They toured with Coverdale as his support band and for both of the solo albums he released, White Snake (1977) and Northwinds (1978), between exiting Deep Purple and founding Whitesnake. At this time, the band was made up of David Coverdale, Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody, Neil Murray and drummer David "Duck" Dowle with keyboardist Brian Johnston. Johnston would soon be replaced by Procol Harum organ player and keyboardist Pete Solley. Because of Solley's producing commitments he was replaced by the former Deep Purple keyboard player Jon Lord, during sessions for the first LP.
Early years and commercial success (1978–1983)
Whitesnake recorded the EP Snakebite, which was released in 1978 and included a cover of a Bobby "Blue" Bland song "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City", their first hit song proving the new wave of British heavy metal could have a chart hit. The EP had some success in the UK and subsequent reissues of this EP included four bonus tracks from Coverdale's second solo album Northwinds (1978) produced by Roger Glover.
A blues rock debut album Trouble was released in the autumn of 1978 and peaked at No. 50 in the UK album charts. Whitesnake toured Europe to promote the album and their first live album Live at Hammersmith was recorded on this tour and released in Japan in 1979. Tracks from the EP Snakebite were included in a reissue of the album Trouble in 2006.
Whitesnake released Lovehunter in 1979, which courted controversy due to its risqué album cover by artist Chris Achilleos, which contained an illustration of a naked woman straddling a coiled snake.
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