Welcome to another edition of From My Collection. The last time we featured Whitesnake in this series was 2 years ago with a retrospective look back at their ‘87 self titled behemoth. It was written to commemorate the passing of the definitive ’80s video vixen, Tawney Kitaen. Today, we look back on another Whitesnake classic, which unfortunately also happens to be written in memoriam. This time, it’s honoring guitarist Bernie Marsden, who passed away last week at the age of 72. Marsden was there from the beginning in 1978 and stayed until late 1982, following the release of Saints & Sinners. Although this era of the band is all but unknown stateside, there’s no denying its lasting power, much of it thanks to the writing and guitar playing of Marsden. On that note, come an’ check out this essay on Whitesnake’s fourth album, Come an’ Get It!
The year is 1981, and while Deep Purple has long since split, the members have since found significant success thanks to the NWOBHM craze. Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover have reinvented Rainbow into an AOR juggernaut, finally making commercial headway in the States. Ian Gillan is dominating the festival circuit with his heavily Machine Head era inspired namesake band. Meanwhile, the trio of David Coverdale, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice are enjoying sold-out concert halls and hit singles in both the UK and Japan with Whitesnake. Unlike their peers in Rainbow, they’re still struggling to break in America, but we’ll get to that later.
The point is, Whitesnake are riding high, both commercially and creatively. Each subsequent album outperforms its predecessor, and by the time their third album, Ready an’ Willing (1980), rolls around, it’s the sound of a band ready to take the decade by the balls. The soul and swagger of Mk. III Purple is ever present, but delivered with a sharp metallic bite. Aside from the energy of the performances and Coverdale’s unforgettable vocals, it’s the twin guitar attack of Micky Moody and Bernie Marsden that take these songs to the next level. The dynamic duo was arguably at their sharpest on the band’s fourth album, Come an’ Get It.
The opening title cut is as classic Whitesnake as you can get. It didn’t matter how much hairspray and makeup they covered themselves with come the latter half of the decade, and by “they”, I mean Coverdale; Whitesnake always returned to this formula. Four on the floor drumming, sultry vocals, beefy riffs, gnarly soloing, a singalong chorus: You name it, “Come an’ Get It” has it. It’s an energetic rocker of an opening cut and establishes the mood for what is a no frills hard and heavy release that tows the line between old and new.
“Hot Stuff” picks up the pace, both figuratively and literally. Paice bashes away behind the kit while Moody and Marsden play what can best be described as a metallic boogie-blues. It’s fast and off the hook, similar to Mk. III era classics like “Lady Double Dealer” and “Burn”. Lord lays down a tasty organ solo which, coupled with Coverdale’s banshee wails, turns up the heat! Contrasting this is the heavy pop rock of “Don’t Break My Heart Again”. Written solely by Coverdale, this classic earworm proved he had a knack for hitmaking early on. It cracked the charts in both England and Ireland. Had it a more ’80s-esque production, I can’t help but think it would’ve charted in America as well. That said, I appreciate this album and era’s post-’70s charm, so let’s be glad it sounds the way it does.
The passionate “Lonely Days, Lonely Nights” slows things down to a crawl, but with class and prestige. The riffs and melodies scream textbook British blues rock, as does Coverdale’s lyrics of woe and despair. Yet there’s something about Lord’s keys and the production that gives this a slight prog/pomp tinge, resulting in what is an unusual, but enjoyable listen. “Lonely Days, Lonely Nights” puts the “power” in power ballad, and sounds surreal when cranked out of a stereo at maximum volume. Closing out side A is rowdy boogie metaller, “Wine, Women an’ Song”. I love how Whitesnake essentially goes between two moods with zero in between: “I can’t live without you.” or “Let’s round up the chicks and party!” “Wine, Women an’ Song” emphasizes the latter, even down to those raucous old time rock n’ roll tropes like the ripping guitar solos and Jerry Lee Lewis-esque keys.
As we flip over to side B, we’re greeted by the bluesy journeyman ballad, “Child of Babylon”. Musically, it’s rather subtle by Whitesnake standards, a troubadourian display of sublimity. Coverdale’s vocals and the accompanying melodies are borderline hypnotic, taking us on a trip akin to Physical Graffiti era Zeppelin. It’s a cool sounding tune, yet so is “Would I Lie to You”, despite being stylistically different. Similar to the opening title cut, “Would I Lie to You” boasts all the classic Whitesnake tropes in addition to tinges of ’70s titans Humble Pie, Bad Company, the aforementioned Zeppelin, and obviously, Purple. It’s a sturdy rocker of a song, what more could you ask for?
Another key component of Mk. III Purple was funk inspired groove. There’s no shortage of this on “Girl”. Lord’s keyboard stylings recall those of Stevie Wonder in both tone and delivery, while the rest of the band emphasizes hip-swiveling riffage and rhythms above all. Taking as much a cue from soul and Motown as rock n’ roll, Coverdale’s vocals fit this style perfectly, just as they always do. “Hit an’ Run” (Notice the band’s disdain for the letter “d”?) doubles down on the hard rocking grooves and balls out attitude. As much as Paice could bash the crap out of his kit, I can’t help but think he had a fun time hold down the rhythm on funkier cuts like these two.
Closing it all out is the two headed monster that is “Till the Day I Die”. The first half of the song can be categorized as a mellow, folksy, pseudo-prog ballad, with Coverdale gently singing over acoustic guitars and spacey synths. About halfway, the band joins in and delivers one last blast of heavy rock bliss. Before the song is finished, we find ourselves singing along to the infectious chorus of, “Give me love till the day I die.”, because this is Whitesnake we’re talking about here; what the hell else would Coverdale want till the day he died?
Overall, Come an’ Get It was yet another creative triumph for Whitesnake. It’s top to bottom all killer, no filler, and ended up charting all the way at #2 on the UK albums chart. Meanwhile, it did nothing in America and remains enveloped in obscurity here to this day. Why? After all, Whitesnake eventually would crack the American market, becoming a household name thanks to MTV and selling tens of millions of units. Besides AOR and new wave being the predominant flavors of the era, I can only chalk it up to Come an’ Get It‘s retro flavor.
Despite dropping in ’81, this is an album that sounds like it could’ve been released as far back as Coverdale’s heyday with Purple’s Burn in ’74. The same can be said for every Whitesnake album prior and leading up to Slide It In (1984). Regardless of if you prefer Whitesnake’s humble blues-centric beginnings, or their over the top hair metal hurrah, there’s no denying their music and players behind said music were of the highest caliber, Marsden included. Without him to lay down the foundation for the Whitesnake sound, there’s a very good chance we’d never hear the likes of Whitesnake ’87, and for that alone, we salute him. Rest in power Bernie!