It was the hard rocking sound of Whitesnake hits like ‘Still Of The Night’ and ‘Give Me All Your Love’ that brought Whitesnake worldwide, multi-platinum success. Even so, the band’s founder and lead singer, David Coverdale, has never been a stranger to the occasional ballad, going back to his early days with Deep Purple on ‘Soldier Of Fortune’ and, most famously, with Whitesnake on the 1987 number one smash hit, ‘Here I Go Again’.
With the summer tour with Foreigner now behind them, Whitesnake will revisit some of their best acoustic performances with ‘Unzipped: Super Deluxe Edition’. This 5 CD/DVD collection brings together unplugged and acoustic-based performances recorded over the past twenty-plus years, including rare and unreleased studio and live recordings, acoustic demos, concert videos, interviews and more. The extensive set will be available on October 19th and on the same day, Rhino will also release ‘Unzipped’ in three other formats: single-CD, double-CD, and double-LP. All of the music will be available digitally and via streaming services.
The first disc from ‘Unzipped: Super Deluxe Edition’ mixes rare and unreleased versions of songs like ‘Summer Rain’ and ‘Forevermore’ from Whitesnake’s recent studio albums ‘Good To Be Bad’ (2008) and ‘Forevermore’ (2011). Also included are songs like ‘Love Is Blind’ from Coverdale’s 2000 solo album, ‘Into The Light’, and a previously unreleased song, ‘All The Time In The World’. All eleven tracks are available on the single-CD, double-CD and double-LP versions of ‘Unzipped’.
In 1997, Coverdale and guitarist Adrian Vandenberg played an unplugged concert in Tokyo that was recorded and initially released exclusively in Japan as ‘Starkers In Tokyo’. That recording has been remixed and will make its North American debut on the second disc of ‘Unzipped: Super Deluxe Edition’. The acoustic performance touches on the different stages of Coverdale’s career, from his time in Deep Purple (‘Soldier Of Fortune’) to his solo albums (‘Too Many Tears’) and, most famously, with Whitesnake on unplugged versions of hits like ‘Is This Love’ and ‘Here I Go Again’. These twelve tracks, along with all the music on the single-CD version of ‘Unzipped’, will also be available on double-CD, and double-LP.
“Some of my favourite love songs are on disc one of this collection… and I love, love songs,” says Coverdale. “Though reluctant at first to go unzipped in public, the shows I did with Adrian Vandenberg in 1997, and then Doug Aldrich in 2006, were incredibly memorable. Primarily because it gave me an opportunity to be at one with the crowd… some songs ask for a softer touch… and those are the songs we have here in this collection.”
‘Unzipped: Super Deluxe Edition’ has even more unreleased, unplugged recordings, including more performances from Coverdale’s 1997 tour with Vandenberg, plus several later shows featuring Coverdale and guitarist Doug Aldrich. Plus, more than two dozen of Coverdale’s unreleased, acoustic demos are also included in the collection.
A DVD completes ‘Unzipped: Super Deluxe Edition’ with live, unplugged performances filmed around the world between 1997 and 2015, including a complete acoustic show recorded at the Cutting Room in New York in 2008. A highlight for US fans will be the North American debut of the 1997 concert video, ‘Starkers In Tokyo’, which has been remixed in 5.1 and Stereo exclusively for this new collection. Additional bonus features include an interview with Coverdale and Vandenberg, bootleg videos, the ‘Love Is Blind’ music video and a slideshow.
Coverdale continues: “These songs are some of the most personal I’ve been involved with through my almost five decades as a professional musician, singer and composer… this is me at my most unguarded… innocent… writing, as I still do, for the fun… the expression… the poetry… all love songs.”
