John Sykes

[skidd]

Re: John Sykes

I post pics in a few days,

[1trussell]

Re: John Sykes

John Sykes no doubt did some great work on the 1987 album. However, I have to say that my favorite Whitesnake guitarist was Steve Vai. Sykes would be a close second, and since I never saw them live, I can't really comment on Vandenburg.

[iced_earth]

Re: John Sykes

Strange that John Sykes is being discussed, I just started watching "The Legend of Black Heaven" with Sykes' "Cautionary Warning" as its theme song...

[VitaminG]

Re: John Sykes

I've got a great old video of Whitesnake playing live from '83. I didn't like it at first as I was more familiar with the "1987" album, and my dad didn't realise when he bought it for me for Xmas that it was the older line-up. But I grew to like it. The songs are good, the band seem to have fun on stage, and Moody & Marsden seemed a good pairing. It was just more blues rock instead of my preferred metal.

I was keen to find some video of Sykes playing that "1987" material & recently found a live video on Kazaa called Super Rock '84, or something similar. If you can find it, it's worth checking out. Pro-fusion's explanation of that album's recording schedule would explain why the band can be seen playing the "1987" songs way back in '84.

John Sykes is definitely my favourite Whitesnake guitarist. I tried putting on Slip of the Tongue a couple of weeks ago, and I just couldn't listen to it all the way through. Vai's playing is phenomenal, and I can listen to one or two tracks at a time (Sailing Ships & Wings of the Storm spring to mind), but I just find the material as a whole isn't nearly as strong. Any day of the week, I would rather listen to Sykes play Crying In The Rain over any of the songs on SOTT.

[dinkyjacksonman]

Re: John Sykes

Radio Version the band start playing together from the begin is played by Dann Huff(Giant,Producer of Megadeth and so on and on and on... [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ).
Great player!
[img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]
Another one on the record or the Video,Solo is played by Adrian Vandenberg.

[Tekky]

Re: John Sykes

There's actually another version...

The version you hear on Whitesnake is actually the second time that the song was recorded... That and Fool For Your Lovin' has appeared on other Whitesnake albums.

[dinkyjacksonman]

Re: John Sykes

Crying in the Rain also,no?

[lerxstcat]

Re: John Sykes

Hey, thanks for that info Pro-Fusion!! I
really knew little of the pre-1987 WS. I
have also been a fan of Coverdale since
I first heard Burn, but never knew Mel Galley was in Whitesnake. He was in Trapeze with Glen Hughes though; small world I guess, eh? He'd be a great fit for a bluesier Whitesnake though, that's for sure!

[VitaminG]

Re: John Sykes

it may be that the gig was recorded earlier than '83 then. '83 may have just been the release date of the video. I'll have to check when I get home.

I'm adamant that Marsden & Moody played on it - Marsden wore long sleeve overalls (predating Slipknot by nearly 20 years!!), and Moody looks like yer typical blues rock dude, moustache and widebrim hat. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Great history of the band there, Pro-fusion. It'll be interesting to a lot of folks here that WS had recording a half dozen albums before the one big one that finally broke them in the US, 1987. While I was looking around for more info, I came across this great Neil Murray bio that has a list of the Snake albums and line-ups he played with.

[Tekky]

Re: John Sykes

I do believe that Vandenberg played on the self-titled album. The solo for Here I Go Again is him.

[MSGfan]

Re: John Sykes

Originally posted by VitaminG:
I've got a great old video of Whitesnake playing live from '83. I didn't like it at first as I was more familiar with the "1987" album, and my dad didn't realise when he bought it for me for Xmas that it was the older line-up. But I grew to like it. The songs are good, the band seem to have fun on stage, and Moody & Marsden seemed a good pairing. It was just more blues rock instead of my preferred metal.

I was keen to find some video of Sykes playing that "1987" material & recently found a live video on Kazaa called Super Rock '84, or something similar. If you can find it, it's worth checking out. Pro-fusion's explanation of that album's recording schedule would explain why the band can be seen playing the "1987" songs way back in '84.

