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“EMI weren’t even sure if there was market at that time for a hard rock blues
band...Shocking, really...when you think about how good looking we all were!!!”

“The song ‘Ain’t No Love’ doesn’t belong to the band...it belongs to the
Whitesnake Choir...”

“I hadn’t really determined if I would pursue the concept of two guitarists...or, if I
could actually AFFORD two guitarists!!!”

“When Jon Lord joined...halfway thro’ the recording of the ‘Trouble’ album...the

whole place shook with the sheer power of his sound...Those glorious sonic
layers of sound...His elegant musicality...Unforgettable...”

“With Ian Paice coming into the band I felt this was truly the beginning of
Whitesnake...”

“The rhythmn section of Ian Paice and Neil Murray was unbelievable...
unbeatable... A joy to sing to...”

“Neil Murray's bass playing...as I've said before...is the most melodic bass
playing I've heard since McCartney and Entwhistle...He's a staggering bass
player...”

“Bernie’s incredibly melodic guitar solos...Precise and memorable...they still
delight me to this day...”

“Micky’s slide playing...growing from strength to strength...Biting and full of
humour...and helping to make Whitesnake identifiable and unique from other
bands around at that time...”

“I had always been impressed with Cozy...He had an awful lot to say...for a
drummer!!!”

“In 1982 Mel Galley had helped in the construction of the Donington stage...the
next year...1983...he was a member of the headlining band!!!”

“ I enjoyed Mel Galley’s straight forward guitar work very much...and had
considered approaching him at the very beginning for the first chapter of
Whitesnake...”

“I never thought of us as a ‘singles’ band…I still don’t…More of a 70’s style
album band…We’d go in and make an album of songs we liked…send the
finished record off to the record company…and let them worry about what
should be the ‘single’…”

“After the relatively limiting aspect of writing hard rock songs for a band like
Deep Purple I wanted a musical avenue that could fulfil as many of my musical
needs as possible...Blues...r ‘n’ b...rock, soul...VOLUME!!!...So, Whitesnake
became a kind of creative umbrella under which we could pretty much indulge in
any of these avenues...As long as it had ‘feel’...emotion...and BALLS!!!”

“Bernie, Micky and I discovered much ‘fun’ was to be had in the creating…A
somewhat unknown element for me in the latter days with Deep Purple…Get the
work done…and have a good laugh at the same time…Not too shabby a
concept…and still embraced today…”

“More than a few people thought I had some kind of ‘master-plan’ to reform
Purple under the Whitesnake banner…but, that really wasn’t the case…I was
happier with Whitesnake than I’d ever been in Deep Purple...”

“I regard the albums ‘Ready an’ Willing’ and ‘Come an’ Get It’ as the absolute
best that the early Whitesnake could offer at that time in our history...”

“Getting our records played on the radio in the UK...or being favourably written
about in the press was something that just didn’t happen back then...In fact...I’m
still waiting for it to happen!!!”

“Micky, Bernie and I adjourned to a smelly cellar, just around the corner from the
Purple office at 25, Newman St…in London’s West End…We immediately
dubbed it the Cat Piss Cellar…Quite horrid…but, it definitely contributed to us
working fast…just so we could get out of there...breathe...and cut a dash across
the street to the Newman Arms…A fine watering hole…and pretty soon the
songs; ‘Come On’… ‘Bloody Mary’…’Trouble’… ‘The Time Is Right For
Love’…’Lie Down, I Think I Love You’…’Steal Away’…’Don’t Mess With
Me’, etc…started to take shape…”