The legendary bassist Neil Murray meets us at the lobby of the hotel where we are staying and almost immediately we are headed towards the restaurant where we did an interview that covered almost all the chapters of his illustrious career. From the Whitesnake and the Sabbath days to his latest participation in the successful musical play “We Will Rock You”.

Interview: Yiannis Dolas, Dimitris Kazantzis, Sakis Nikas

Rockpages.gr: Is it confining for you, as an artist, to be under a contract for 7 years in a row doing the “We Will Rock You” musical?

Neil Murray: Yes, it is…however, I am very lucky to have a job! Lots of musicians are often obliged to stay months and months at home doing absolutely nothing and living on the girlfriend’s money or something. This is the bad thing when it comes down to the majority of musicians nowadays. If they are lucky, they will go out, do a few shows, maybe record something and then go back to their houses waiting for the next opportunity. I am lucky to be working on a very steady job but I must underline that I am not under contract –at least in the way the word “contract” is perceived-…If you start working in a musical and you are good in your part then you could keep your job for as long as you like. Say that the Queen musical goes on for another 10 or 15 years, I can be the bass player during all this time! It is my choice, if I want to leave, you know. The cast changes all the time…these are the people who are under a contract. Also, I can take 6 months off, if I want to…but to get back to your question…yes, it is confining but you must understand that I am not anymore in a young or a successful band thus it all goes down to the money that you have to make for a living. But, if you think about it, it is also confining for those bands…at least most of them…for example U2 is a very successful band that has created a very loyal fan-base. They can evolve artistically and create new music, but 95% of their audience wants to hear the old songs. When a fan passes a certain age, he or she becomes a conservative listener. All they wanna hear is those songs that remind them of certain things of their youth. So, you may want to do new things but if the audience doesn’t wanna listen to them…what can you do?

Rockpages.gr: How different it is to be playing in the background of a musical stage scene in comparison with a regular band where you are actually on stage?

Neil Murray: It’s quite different…with the musical thing, it’s like being in a studio environment…everything sounds so crystal clear and perfect…very clinical! There is no rush or anxiety as it was in the Whitesnake or the Sabbath days where you had an audience looking at you. But, I am trying to deal with it (the Queen musical) like being a bass player on stage…I have to do that in order to keep a high level of performance. That’s really tough, because I have to put a lot of physical effort into my playing. You got to understand that this is a very unusual situation for a musician and it requires lots of energy on my behalf. You have to take notice also to what the sound guy has to say or even what the audiences say and improve your performance. All in all, you have to be very concentrated and pay attention to everything’s that’s going on during the play, whereas in a regular band you can say to the singer: “Hang on a minute; I have to tune up” (laughs)! You can’t do that on a musical…

Rockpages.gr: Has this almost controlled performance affected your style or way of playing?

Neil Murray: No, I suppose there is a bigger issue in the last 30 years of being a bass player in all the big bands…I know that this may come as a surprise, but my job was to copy other people! Copy Geezer Butler, copy John Deacon…even copy myself by playing the early Whitesnake stuff with other musicians. I get very little chance to be really me when I play bass. There were times, especially with Black Sabbath and Peter Green’s Band, where I couldn’t put anything original in the bass lines of the songs…so, it’s typical for me to try to play like someone else. Again…it all comes down to what I was saying before about the audience becoming conservative…they only want to hear the songs the way they were recorded. My theory is that the people want to hear the music that they grew up with…that’s the music they love the most…when they were 16 or 17 years old and they had no worries in their mind. For example, when Bernie (Marsden), Micky (Moody) and myself got together to play the classic Whitesnake stuff, people didn’t think much of it…they preferred David Coverdale with 4 or 5 other musicians despite the fact that we were three of the original guys in the band! They have almost imprinted in their minds that David Coverdale is Whitesnake. If we’ve got the name, that would be a totally different situation…it’s difficult but that’s the music business!

Rockpages.gr: How you would describe David Coverdale?

