Whitesnake: Live in Glasgow 1984

 

Smith/Murray…Tipton/Downing….Willis/Clark…Perry/Whitford.

Those are four of what I consider the best Guitar Duo’s ever in the business of Rock!

Another one you can add to that list above would be Galley/Sykes! Yeah man I’m serious!

Mel Galley and John Sykes are featured in the recently released Slide It In Box set that has included in it a live show from March of 1984 just as things were ramping up for the Slide it In studio release!

David Coverdale always had a  stellar crew of musicians with him in Whitesnake and this short-lived era of the band proves it.

Jon Lord/Cozy Powell/Mel Galley/John Sykes and Neil Murray are the featured fella’s on this outstanding and I mean outstanding live show from March 1984!

It’s sad that Lord/Powell and Galley have all passed on but the music remains so thanks for that Chaps! I mean that’s half the band that is on this release!

So kudos to David for including this show in the Box Set which has to be one of the best ever put together set’s ever. Heck David even included the Slide It In Tour Book as well…Nothing left uncovered so to speak! Review of the Box Set coming up on Monday…

Now onto the task at hand…

Now how about this for a Set List??

 

Wowzer’s that is Stellar!

I mean how can you go wrong with the One-Two punch of set opener Gambler and Guilty of Love?  Snake live drops the gauntlet down and were off and running or would that be Ready and Willing?

This release is live!( Radio Broadcast) No fixing it up whatsoever 100% Live…!

I love the Snakes spin of Here I Go Again where Dave sings the line of ‘Like a hobo I was born to walk alone’ as well as Galley/Sykes locking up there guitars in a dual lead solo. Much better version than the 1987  Soccer Mom version I must add.

I first dabbled with Whitesnake back in 1981 but it really wasn’t til 1984 when Coverdale streamlined the band to one guitar (Sykes) and made MTV videos that those hooked me Line and Sinker!

But let’s rewind back for a bit. Whitesnake  had always been a two guitar band but due to a freak injury to Galley’s arm it wasn’t too long before he was ousted by Coverdale and perhaps due to A&R guy John Kalodner and Geffen Records dumping some serious coin on breaking Whitesnake in North America.

So with Whitesnake being a Major Arena Act in Europe here they are 100% Live!

Galley and Sykes lift off on this album. There playing together at times is phenomenal. Sykes and Galley at times weaving in and out of  the solo department together.

The fact that makes these two guys brilliant is on one side you have Mel Galley who has that throwback classic 70’s rock guitar guy style. Not overplaying keeping in everything in check while come solo time  lets his fingers do the talking.

John Sykes at time was the young hot-shot guitar slinger. Ripping and smoking along that fretboard like no ones business as you can see why John got nabbed from the Tygers of Pan Tang to join Thin Lizzy before they imploded making it easy for David to grab Sykes for Whitesnake…

Coverdale with both John and Mel got two opposite guitar players who covered all the bases superbly and when you listen to the playing on this album you will get it! As an added bonus these guys could handle the backing vocals as well…No slouching!

‘Ere’s A Song For Ya!”

Jon Lord I think after this show was recorded was gone to join the reformed Deep Purple back in April of 1984. Lord as everyone knows is one of the best ever to rock a Hammond. At time’s John would even dabble with the synth which was a sign of the changing times back in 1984!

Cozy Powell! Man what can you say about Powell!! Cozy drives the drums on this release. He has the exact opposite style of the previous Snake drummer Ian Paice. Cozy turned this band into a huge driving freight train going down the tracks with no use of braking whatsoever. Perhaps to the Whitesnake purist maybe Paice would be the guy but for me I love how Powell whether it was with Coverdale or Micheal Scheneker would take his drums and kick everyone up the arse!

‘Eres A Song For Ya!’

Neil Murray who though the years was Cozy’s righthand man on Bass keeps the rhythm moving along adding his own subtle touches along the way. Not overplaying just keeping everything in check..

Coverdale sings for his supper here. At times perhaps a little hoarse but you know between humping and doing bizarre cock rock moves with his mic stand Dave had a real great live voice at the time! Plus the fact that he assembled these cats to gel as a unit was GOLD!

Coverdale was a funny bloke though as Galley basically helped Dave cowrite the Slide It In  album  while Sykes cowrote the biggie 1987 Snake album and both guitar guys get the boot!

I will add that until I heard this live show I hear how much a second guitar just fills out the sound of the band.

I really enjoyed this album  and to be honest this album has now perhaps even cracked my Top 5 all time Live Albums!

Yeah it’s that good!

Come back this upcoming Monday for some more Snake!