David Coverdale has without any doubt established his own chapter in the history of rock music. Presented to the world in a shocking way in 1973, when from anonymity he was suddenly “hired” by Deep Purple to replace Ian Gillan, he succeeded to win the hearts of millions of rock fans throughout the world within a few weeks.
David Coverdale has achieved almost everything in his 40-year-long career. Three successful albums with Deep Purple, a solo career, a monumental cooperation with Jimmy Page, the guitarist of Led Zeppelin, and above all, Whitesnake, his own creature, the band that he has led in the last 34 years and through which he keeps surprising music fans with every album.
The Albanian general public knows David Coverdale better for “Soldier of Fortune”, “Here I go Again” and “Is this love”, but for the rock fanatics he is a living legend. Whitesnake’s show in Tirana in 2008 thrilled more than 4000 fans who had the chance to watch and listen from a short distance the biggest hits of the group for almost two hours.
What no one knew until today was that during that visit in Albania, Coverdale had taken a precious gift with him.
A video published on the new session of the band’s official web page, Whitesnake TV, has Coverdale giving a special interview to his own niece and he spontaneously ranks the Albanian folk music among his favorites.
We got in touch with Mr. Coverdale and he was very kind to answer a few questions, exclusively for Top Channel:
Igli Gjelishti: Dear David. Thank you for your time and willingness to answer these few questions. I must say it was a nice surprise to hear that one of your favorite kinds of music was Albanian Folk. My first question is, how did you discover Albanian Folk? Was it when you came here for the show four years ago, or earlier?
David Coverdale: Hi, Igli… Nice to talk with you… I am very fortunate when I travel the world many people send me gifts of local music to listen to as it is well documented that I enjoy exploring and experiencing ‘World’ music, particularly if it’s a country I haven’t visited before.
I like to hear the ‘soul’ of the people which invariably comes through traditional folk music…and that is how I first heard Albanian music when I had the pleasure of visiting your country several years ago…
Is there any Whitesnake song that has even a slight influence from Albanian Folk?
Sorry… I am not so sure if that has permeated thro’ to my Muse just yet…but, who knows? It could happen when we least expect it!
What memories do you keep from the show in Albania? I remember you played ‘Burn’ which was not originally included in the setlist. Why did you decide to extend your normal playlist of 12 songs?
I like to give the audience unexpected musical ‘treats’ if I feel they have given us their all with their response to the show, and the Albanian crowd gave us a fantastic reception…so…a ‘treat’ was offered… I had a great time… It was a wonderful experience for me to be in your country for the first time…
Seems like your personal and professional connection with Doug is the strongest you’ve had in your career, and in my opinion, Forevermore was a perfect result of this collaboration. What should we expect from the near future?
Doug and I are blessed to have connected with each other… We have a fine, solid friendship and an incredibly creative partnership, too. I agree… I feel we achieved a perfectly balanced Whitesnake album that included all the necessary elements we enjoy, helped immeasurably, of course, by the rest of the band, who most certainly delivered the goods!
I am always reticent to discuss in detail what we’re planning as I still enjoy ‘surprises’…In this day and age with global technology & overwhelming social media it is getting harder and harder to keep anything secret until they are ready to be presented…We host a very interactive Global website with Whitesnake.com and I answer people’s questions as much as I can without giving too much away…
We are very, very active this year behind the scenes… Many exciting things in the pipeline… Two projects I can tell you about are related to completing the ‘Forevermore’ project. An in concert DVD from last years tour and also a double live CD featuring different shows. It’s shaping up very well indeed and I think a lot of people will enjoy re-living the concert experience they had with us in 2011.
We have also started Whitesnake TV which is off to a fantastic start and seems to be making a lot of people happy.
Will you tour next year?
There are plans to start in Europe in May, I heard, but, as yet there is nothing concrete… but, of course, we hope to be out there again. We have too much fun with audiences to stay at home for too long!
Do all your plans involve Whitesnake, or can we expect any other collaboration or solo project?
Whitesnake is my priority & at this time I have no other plans to collaborate with other artists… but, you know rock & roll… everything can change with a phone call… Ha Ha!!
Whitesnake in Tirana, 3 July 2008
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