Отплаване. Фантастичното пътешествие на Уайтснейк

by Martin Popoff, Мартин Попов, Георги Иванов (Translator)

„Отплаване. Фантастичното пътешествие на „Уайтснейк” е първият опит да бъде разказана цялата история на групата на Дейвид Ковърдейл. Много се е изписало досега за „Бялата змия”, но никой не се е осмелявал да събере на едно място фактите от дългия живот на групата – от корените на Ковърдейл в „Дийп Пърпъл” до днес. С тази задача се е заел канадският журналист от руски произход Мартин Попов. Той от десетилетия следи историята на рок музиката и многократно е разговарял с бивши и настоящи членове на „Уайтснейк”, които в неговите интервюта разказват от първо лице за нея.

В „Отплаване” музикантите ще открият историята на групата, описана от титани на рока като Дейвид Ковърдейл, Джон Лорд и Стив Вай. Читателите ще разберат от какво е вдъхновен текстът на Here I Go Again и защо песента Fool For Your Loving е била написана в конюшня. Авторът припомня бурните отношения между великите музиканти, както и сблъсъците с моралистите заради нецензурните текстове и неприличните обложки. Отделено е специално внимание и на връзката на Ковърдейл с Тоуни Китейън – сексапилната жена от клиповете на групата, която мнозина обвиняват, че се е превърнала в нещо като Йоко Оно за „Уайтснейк” и отдалечава Дейвид от бандата.

Мартин Попов е включил и подробна дискография на групата, както и рецензии и описания на песните от най-великите албуми на „Уайтснейк”.

С над 50 книги на тема рок и метъл Мартин Попов е един от най-опитните изследователи на твърдата музика. Той е огледал подробно всяко клонче от огромното родословно дърво на рока и е извлякъл от там всичко, което меломаните си заслужава да знаят за своите любими групи.

Genres: Music, Biography

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 2015

About the author

At approximately 7900 (with over 7000 appearing in his books), Martin has unofficially written more record reviews than anybody in the history of music writing across all genres. Additionally, Martin has penned approximately 85 books on hard rock, heavy metal, classic rock and record collecting. He was Editor-In-Chief of the now retired Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles, Canada’s foremost metal publication for 14 years, and has also contributed to Revolver, Guitar World, Goldmine, Record Collector, bravewords.com, lollipop.com and hardradio.com, with many record label band bios and liner notes to his credit as well. Additionally, Martin has been a regular contractor to Banger Films, having worked for two years as researcher on the award-winning documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, on the writing and research team for the 11-episode Metal Evolution and on the ten-episode Rock Icons, both for VH1 Classic. Additionally, Martin is the writer of the original metal genre chart used in Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey and throughout the Metal Evolution episodes. Martin currently resides in Toronto and can be reached through martinp@inforamp.net or www.martinpopoff.com.

Reviews

[Rob Dwyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

SAIL AWAY: WHITESNAKE'S FANTASTIC VOYAGE is an interesting biography for David Coverdale's Whitesnake that long time fans should enjoy. As has been the template for his other rock bios, Martin Popoff does a fairly exhaustive breakdown of the majority of Whitesnake's catalog, although he did choose to gloss over their more recent albums. It is quite interesting to read the finer details behind the writing and recording of these records. The fact that these dissections are supplanted by interviews with various band members (namely including Coverdale himself) adds credibility to this work.

The highlight of the book was probably the chapters about the making of SLIDE IT IN and the self-titled album (also known as 1987). I won't divulge any spoilers here, but I wasn't aware of all the behind-the-scenes dramas that took place during that era.

Martin Popoff has become a fairly well established voice in journalism about hard rock & heavy metal bands. He has been very prolific in churning out book after book about the bands he loves - and his zeal for this subject is infectious. And while I do appreciate the spirit of his work, I do believe that many of his books (such as this Whitesnake bio) would have benefited from more judicious editing. The problem for me is that the interview excerpts often frequently overlap. Many stories are retold by different people, so it becomes a bit of chore to slog through the redundancy or contrasts of each alternative perspective. I do respect his effort to provide an accurate and detailed accounting of each side of the story. However, this book would have been a far less cumbersome read if these sections had been woven in a more succinct manner. Some points just aren't worth belaboring over several pages.

Many authors are also guilty of including their own personal biases and preferences in evaluating the music of the band they're writing about. Martin is always quite forthright in his opinions about which albums or songs are worth their salt. It's very much his right to do that in his own book, but it can be annoying when his views are in stark contrast to the reader's own view. That said, I at least generally agreed with most of his observations on the Whitesnake catalog.

Overall, I'd rate this book 3.5 stars if that option were available. It's definitely aimed towards more avid fans of the band, rather than casual enthusiasts. It's worthwhile, but requires a little more effort to penetrate due to the back and forth from various members on some topics.

[Ace Boggess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating journalistic look at David Coverdale and his journey through the early years as singer for Deep Purple and Whitesnake. Once the band's story hits America and the revolving door of musicians in the lineup, the narrative gets a bit scattered and tends to be told in quotes from varying perspectives. The linear flow devolves at times into tangents about all the other bands from which these musicians came and to which they went after. Still, it's an interesting pseudo-bio and well worth reading.

[Ciro Strazzeri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Letta la versione italiana col titolo "Whitesnake - Il viaggio del serpente bianco" edito da Tsunami Edizioni. Molto bello!

