''Snakebite'' is the first official release by the British
hard 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 ...
. The original
EP initially featured only four tracks and was released in the UK in June 1978 and never published in the US. ''Snakebite'' was re-released in September 1978 as a Double Extended Play containing four extra studio tracks taken from
David Coverdale's second solo album ''
Northwinds
''Northwinds'' is the second solo album by former Deep Purple singer David Coverdale, released in March 1978.
Background
Originally entitled ''North Winds'', the album leans more towards blues-based rock. Coverdale also touched on the genr ...
''. The EP sleeve is entitled ''David Coverdale's Whitesnake'' and features photographs of the live band in concert. All tracks from the original EP also were used as bonus tracks on the 2006 remaster of Whitesnake's debut studio album ''
Trouble''.
Background and writing
Shortly after producing and then touring in support of ''
Northwinds
''Northwinds'' is the second solo album by former Deep Purple singer David Coverdale, released in March 1978.
Background
Originally entitled ''North Winds'', the album leans more towards blues-based rock. Coverdale also touched on the genr ...
'', Coverdale found that his new band was already producing and testing new material. Thus they returned to the studio to capture this newfound energy.
The resulting mini-album (''Snakebite'' EP) features the cover song "
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 ...
", originally performed by
Bobby Bland
Robert Calvin Bland (born Robert Calvin Brooks; January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013), known professionally as Bobby "Blue" Bland, was an American blues singer.
Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B. He was descr ...
. Although it is now considered a classic Whitesnake song, according to Coverdale it wasn't planned that way: "Originally I had no plans to actually record ‘Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City’… if you can you believe it… a song that connects so deeply with so many that I still play it today, 25 years later."
Some of the songs from this album would be captured later in 1978 and released on the 1980 ''
Live...In the Heart of the City'' live album.
Track listing
Side A
# "Bloody Mary" ''
(Coverdale)'' – 3:16
# "Steal Away" ''
(Coverdale, 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 ...
, Marsden, Neil Murray, Peter Solley, Dave Dowle)'' – 4:15
Side B
# "
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 ...
" ''
(Michael Price, Dan Walsh)'' – 5:05
# "Come On" ''
( David Coverdale, 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 Lovin ...
)'' – 3:25
David Coverdale's Whitesnake – Snakebite
# "Come On" ''
( David Coverdale, 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 Lovin ...
)'' – 3:31
# "Bloody Mary" ''
(Coverdale)'' – 3:18
# "
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 ...
" ''
(Michael Price, Dan Walsh)'' – 5:07
# "Steal Away" ''
(Coverdale, 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 ...
, Marsden, Neil Murray, Peter Solley, Dave Dowle)'' – 4:16
# "Keep On Giving Me Love" ''
(Coverdale, Moody)'' – 5:13
# "Queen of Hearts" ''
(Coverdale, Moody)'' – 5:15
# "Only My Soul" ''
(Coverdale)'' – 4:33
# "Breakdown" ''
(Coverdale, Moody)'' – 5:12
* Tracks 1-4 are from the original EP, recorded 7–13 April 1978 at Central Recorders, London.
* Tracks 5-8 are from the ''Northwinds'' album, recorded 10–19 April 1977 at
AIR Studios
Associated Independent Recording (AIR) is an independent recording company founded in London in 1965 by record producer Sir George Martin and his business partner John Burgess, after their departure from Parlophone. The studio complex was founded ...
, London.
Personnel
Tracks 1-4
*
David Coverdale –
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
*
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 ...
–
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
*
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 Lovin ...
–
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
*
Neil Murray –
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
*
Dave Dowle –
drums
*
Pete Solley
Peter Solley (born 19 October 1948, London) is an English musician and record producer. He has recorded with Eric Clapton, Al Stewart and Whitesnake as well as producing records for Ted Nugent, Oingo Boingo, Motörhead, The Romantics, Jo Jo Zep ...
-
keyboards
Tracks 5-8
*David Coverdale - 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 ...
- guitar
*
Tim Hinkley
Timothy Alan Hinkley (born 25 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter, keyboard player and record producer. Born in London, Hinkley started playing in youth club bands in the early 1960s, with bands including the Copains, Boys and the Freeman ...
– piano
*
Alan Spenner
Alan Henry Spenner (7 May 1948 – 11 August 1991) was an English bass player who performed with Wynder K. Frog, the Grease Band, Spooky Tooth, ABC, David Coverdale, David Soul, Joe Cocker, Kenny Loggins, Lynda Carter, Peter Frampton, Ted Nug ...
– bass
*
Tony Newman[CD Liner Notes] – drums
*
Lee Brilleaux – harmonica
*
Roger Glover
Roger David Glover (born 30 November 1945) is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the member of the hard rock bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. As a member of Deep Purple, Glover was inducted into the Rock and R ...
– clavinet, cowbell,
Arp 2600
The ARP 2600 is a semi-modular analog subtractive audio synthesizer produced by ARP Instruments, Inc.
History
Developed by a design team headed by ARP namesake Allen R. Pearlman and engineer Dennis Colin, the ARP 2600 was introduced in 1971 ...
* – violin
Charts
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snakebite (Album)
Whitesnake EPs
1978 debut EPs
United Artists Records albums
Albums produced by Martin Birch
Albums produced by Roger Glover
EMI Records EPs
Hard rock EPs
Blues rock EPs