The Real Story Of How David Coverdale Formed Whitesnake

The Real Story Of How David Coverdale Formed Whitesnake | I Love Classic Rock Videos

David Coverdale live in 2004 - NEA ZIXNH / Youtube

Nostalgia truly is a powerful drug. And so, in order to find any old news announcing the foundation of Whitesnake back in 1978, David Coverdale asked his archivist to go into the recesses of his memory. The band’s early photo and an old piece of paper were shared by the leader, on Instagram who became a little teary-eyed.

After the dissolution of Deep Purple in 1976, when the band members decided they were better off together, David took a break for about a year and a half before making a comeback in the guise of Whitesnake, formerly known as the David Coverdale Band. The document the vocalist handed out so said that the then-new band would begin practicing in a few weeks and that their club debut performance would occur roughly a month later.

Coverdale, who’s super excited about the discovery, captioned his post with the following: “Wow! Our fantastic archivist Jörg Planer just told me Whitesnake was announced 45 years ago today in the U.K. music mags! Congrats to all the snakes! The very beginning, boys [and] girls.”

The newspaper clip posted on IG reads: “David Coverdale, former Deep Purple singer, is preparing for his return to the rock scene with his own band. He’s been out of action since Purple split nearly 18 months ago, but he’s now formed the David Coverdale Band compromising Micky Moody and Bernie Marsden (guitars), ex-Streetwalkers drummer David Dowell and ex-Colosseum bassist Neil Murray. They [will] spend the first three weeks of next month rehearsing, and they [will] open their debut tour at Nottingham Sky Bird Club on February 23. Other dates are being finalized and will be announced in a week or two. Coverdale’s solo album, ‘North Wind,’ is due out on the Purple label in late February, together with a single from it titled, ‘Breakdown.’ TV and radio promotion is being set.”

Coverdale summoned the guts to establish his own band because he was determined to start over with a clean slate. Fortunately, it stayed and evolved into the iconic figure that it is today. With that, Happy Anniversary Whitesnake!