John Sykes is definitely my favourite Whitesnake guitarist. I tried putting on Slip of the Tongue a couple of weeks ago, and I just couldn't listen to it all the way through. Vai's playing is phenomenal, and I can listen to one or two tracks at a time (Sailing Ships & Wings of the Storm spring to mind), but I just find the material as a whole isn't nearly as strong. Any day of the week, I would rather listen to Sykes play Crying In The Rain over any of the songs on SOTT.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I have a bootleg copy of the "Super Rock`84 video with John Sykes and it kicks a$$. [img]graemlins/notworthy.gif[/img] It was a big outdoor concert in Japan that included several acts including the Scorpions (I have the live footage of that also) It has Whitesnake playing "Crying in the Rain" and other songs from around the`87 period in`84. [img]graemlins/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[MSGfan]

Re: John Sykes

Originally posted by TEKKY:
I do believe that Vandenberg played on the self-titled album. The solo for Here I Go Again is him.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You're right!
John Sykes had already left the band before that solo was recorded!
That was Adrian Vandenberg's solo! [img]graemlins/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[tmdiamond]

Re: John Sykes

Thanks Pro Fusion, great info. I've always been partial to Sykes. His tone, vibrato, pick attack, and tasty speed runs are just too cool. I got into Adrian back when "Burning Heart" was an MTV staple. You could hear/see that song daily on MTV! Still has arguably the best guitar solo ever written, IMO. With Vai, some of the best tracks were ones only the truest of fans would be familiar with. "Kittens Got Claws" has some unbelievable work in it. Its the little riffs, sound effects, and stuff that Vai did in that track that makes it my favorite from his era in WS. He was heavy into the Eventide during that period and you can hear that throughout that whole album.
But Sykes definitely has the best tone and could always make his licks cut through just right.
Just my opinion.
Tom

[pro-fusion]

Re: John Sykes

I had forgotten about the Here I Go Again solo--I had a vague remembrance that Adrian was working with Coverdale prior to the infamous video shoot. I agree that "Burning Heart" was a great song--don't remember the video, though.

Interestingly, most of the people who had been fans of the original WS, particularly in Britain, really did not like the 1987 album or Slip of the Tongue, as they felt that Coverdale had "gone Hollywood"--they were more interested in hearing bluesy rock than big metal ballads. These folks tend to think that the Coverdale/Page album was a return to form for Mr. Whitesnake.

Even today, I read reviews of the current Whitesnake tour from the UK, and they are complaining that it's too metal, with not enough pre-Slide It In material in the setlist. They didn't play any of that stuff over here, I believe. I would like to hear a rousing version of "Walking in the Shadow of the Blues", which may be the best thing that Coverdale has ever done--it was originally on the 1979 Lovehunter album, but the best version is on 1980's Live in the Heart of the City album. Probably never get to, though.

[pro-fusion]

Re: John Sykes

Actually, VitaminG, if that WS video was from '83, it would have featured Mel Galley, rather than Bernie Marsden. Here's a complicated chronology of the WS guitarists (as best as my tattered memory can work out):

--1978-late '81: Micky Moody/Bernie Marsden

Recorded and toured for the first four WS albums. Marsden records guitar tracks for Saints an' Sinners, then leaves, leading to -->

--1982-83: Micky Moody/Mel Galley

Galley sings back-ups/tours on Saints an' Sinners and plays/tours on Slide It In. Moody plays on Slide It In, tours Europe, and then leaves, leading to -->

--early 1984: Mel Galley/John Sykes

Sykes rerecords Moody's parts for U.S. release of Slide It In. Galley breaks his leg and can't come over to the USA for the tour (in support of Quiet Riot), and never comes back, leading to-->

--1984-85: John Sykes

Sykes tours USA for Slide It In as sole guitarist-a very stripped-down sound as Jon Lord had also left before the U.S. tour to join the Deep Purple reunion. Sykes then records the guitar parts for what became the 1987 album, but quits (is let go?) along with rest of band after Coverdale has voice problems, leading to delay in album release, leading to -->

--1987-88: Adrian Vandenberg/Vivian Campbell

Famous story about the video shoot leading to their joining the band, although I think Vandenberg had been working with Coverdale before that. They tour the world for the 1987 album. Campbell leaves for purportedly greener pastures, and Vandenberg breaks his arm and can't play on Slip of the Tongue sessions, leading to-->

--1988-89(?): Steve Vai

Steve is brought in to record all the guitar parts that Adrian had already written for the album. But Adrian heals in time for the tour, leading to -->

--1989-90: Steve Vai/Adrian Vandenberg

tour for SotT. Coverdale disbands Whitesnake (temporarily) after tour.

I'm not as up on what went on after Coverdale resurrected WS in the mid-90s, although I know that the 1997 Restless Heart album (never released in the U.S.) was the first WS album that Vandenberg actually played on.

This should answer any questions, I would hope. As you can tell, I've been a WS fan since well before 1987--in fact, I had one or two of the early albums even before Slide It In came out, because I was already a big fan of Coverdale's work in Deep Purple.