Trouble (Whitesnake album)

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Trouble
Original UK sleeve
Studio album by
Whitesnake
ReleasedOctober 1978[1]
RecordedJuly–August 1978 [2]
StudioCentral Recorders (London)
Genre
Length38:20
LabelEMI International (UK)
Harvest/Sunburst (Europe)
United Artists/Sunburst (North America)
Polydor (Japan)
ProducerMartin Birch
Whitesnake chronology
Snakebite
(1978) 		Trouble
(1978) 		Lovehunter
(1979)
Alternative cover
LP and CD cover
Singles from Trouble
  1. "Lie Down (A Modern Love Song)"
    Released: 29 September 1978[3]
  2. "Day Tripper"
    Released: 1 December 1978 (Ger.)[4]
  3. "The Time Is Right for Love"
    Released: 2 March 1979[5]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[7]

Trouble is the debut studio album from British hard rock band Whitesnake, led by former Deep Purple vocalist David Coverdale released on October 1978. It reached No. 50 on the UK Albums Chart.[8] This followed the four-track Snakebite EP, later available in the US as an import album from continental Europe. The album later received a reissue by EMI/Parlophone in 2006, containing bonus tracks from their previous EP (not counting four David Coverdale's Northwinds tracks previously on the double EP version).[1][9]

Background[edit]

In March 1976, David Coverdale had left the English hard rock group Deep Purple and retreated to record two of his solo albums, White Snake and Northwinds. One of Coverdale's solo albums featured former Snafu guitarist Micky Moody, whom Coverdale had known since the late 1960s. Moody was the first to join Coverdale's backing band, which he began assembling in London.[10] As stated by Coverdale, "Whitesnake were actually formed to promote Northwinds on a one-off promotional tour". Moody suggested bringing in a second guitarist, with the spot ultimately going to Bernie Marsden, formerly of UFO and Paice Ashton Lord. With his help, the band recruited bassist Neil Murray, who had played with Marsden in Cozy Powell's Hammer. The group's initial line-up was rounded out by drummer Dave "Duck" Dowle and keyboardist Brian Johnson, who had played together in Streetwalkers. Other early candidates for the band were drummers Cozy Powell and Dave Holland, as well as guitarist Mel Galley, which Powell and Galley later joined in 1982.

The band, dubbed David Coverdale's Whitesnake, played their first show at Lincoln Technical College on 3 March 1978.[11][12] Their live debut had originally been scheduled for 23 February at the Sky Bird Club in Nottingham, but the show was cancelled.[12][13] Originally, the band’s name was titled “David Coverdale’s Whitesnake” due to Coverdale’s popularity over Deep Purple.[14][15][16] In a 2009 interview with Metro, Coverdale jokingly stated that the name "Whitesnake" was a euphemism for his penis, which came from the title of his first solo album.[17]

After completing a small UK club tour, the band adjourned to a rehearsal place in London's West End to begin writing new songs.[10] They soon caught the attention of EMI International's Robbie Dennis, who wanted to sign the group. According to Bernie Marsden, however, his higher-ups were not ready to commit to a full album. Thus, the band entered London's Central Recorders Studio in April 1978 to record an EP.[18] By this point, original keyboardist Brian Johnston had been replaced by Pete Solley.[15] Martin Birch, who had worked with Coverdale during his time in Deep Purple, was chosen to produce.[13]

The resulting record, Snakebite, was released in June 1978.[15] When Snakebite reached number 61 on the UK Singles Chart,[19] the band were duly signed to EMI proper.[20]

Production & composition[edit]

In July 1978, the band entered Central Recorders in London to begin work on their first proper studio album with Martin Birch producing. The recording and mixing only took ten days.[21] In the sessions, Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody provided guitar parts and solos separately while also performing the backing vocals. On the contrary, Marsden does the lead vocals, “Free Flight” for that instance, which shot him on his following 1979 solo album “And About Time Too”. Neil Murray, who was a member since the incarnation of the band performed bass tracks. Dave Dowle recorded the drumming parts on that record, featuring his first appearance on the latter before he was replaced by Ian Paice in 1980. Towards the end of the sessions, Pete Solley's keyboard parts were completely replaced by Coverdale's former Deep Purple bandmate Jon Lord, who agreed to join Whitesnake after much coaxing from Coverdale.[9][22][23] Colin Towns and Tony Ashton had also been approached, having previously played with fellow Deep Purple offshoots the Ian Gillan Band and Paice Ashton Lord, respectively.[21]

On the lyrics, the writing was mostly commenced by Coverdale, except "Day Tripper" (written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney) while Moody and Marsden contributed to some of the writing towards the tracks. All of the band's lineup wrote "Don't Mess With Me", which labeled the band as the credits themselves.

