| Rockin' News for July 6, 2009 |
Whitesnake charmer
David Coverdale on Tawny Kitaen, Barack Obama and Judas Priest
Here he goes again on his own. Going down the only road he’s ever known.
OK, David Coverdale isn’t totally on his own. The 57-year-old singer has a new Whitesnake
lineup behind him. But he is going down the only road he’s ever known on an old-fashioned,
heavy-metal double bill: Whitesnake and Judas Priest play the Comcast Center on Tuesday.
As Coverdale pointed out in a phone interview from his Lake Tahoe home, “You’re not going
to listen to Whitesnake for environmental songs or to change your life. You’re going to listen
to Whitesnake for hard rock.”
But that, as we learned, doesn’t mean the chatty, genteel Englishman isn’t into nature or
changing the world.
David Coverdale on Tawny Kitaen, Barack Obama and Judas Priest
Here he goes again on his own. Going down the only road he’s ever known.
OK, David Coverdale isn’t totally on his own. The 57-year-old singer has a new Whitesnake
lineup behind him. But he is going down the only road he’s ever known on an old-fashioned,
heavy-metal double bill: Whitesnake and Judas Priest play the Comcast Center on Tuesday.
As Coverdale pointed out in a phone interview from his Lake Tahoe home, “You’re not going
to listen to Whitesnake for environmental songs or to change your life. You’re going to listen
to Whitesnake for hard rock.”
But that, as we learned, doesn’t mean the chatty, genteel Englishman isn’t into nature or
changing the world.
Herald: In America, you’ll forever be associated with the “Here I Go Again” video and Tawny Kitaen dancing across those Jaguars.
Coverdale: That song was so overground, so oversaturated that there’s an immediate connection with Tawny Kitaen and my white Jag. But I
was involved in the music as opposed to the images the music was presented with. Those images have nothing to do with the song. The song was
about the breakup of my first marriage, not about Jaguars and video vamps.
Herald: Is it a bummer to have the meaning of the tune twisted?
Coverdale: Not at all. That song is part of the backdrop of so many people’s lives in so many different ways. When you see it in concert it’s a
big rock anthem with people punching the air and stuff like that. But I think when you’re listening to it in the car alone it’s not so much a
“Wayne’s World” outtake. The song is one of the most successful Whitesnake songs in terms of its strong melody, strong vocals and whisper-
to-a-scream performance. It’s got all the elements that I favor. And thank God, as George Harrison would say, “It became an evergreen.”
So we’re stuck with it for sometime to come. And again, thank God, because it helps the mortgage.
Herald: I heard you were a big Obama supporter. When I think Whitesnake, I don’t think health-care reform or funding for stem cell
research.
Coverdale: I’ve never used the stage as a political platform. I’ve never been comfortable when I’ve seen artists do that. But (the Bush years)
were extremely difficult years for any artist to express themselves truthfully because the odds were stacked against them. Anytime they
made any political statement, the hard right was on them like flies on poop. It was insulting to artists’ dignity not to have the freedom of
speech this country is so highly regarded for.
Herald: And Obama represented a change from those years?
Coverdale: From the moment I saw Obama at the 2004 convention, I knew he was a star and loved him immediately. I thought his speech was
electrifying. But I was utterly shocked his rise was so meteoric. I actually took American citizenship in order to work and vote for him
instead of just being an armchair politician.
Herald: Obama/Coverdale is a good ticket. But let’s talk about how Whitesnake/Judas Priest happened.
Coverdale: Oh, Priest and I have been mates for years. In 2005, in South America, we had a reconnect. Not only as friends but onstage the
audiences were ecstatic with our show. We’ve actively looked for a tour together, but we’ve both been busy. With the economy so
compromised for so many, to give as much value for one’s buck is the MO. If you turn around and see a package of Priest and Whitesnake, it’s
worth that buck.
Herald: I hear they’re doing the whole British Steel album.
Coverdale: Oh, it’s going to be kickass. They recorded that at Ringo’s house, where I did a Whitesnake album. I can’t remember if they
turned me on to recording there or I turned them on to the place. But it was John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s former residence; you recognize it
when you watch the “Imagine” film.
Herald: Have you ever thought about doing an album front-to-back on tour?
Coverdale: That was the plan during the 20th anniversary of the eponymous, 1987 “Whitesnake” album. But recording (the new album) “Good
to Be Bad” took a little longer than I thought, so it didn’t happen. Recording the new album was on my dime at my home with no pressure to
finish on a deadline. So we took our time, which was great. Although a lot of it was done while we were having a series of pretty scary forest
fires in the area that sent every bear in northern Nevada toward my home. We had three weeks of bad break-ins by big black bears, which
is not an amusement, I can tell you.
Herald: I think bears in the studio is a pretty good excuse to take a little longer on the record.
Coverdale: Well, sure. But bless their hearts, after all, I live on their turf. But I didn’t know that meant I’d become their local Whole
Foods. It was like having a Volkswagen with a big fur coat come through your door. (Courtesy of The Boston Herald, article by Jed Gottlieb)
Coverdale: That song was so overground, so oversaturated that there’s an immediate connection with Tawny Kitaen and my white Jag. But I
was involved in the music as opposed to the images the music was presented with. Those images have nothing to do with the song. The song was
about the breakup of my first marriage, not about Jaguars and video vamps.
