Whitesnake 1981

Having been formed in 1978, following two solo albums from David Coverdale, Whitesnake steadily built up its audience.

By 1979, along with fellow original band members Micky Moody, Bernie Marsden and Neil Murray; Whitesnake also featured Coverdale’s former Deep Purple band mates Jon Lord and Ian Paice. 1980 saw Whitesnake release the very successful Ready An’ Willing, as well as the live album Live… In The Heart Of The City. But 1981 was even more successful with the release of the band’s fourth studio album Come An’ Get It — the band’s highest placed album, reaching number two in the UK charts. ‘Don't Break My Heart Again’, the single taken from the album was also a top twenty hit. 1981 proved to be both a blessing and a curse for the band. With what is considered by many fans to be the classic Whitesnake line-up, it was their commercial peak at the time, as the band toured Europe, Japan and America promoting Come An’ Get It.

Bernie Marsden and Jon Lord also worked on solo albums in 1981. Partly as a result of internal management issues and discontent, 1981 would also see thebreak-up of the classic line-up and for many fans things were never the same again. This unique book is based around the unpublished photos of Whitesnake in 1981 by AndyPhillips.

These photos were taken on stage, off stage and backstage, with Phillips having fullaccess during the German tour. The photos are complimented by a narrative and timeline by Jerry Bloom, including album and gig reviews that charts one of the most eventful years in Whitesnake’s history.