[Tsvetelina Stambolova-Vasileva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Би ми се искало в книгата да имаше по-малко дисекции на всеки албум и песен и по-малко опити да се категоризира и нареди всичко по поличките, а повече за вътрешния живот на групата. Но като цяло научих доста нови факти, отворих си очите за някои неприятни страни на музикалния бизнес и излязох от това фантастично пътешествие с още по-добри впечатления за Уайтснейк и Дейвид Ковърдейл. А и книгата стана причина да си превъртя част от старите им албуми и да открия нови бисери. Много любима група, много любим певец! И още по-любими след всичко, което научих за тях.

[Marcos Junior · Rating 3 out of 5]

O eixo central da narrativa de Popoff é como o David Coverdale refundou o Whitesnake em 1984 para atravessar o Atlântico e se tornar praticamente uma banda norte-americana. Baseado principalmente em entrevistas como os diversos músicos que passaram pela banda, o livro vai disco a disco mostrando como foram gravados e seus contextos.

[Vladislav Dragomirov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Това е обърканата история как Дейвид надскача себе си, излизайки от "Пърпъл", минава през изпълнените с обрати години на солова кариера и стига до първата версия на бандата. История за музикални рокади, рокендрол бизнес и слава.
История, която ни кара отново да оценим група, да свалим албумите и да им се изкефим още веднъж.

[Hristo Butchvarov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Пет звезди за групата. Четири звезди за книгата.

[Damien · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember being blown away in 1987 when Whitesnake released their album, titled for the Australian market "1987 ". This was a slab of energetic, explosive and catchy melodic hard rock. Seeing those glossy film clips I always wondered "Why isn't the band that recorded the album here?".

I was fortunate enough to be gifted this book for Christmas, and couldn't wait and read it before the 25th. So I read it before Christmas and I am really glad I did. For shame, eh?

The eternal question: Coverdale and Sykes. What happened? Will they work together again? I'll cut to the chase, the book doesn't go as deep into this as I had hoped. But come on Coverdale, locking yourself in the car and refusing to talk to Sykes? That's hard.

The book focuses on the career of David Coverdale, from his beginnings in Deep Purple up until the flamboyant and slick "Slip Of The Tongue" album, with some brief glossing over Whitesnake's career up to the present. Each chapter focuses on an album release.

It's all in here, with interviews to give you the perspective of important ex-band members like Bernie Marsden, Mick Moody, Vivian Campbell, Rudy Sarzo, Steve Vai, Neil Murray, et al. A lot of material is archival interviews from hard rock and metal press over the years, but the editing of this material is seamless, and being arranged in chronological order of the bands discography, these interviews seem fresh and "in the now". There is even some space dedicated to Coverdale-Page and Blue Murder. Also, there is insight into the workings of Jon Lord, Ian Paice and Cozy Powell.

I'm sometimes reluctant to read a book like this, what if the band or key members come across as assholes and turn me off the music? Sure Coverdale comes off as a jerk for some of his moves he pulled, like ripping off the man who shot your film clips that made you huge?

After the read is over, Adrian Vandenberg's participation (or lack there of) on "Slip Of The Tongue" raises more questions than answers. IN fact, it makes it boggle - was he dropped for artistic reasons and not an injury?

I got more out of the book by listening to the relevant album in the chapter. And the amount of times the Ian Gillan Band is mentioned, you'd think they where a force to be reckoned with.

In summary, a fun and light read that is a page turner.

[Kahn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whitesnake were one of the seminal British rock bands of the 80s - their brand of blues, boogie and unsubtle innuendo making them a huge success in Britain and Europe, if not America.
Born out of Deep Purple, the band that gave Coverdale his big break, the band has had more line-up changes than you can shake your snake at.
Which should make for a fascinating tale.
Instead we get this.
Using old interviews you can find on your own, Popoff offers an oversight but no insight. No fresh revelations, nothing you probably didn't already know.
At least not in the opening chapters.
There might be some gems later on, there may be a complex breakdown of Coverdale's bid to break America, but you get so bogged down in the self-indulgent piffle being served up you lose the will to live.
I love this band - I'm a massive fan of Coverdale's voice, and his two early solo albums are full of soul and feeling.
Something this book doesn't get close to matching

[Benjamin Kahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Popoff does his usual bang-up job. I didn't know a lot of details of the Whitesnake story coming in - I had the 1987 album, but aside from "Still of the Night," wasn't a huge fan - but had seen enough quotes in one of the his Deep Purple timeline books to pique my interest. This book didn't disappoint. It was compact, contained quotes from all the principles, and painted an interesting picture of Whitesnake from its first faltering steps to the juggernaut it became. This is Popoff at his best, with lots of insight into the inner working of the band and the players. Excellent book.

[Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent detail on the making of their various albums and the road to riches which was the 80's MTV era. The feuds, the egos, the drama all detailed well here. Talks to former band members and the inner circle of the band and from the interview credits doesn't include some of the main players namely David Coverdale and John Sykes.

The book covers the era of the band very well and if you are a fan of the group and thinking of picking up the book then do so.

[David Dewata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Karir Coverdale praktis macet di period 90an, sehingga buku ini tidak banyak mengupas jelajah kehidupan dia di periode tersebut. Berbeda dengan biografi Michael Sweet yang justru banyak bercerita kisah dia seputar masa vakum dari Stryper. Buku ini saya suka karena mengupas cukup detil apa saja yang terjadi saat proses rekaman album-album Whitesnake, dan yang paling heboh tentu saja persaingan Coverdale dan Sykes saat produksi 1987!

[Gavin Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read - lots of stuff I wasn't aware of happening throughout the mid 80's - and gives a salutary lesson in finding success at all costs can leave a bitter sweet victory