‘Unzipped: Super Deluxe Edition’ tracklisting:
Disc One: ‘Unzipped… In The Studio: The Love Songs’
Love Is Blind
One of These Days*
All The Time In The World*
Wherever You May Go
Easier Said than Done*
Fare Thee Well*
Summer Rain
Forevermore
’Till The End Of Time
Bonus Tracks:
Wherever You May Go (Instrumental) Strings only*
Love Is Blind (Instrumental) Strings only*
Disc Two: ‘Starkers In Tokyo’
Sailing Ships
Too Many Tears
The Deeper The Love
Love Ain’t No Stranger
Can’t Go On
Give Me All Your Love
Don’t Fade Away
Is This Love
Here I Go Again
Soldier Of Fortune
Bonus Tracks:
Only My Soul (Acapella)*
Fool For Your Loving (Excerpt)*
Disc Three: ‘Snakeskin Boots: Starkers In Europe’
Starkers In Warsaw (April 1997)
Intro
Sailing Ships
Too Many Tears
Here I Go Again
Starkers In Stockholm (December 2006)
Intro
Give Me All Your Love
Ain’t Gonna Cry No More
Only My Soul (Acapella)
All I Want Is You
Dog
Here I Go Again
Starkers In Cologne (November 2006)
Intro
Give Me All Your Love
Ain’t Gonna Cry No More
All I Want Is You
Slow & Easy
Dog
Starkers In Paris (November 2006)
Give Me All Your Love
Ain’t Gonna Cry No More
Northwinds (Acapella)
All I Want Is You
Dog
Blindman (Acapella)
Here I Go Again
Disc Four: ‘More Starkers’
Promo Tour Rehearsals (2005)
If You Want Me*
Give Me All Your Love*
Slow & Easy*
All I Want Is You*
Judgement Day*
Ain’t Gonna Cry No More*
Dog*
Starkers In New York (April 2008)
Give Me All Of Your Love
Can You Hear The Wind Blow
All I Want All I Need
Lay Down Your Love
Fool For Your Loving
The Deeper The Love
Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City
Here I Go Again
WSTV Jams Excerpts (2012)
Easier Said Than Done
Fare Thee Well
Love Will Set You Free
Mistreated
Slide It In
‘Till The End Of Time
Shake My Tree
Made In Japan Soundcheck Versions (2011)
Good To Be Bad
Tell Me How
Disc Five: ‘Up Close & Personal’
Wherever You May Go (Demo Version)*
Surrender*
Ain’t No Doubt About My Girl*
Scat Man Blues*
Love’s A Crazy Game*
I Will Love You*
Oh Baby You’re The One*
So Long (Acapella)*
So Long*
It Would Be Nice*
Slide Thingy Blues*
Down To The River*
Feel Your Love Grow Stronger*
Blues Jam Riff*
Fun Lick Blues*
Don’t Wanna Change The World*
It’s So Hard*
River Song (Early Version)*
Let’s Have A Drink Before I Go*
Can You Ever Forgive Me*
So Much To Live For*
Another Lick While The Missus Is Busy In The Kitchen*
Just The Two Of Us (Together You And I)*
Oh S___ Blues (featuring Jessica)*
Seasons*
DVD: ‘Starkers In Tokyo’ (1997)
Sailing Ships
Too Many Tears
The Deeper The Love
Can’t Go On
Is This Love
Give Me All Your Love
Here I Go Again
Soldier Of Fortune
Love Ain’t No Stranger
Don’t Fade Away
Only My Soul (Acapella)
Fool For Your Loving (excerpt)
‘Starkers In New York’ (April 2008)
Give Me All Of Your Love
Can You Hear The Wind Blow
All I Want All I Need
Lay Down Your Love
Fool For Your Loving
The Deeper The Love
Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City
Here I Go Again
Starkers In Warsaw (April 1997)
Intro
Sailing Ships
Too Many Tears
Here I Go Again
Starkers In Stockholm (December 2006)
Intro
Give Me All Your Love
Ain’t Gonna Cry No More
Only My Soul (Acapella)
All I Want Is You
Dog
Here I Go Again
‘Starkers In Cologne’ (November 2006)
Give Me All Your Love
Ain’t Gonna Cry No More
All I Want Is You
Dog
‘Starkers In Sofia’ (November 2015)
Soldier Of Fortune
‘Starkers In Paris 2’ (2009)
Blindman
‘Starkers In Wolverhampton’ (June 2011)
Fare Thee Well
‘Starkers In Glasgow’ (June 2011)
One Of These Days*
Bonus Features
One-on-One with David Coverdale and Adrian Vandenberg discussing ‘Starkers’
Poor Albert’s Last: Photographic Slideshow (featuring audio from ‘Sailing Ships’)
Purplesnake’s ‘Forevermore’ video
‘Love Is Blind’ music video
* previously unreleased