Neil Murray: Well, I can’t say how he is now, because we haven’t been together for the last 20 or so years. He changed a great deal as a person…mostly, in a good way. He became interested in literature, art and all kinds of music…the change was evident even during the late 80s but especially in the mid 80s where he wasn’t anymore the typical working-class guy but a…I don’t know…a rounded intellectual person! But, he also became much more Americanized and…someone who wanted to be in control of everything. When we first started with Whitesnake, it was very democratic, very equal. Of course, he was still the leader but all the other members were very important and responsible for that pure Whitesnake feeling and sound. As the time went by, David gathered all the spotlights and the other members became almost insignificant…like it is nowadays! There may be fans out there who would know Doug Aldrich but I am sure they have no idea who the bass player or the keyboardist is…I am referring to the majority of the people who go and see Whitesnake in concert. The question is: “Is it really important”? I am not sure…As long as they look good and play good, they don’t have to be…I guess, recognizable. Back in the early Whitesnake, it was a different thing altogether…after all, we were all such strong-minded individuals.

Rockpages.gr: Neil, you were the only member of the original or the classic Whitesnake line-up who stuck with David up until 1987…

Neil Murray: That’s true.

Rockpages.gr: How did you feel being the only original member, apart from David, that is…

Neil Murray: I was never David’s best friend. We were coming from different backgrounds…In the period between 1983-1984 his best friend would be Cozy Powell and his writing partner and right-hand man would be Mel Galley…as a matter of fact, it was Mel who wanted me back in the band. But, I’ll tell you something…I felt like a new guy when John Sykes and Mel Galley were in the band. The image and the sound of the band were rapidly changing and David Coverdale didn’t want to play the old songs (apart from the old classic ones). That brings us also to the subject that we discussed earlier about my bass-playing…in 1984-1986, I was playing differently than in the late 70s because the music was heavier and not bluesy at all. To tell you the truth, I didn’t have the freedom of the past…I kept my playing at a very simple level because that’s what the song required, really. So, I guess I am somebody who happens to be there on stage with some wonderful musicians. If I wasn’t there, I am sure somebody else would have taken my place…you wouldn’t really notice the difference whereas in early Whitesnake I was an integral part of the band.

Rockpages.gr: That’s very honest or should I say very modest of you, but I have to insist…if you ask any rock or metal fan to name a couple of famous bass players, I am sure that your name will pop up in that list. You have left your mark on the Whitesnake records…

Neil Murray: Thank you for your comment, but those guys will probably mention my name because it is on the credits of those records. If you ask them, who is the greatest rock bass player, they will definitely choose someone more obvious…like Steve Harris, Roger Glover or Geezer Butler. When I do clinics, the first think I ask the students is: “Do you want to be a “Jack of all trades” and be able to do whatever you will be asked to do or do you wanna risk it and try to establish a particular style”? I definitely fit in the first category, although I must say that I’d love to be more… “me” in the bass playing, but I am happy with what I put in the songs. I am not…shall we say, so much of an individualistic! I prefer to be a team player. 

Rockpages.gr: Do you remember any “war-stories” from the early Whitesnake days?

Neil Murray: (laughs) When people ask me this, my mind goes completely blank because I am so bad at remembering things from the past. But, I’ll tell you this…there weren’t any shocking, Ozzy Osbourne style, moments during the Snake tours that the journalists want to write and the fans want to talk about. I don’t know…Micky (Moody) would be the perfect person to talk about them.

Rockpages.gr: As a matter of fact, we talked with him yesterday.

Neil Murray: Really? So, there you have it. I am sure that he told you lots of stuff, because he is the one he did all the pranks and created those… “war stories”! Micky is a very nice and funny guy. Bernie and Micky were so funny…a killer duo! Of course, there were some typical rock n roll stories, but I am the wrong person to ask, really…I am a very conventional guy! Now that I think about it, I guess I am a guy who fits more in a band like Genesis than Black Sabbath. I tend to be very philosophical about music than indulge into the rock n roll routine with the famous sex, drugs and rock n roll. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy every single minute with Whitesnake. It was a great period for me…