According to Coverdale, one of the reasons the album was called "Trouble", was that his first child was born during the album's recording.[24]

Track listing[edit]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Take Me with You"David Coverdale, Micky Moody4:45
2."Love to Keep You Warm"Coverdale3:44
3."Lie Down (A Modern Love Song)"Coverdale, Moody3:14
4."Day Tripper"John Lennon, Paul McCartney3:47
5."Nighthawk (Vampire Blues)"Coverdale, Bernie Marsden3:39
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."The Time Is Right for Love"Coverdale, Moody, Marsden3:26
7."Trouble"Coverdale, Marsden4:48
8."Belgian Tom's Hat Trick (Instrumental)"Moody3:26
9."Free Flight"Coverdale, Marsden4:06
10."Don't Mess with Me"Coverdale, Moody, Marsden, Neil Murray, Jon Lord, Dave Dowle3:25
2006 bonus tracks (Snakebite EP)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Come On"Coverdale, Marsden3:32
12."Bloody Mary"Coverdale, Moody, Marsden, Murray, Lord, Paice3:21
13."Steal Away"Coverdale, Moody, Marsden, Murray, Pete Solley, Dowle4:19
14."Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City"Michael Price, Dan Walsh5:06

Personnel[edit]

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[9][1]

Whitesnake
Technical
Design
  • Bill Burks – art direction, design
  • Bill Imhoff – illustration
Reissue

Charts[edit]

Chart (1978) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[25] 50
Chart (2006) Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[26] 215

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Trouble (booklet). Whitesnake. EMI, Sunburst, Parlophone. 2013. 50999993483728.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ^ Popoff, Martin (2016). The Deep Purple Family (2nd ed.). Wymer Publishing. p. 239. ISBN 978-1-908724-42-7.
  3. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 894. ISBN 9780862415419.
  4. ^ "Whitesnake singles".
  5. ^ "Whitesnake singles".
  6. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Whitesnake - Trouble review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  7. ^ Popoff, Martin (October 2003). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 312. ISBN 978-1894959025.
  8. ^ "Whitesnake The Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
  9. ^ a b c Trouble (booklet). Whitesnake. EMI, Sunburst. 1978. INS 3022.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ a b "Early Years Part 1". Whitesnake Official Site. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  11. ^ "40 Years Ago Today – Whitesnake's First Show". Whitesnake Official Site. 3 March 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  12. ^ a b "When Whitesnake Played Their First Concert". Ultimate Classic Rock. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  13. ^ a b Popoff 2016, p. 29.
  14. ^ Popoff 2016, p. 14.
  15. ^ a b c Barton, Geoff (2006). Trouble (booklet). Whitesnake. EMI. pp. 2–11. 0946 3 59688 2 8.
  16. ^ Oliver, Derek (March 2011). "Life on Mars". Classic Rock presents: Whitesnake – Forevermore (The Official Album Magazine). London, England: Future plc. pp. 72–77.
  17. ^ "Whitesnake Mainman Talks About Origin Of Name, Slide It In Tales And Other Rock N' Roll Moments". Brave Words. 9 June 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  18. ^ Popoff 2016, pp. 29–30.
  19. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 75: 18 June 1978 – 24 June 1978". Official Charts. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  20. ^ Popoff 2016, p. 30.
  21. ^ a b Popoff 2016, p. 35.
  22. ^ Popoff 2016, p. 36.
  23. ^ Peel, John (presenter) (8 July 1995). "Deep Purple People". Rock Family Trees. Season 1. Episode 3. BBC 2.
  24. ^ "David Coverdale Interview 2003". YouTube. 6 March 1999. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  25. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  26. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
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