Post by Hey Man on Aug 26, 2015 13:25:32 GMT -5
For those that are interested - Whitesnake: Sail Away by Martin Popoff is a great book.
www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/sites/default/files/whitesnakebook.jpg
Producer Keith Olsen reveals two very interesting things:
1. Guitarist Dann Huff is all over Whitesnake 1987 beyond the Here I Go Again radio version. Sykes either couldn't play the same thing twice or do what Olsen wanted, so he had to bring in Dann Huff to play for Sykes on a bunch of the songs.
That is sort of disappointing in that I thought John Sykes was this guitar god, but a session musician had to be brought in to play for fucking John Sykes. Hey I can understand Cozy Powell and Denny Carmassi being brought in to play drums for Fred Coury on Cinderella's Long Cold Winter album - but John Sykes???
I think Sykes has been awful beyond the first Blue Murder album with his solo albums, etc. So maybe John Sykes has actually been overrated by hard rock fans for years - because they have assumed the brilliant guitar work on 1987 was him and sure much of it was - but much of it was also Dann Huff according to Olsen, because Sykes wasn't good enough.
2. Adrian Vandenberg's hand injury was bullshit and just for PR. This may be less surprising, since people have suspected that for years. But again, it was a situation where Adrian Vandenberg wasn't good enough to play on the tracks himself - since Vivian Campbell was booted from the band.
Steve Vai refused to record with another guitarist, so they made up the hand injury thing, which other people associated with Whitesnake still claim was true. I don't think Keith Olsen - who produced the album - has any reason to lie.
This does makes sense though - because Adrian's playing on Restless Heart, the Unplugged album, Manic Eden and Moonkings is entirely mediocre. Whatever magic he had on those early Vandenberg albums - quickly left his body.
It's actually too bad that Vivian Campbell didn't work out and he didn't understand what kind of band Whitesnake is. I think he would have made much more of an impact in Whitesnake compared to Def Leppard, but I understand why Coverdale had to get rid of him.
Jake E. Lee and Vivian Campbell would have been cool at the time - since Lee claims that David approached him for Whitesnake a few times.
www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/sites/default/files/whitesnakebook.jpg
Producer Keith Olsen reveals two very interesting things:
1. Guitarist Dann Huff is all over Whitesnake 1987 beyond the Here I Go Again radio version. Sykes either couldn't play the same thing twice or do what Olsen wanted, so he had to bring in Dann Huff to play for Sykes on a bunch of the songs.
That is sort of disappointing in that I thought John Sykes was this guitar god, but a session musician had to be brought in to play for fucking John Sykes. Hey I can understand Cozy Powell and Denny Carmassi being brought in to play drums for Fred Coury on Cinderella's Long Cold Winter album - but John Sykes???
I think Sykes has been awful beyond the first Blue Murder album with his solo albums, etc. So maybe John Sykes has actually been overrated by hard rock fans for years - because they have assumed the brilliant guitar work on 1987 was him and sure much of it was - but much of it was also Dann Huff according to Olsen, because Sykes wasn't good enough.
2. Adrian Vandenberg's hand injury was bullshit and just for PR. This may be less surprising, since people have suspected that for years. But again, it was a situation where Adrian Vandenberg wasn't good enough to play on the tracks himself - since Vivian Campbell was booted from the band.
Steve Vai refused to record with another guitarist, so they made up the hand injury thing, which other people associated with Whitesnake still claim was true. I don't think Keith Olsen - who produced the album - has any reason to lie.
This does makes sense though - because Adrian's playing on Restless Heart, the Unplugged album, Manic Eden and Moonkings is entirely mediocre. Whatever magic he had on those early Vandenberg albums - quickly left his body.
It's actually too bad that Vivian Campbell didn't work out and he didn't understand what kind of band Whitesnake is. I think he would have made much more of an impact in Whitesnake compared to Def Leppard, but I understand why Coverdale had to get rid of him.
Jake E. Lee and Vivian Campbell would have been cool at the time - since Lee claims that David approached him for Whitesnake a few times.