Herald: Is it a bummer to have the meaning of the tune twisted?
Coverdale: Not at all. That song is part of the backdrop of so many people’s lives in so many different ways. When you see it in concert it’s a
big rock anthem with people punching the air and stuff like that. But I think when you’re listening to it in the car alone it’s not so much a
“Wayne’s World” outtake. The song is one of the most successful Whitesnake songs in terms of its strong melody, strong vocals and whisper-
to-a-scream performance. It’s got all the elements that I favor. And thank God, as George Harrison would say, “It became an evergreen.”
So we’re stuck with it for sometime to come. And again, thank God, because it helps the mortgage.
Herald: I heard you were a big Obama supporter. When I think Whitesnake, I don’t think health-care reform or funding for stem cell
research.
Coverdale: I’ve never used the stage as a political platform. I’ve never been comfortable when I’ve seen artists do that. But (the Bush years)
were extremely difficult years for any artist to express themselves truthfully because the odds were stacked against them. Anytime they
made any political statement, the hard right was on them like flies on poop. It was insulting to artists’ dignity not to have the freedom of
speech this country is so highly regarded for.
Herald: And Obama represented a change from those years?
Coverdale: From the moment I saw Obama at the 2004 convention, I knew he was a star and loved him immediately. I thought his speech was
electrifying. But I was utterly shocked his rise was so meteoric. I actually took American citizenship in order to work and vote for him
instead of just being an armchair politician.
Herald: Obama/Coverdale is a good ticket. But let’s talk about how Whitesnake/Judas Priest happened.
Coverdale: Oh, Priest and I have been mates for years. In 2005, in South America, we had a reconnect. Not only as friends but onstage the
audiences were ecstatic with our show. We’ve actively looked for a tour together, but we’ve both been busy. With the economy so
compromised for so many, to give as much value for one’s buck is the MO. If you turn around and see a package of Priest and Whitesnake, it’s
worth that buck.
Herald: I hear they’re doing the whole British Steel album.
Coverdale: Oh, it’s going to be kickass. They recorded that at Ringo’s house, where I did a Whitesnake album. I can’t remember if they
turned me on to recording there or I turned them on to the place. But it was John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s former residence; you recognize it
when you watch the “Imagine” film.
Herald: Have you ever thought about doing an album front-to-back on tour?
Coverdale: That was the plan during the 20th anniversary of the eponymous, 1987 “Whitesnake” album. But recording (the new album) “Good
to Be Bad” took a little longer than I thought, so it didn’t happen. Recording the new album was on my dime at my home with no pressure to
finish on a deadline. So we took our time, which was great. Although a lot of it was done while we were having a series of pretty scary forest
fires in the area that sent every bear in northern Nevada toward my home. We had three weeks of bad break-ins by big black bears, which
is not an amusement, I can tell you.
Herald: I think bears in the studio is a pretty good excuse to take a little longer on the record.
Coverdale: Well, sure. But bless their hearts, after all, I live on their turf. But I didn’t know that meant I’d become their local Whole
Foods. It was like having a Volkswagen with a big fur coat come through your door. (Courtesy of The Boston Herald, article by Jed Gottlieb)
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Lars Ulrich to present "unusual" Danish film
Metallica's Lars Ulrich will present and discuss a rare screening of an unusual documentary that
plays like a provocative game: The Five Obstructions, co-directed and written by Danish
filmmakers Jørgen Leth and Lars von Trier. Von Trier is best known as the director of Europa,
Dogville, Dancing in the Dark and Breaking the Waves. A multiple award-winner at the Cannes
Film Festival, he also co-founded the influential Dogme 95 movement. In The Five Obstructions,
von Trier approaches Jørgen Leth, his mentor in Danish filmmaking, with an assignment to
remake one of his own early short films (The Perfect Human) five different times, on each
occasion with a specific " obstruction." Leth, a leading figure in experimental and documentary
filmmaking, has directed over 40 short films and is also a highly acclaimed author of poetry and
Metallica's Lars Ulrich will present and discuss a rare screening of an unusual documentary that
plays like a provocative game: The Five Obstructions, co-directed and written by Danish
filmmakers Jørgen Leth and Lars von Trier. Von Trier is best known as the director of Europa,
Dogville, Dancing in the Dark and Breaking the Waves. A multiple award-winner at the Cannes
Film Festival, he also co-founded the influential Dogme 95 movement. In The Five Obstructions,
von Trier approaches Jørgen Leth, his mentor in Danish filmmaking, with an assignment to
remake one of his own early short films (The Perfect Human) five different times, on each
occasion with a specific " obstruction." Leth, a leading figure in experimental and documentary
filmmaking, has directed over 40 short films and is also a highly acclaimed author of poetry and
fiction. Von Trier's mischievous challenges send him around the world, resulting in a film described by The New York Times as " at once like
witnessing two chess masters playing dominoes and like spying on a series of therapy sessions." The film will be presented in Danish, English
and Spanish with English subtitles. The event will be held on Wednesday, September 2 at the California Film Institute.
(Courtesy of cafilm.org)
witnessing two chess masters playing dominoes and like spying on a series of therapy sessions." The film will be presented in Danish, English
and Spanish with English subtitles. The event will be held on Wednesday, September 2 at the California Film Institute.
(Courtesy of cafilm.org)
| *** *** *** *** *** *** |