, it's been included in multiple mul ...

" reached #17 and #34 on ''

Billboard's ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

'' Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, respectively.

Background

The song was co-written by singer David Coverdale and guitarist

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 ...

, who was the only original member, besides Coverdale, left in the band. Moody was possibly the one that influenced the bluesy style of "Slow An' Easy"; most of the material on ''Slide It In'' took influence from contemporary glam metal in terms of sound, in contrast to the earlier, blues rock based albums of the band. In 25th Anniversary Edition of ''Slide It In'', Coverdale comments on the songs recording by saying:

''"Slow & Easy was recorded at 4 in the morning in Munich after a serious night's partying...Most of the vocals is just a live 'jam' lyric I made up to inspire the band as we recorded...I played around with the lyric later to try and make some sense of it..."''

Although Moody did co-write and play the song, he soon left the band after the album's release. When guitarist

John Sykes John James Sykes (born 29 July 1959) is an English guitarist, best known as a member of Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and Tygers of Pan Tang. He has also fronted the hard rock group Blue Murder and released several solo albums. Following a stint in ...

joined the band, Moody's guitars were replaced by Sykes' (along with

Colin Hodgkinson Colin Hodgkinson (born 14 October 1945, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England) is a British rock, jazz and blues bassist, who has been active since the 1960s. Career Hodgkinson played in several bands, but was even more prolific as a sessi ...

's bass tracks being replaced by Neil Murray's, and

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 ...

's keyboards by Bill Cuomo). The song also features drumming by

Cozy Powell Cozy Powell (born Colin Trevor Flooks; 29 December 1947 – 5 April 1998) was an English rock drummer who made his name with major rock bands and artists such as The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Gary Moore, Robert Plant, B ...

. Most of the song features him kicking the bass drum, with some fills thrown in between the verses. A more basic drum beat is only prominent in the chorus and during the guitar solo. A music video was also made for the song, which also helped to expose American audiences to Whitesnake. The music video features the band performing the song on a stage, which is inter-cut with scenes of a car crash and a woman whose necklace is strangling her.

Track list

#Slow an' Easy (LP Version) - 6:08 #Slow an' Easy (Edit) - 4:12

Personnel

UK release

* David Coverdale – lead vocals *

– guitars *

Mel Galley Melville John Galley (8 March 1948 – 1 July 2008) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known for his work with Whitesnake, Trapeze, Finders Keepers and Phenomena. Galley was born in Cannock, Staffordshire, England. While a ...

– guitars, backing vocals *

– bass *

– drums *

– keyboards

US release

* David Coverdale – lead vocals *

– guitars * Mel Galley – guitars, backing vocals * Neil Murray – bass * Cozy Powell – drums * Jon Lord – keyboards

Charts

References

{{Authority control Whitesnake songs 1984 songs Song recordings produced by Martin Birch Songs written by Micky Moody Songs written by David Coverdale British blues rock songs Geffen Records singles