Tales Of Whitesnake (Tarantura TCDWS-2-1, 2)
Yoyogi Olympic Pool,Tokyo, Japan–June 13, 1988
Disc 1: (43:53) Intro, Bad Boys (inc. Children Of The Night), Slide It In, Slow ‘N’ Easy, Here I Go Again, Guilty Of Love, Is This Love, Love Ain’t No Stranger
Disc 2: (45:22) Guitar Solo, Crying In The Rain, Drum Solo, Crying In The Rain reprise, Band Intro, Still Of The Night, Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City, Give Me All Your Love, Tits
Whitesnake’s self titled LP (or 1987 as it was titled in Europe) was released in April 1987 after two years in the making. During this time David Coverdale suffered some sinus issues leading to surgery and a six month recovery. This is said to have put a strain between him and guitarist/co-writer John Sykes and by the time the record was released Coverdale had fired the entire lineup.
The newly reformed touring band featured Adrian Vandenberg and Vivian Campbell on guitars, Rudy Sarzo on bass, and Tommy Aldridge on drums. The song selection for the tour drew mainly from the two previous records, Slide It In and the new self titled LP. Both of these records definitely feature more of a hard rock/metal edge than any previous Whitesnake sound fitting in with the current times.
Tales Of Whitesnake from Tarantura comes from a Japanese FM broadcast. According to the label, this was digitally remastered from a first generation cassette. It is a very good tight sounding soundboard with the typical heavy compression common with radio broadcasts.
The band opens with “Bad Boys” from the new LP. They manage to incorporate a snip-it of “Children Of The Night” here separating solos by Adrian and Vivian before the two join up for the harmony section. They follow up with two from Slide It In. Both the title track and “Slow ‘N’ Easy” have more of a heavier feel than the original recordings while Vandenberg puts a nice spin on the solo in the latter.
“Here I Go Again” was previously released on the Saints & Sinners album in 1982 and had recently been re-recorded giving the song a more updated commercial sound. This proved to be a wise move for Coverdale as the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains as one of the bands signature songs.
“Tonight, you are all recording stars” Coverdale says before “Guilty Of Love”. “I think we’re recording this evening, yes, we are. So, we’ll all have a memory.” This is followed by the romantic (Coverdale’s description) “Is This Love”. Vivian Campbell stays true to the John Sykes solo and for good reason as it was one of his best from the new album. The Japanese audience show tremendous enthusiasm during “Love Ain’t No Stranger” and can be easily heard clapping in time and singing along.
The guitar solo displays a definite contrast in styles between the two players before they come together in blistering fast harmonies. This leads directly into “Crying In The Rain”, another older Whitesnake track remade for the latest record. This also contains Tommy Aldridge’s drum solo. Tommy plays a typical drum solo for the time based around a lot of rapid double bass but still keeps it very entertaining to say the least. “Still Of The Night” is certainly the highlight from the show and is played near perfect with a nice heavy Zeppelin-esque groove.
“Let’s sing this together” Coverdale says before “Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City”. This track comes from the first official Whitesnake EP, Snakebite, and is a cover song originally performed by American blues singer Bobby Bland. This is Coverdale’s only nod to the early years and involves the Japanese audience again to sing and clap along with. After “Give Me All Your Love” the band close out the night with “Tits”, a corny take on ZZ Top’s “Tush”.
This tape was previously released in 1993 by the Swingin’ Pig label as Live In Tokyo. Some more recent releases include Olympic Night (Langley-244), The Night Serpent (no label), and Pledge Of Victory (Shades 431) none available for comparison. Tales Of Whitesnake comes packaged in Tarantura’s usual glossy gatefold paper sleeve packed with photos from the appropriate era and is another nice looking production from this very prolific label.
