Richmond is definitely one of the most beautiful and picturesque suburbs of London…that’s where the meeting with the original Whitesnake guitarist, Micky Moody, was arranged. The background? Ideal! The interview took place inside an Irish traditional pub. We arrived first, sat down, order some beers and waited for Micky (who was punctual as a true Englishman).

Interview: Yiannis Dolas, Dimitris Kazantzis, Sakis Nikas

Rockpages.gr: Snafu was your first professional band, wasn’t it?

Micky Moody: Not really…Snafu actually was the last band that I was in before I joined Whitesnake. I had a band in school when I was 14-15 years old and we were doing cover songs…Beatles, Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, Animals, Kinks and others. Paul Rodgers from Free and Bad Company was on the bass…

Rockpages.gr: What was the name of the band?

Micky Moody: We were called Road Runners. We were so young…we were not convincing, but we were singing really well and the Blues that we were playing got better with time. Actually, I have a book out that covers these early days of mine…it covers the first period…

Rockpages.gr: What was the year?

Micky Moody: That was 1967…the year of the “flower power”. When we came to London, we changed the name of the band to Wildflowers. We were playing Blues Music…but also with a Motown flavor mixed with the attitude of Jimi Hendrix. By that time, Paul’s voice was so strong that the bass was handled by Bruce Thomas and Paul became just the lead singer! Then I found myself in another band called Tramline with whom I recorded a couple of records for the famous Island Records that had such bands as Traffic, Free etc. Pretty good label…

Rockpages.gr: I suppose that these are only available in vinyl?

Micky Moody: Oh yeah…although, I think that a German label recently released them on c.d. format. Anyway, when I was in Tramline I was 17 years old and already a professional guitarist. In 1969, I returned to London and I found myself in a soul band called Lucas and The Mike Cotton Band.

Rockpages.gr: Fancy name!

Micky Moody: Yes…we were doing songs in the vein of James Brown. After that, I hooked up with Zoot Money, did an album, a tour…before I joined Juicy Lucy and go up even higher by recording a few albums and do a couple of tours in Europe. That was the big time…After that, it was Snafu!

Rockpages.gr: So, I guess that Snafu wasn’t your first professional band, after all…

Micky Moody: (laughs) I guess not! That was a long journey…after Snafu I did some session work, before I got a call from David Coverdale who was about to record a solo record. That was right after the Deep Purple split…I knew David from the Tramline days.

Rockpages.gr: How did you meet him?

Micky Moody: Well, David is from Northern England as I am. He was at our college…actually, he is one year younger than me. He was singing in a local group and that’s how I got to see and later meet him. He had glasses and he was…uhh…bigger…nothing like Coverdale of the 80s or even now. I had not seen him for a long time, but when I was in Germany with Snafu he came and saw us playing. He was living in Munich back then with his German wife. He was thinking of starting his solo career and he wanted me as the lead guitarist.

Rockpages.gr: That was…1976?

Micky Moody: Yes…now that I think about it, maybe it was September 1975 or something. He wasn’t very happy in Deep Purple with all the problems that the band was facing with Tommy Bolin and Glenn Hughes. Anyway, in early 1976, Deep Purple was playing in Wembley Arena and David called me and asked me to come and see him backstage. I was specially taken care by his tour manager…they even came by my house to pick me up…David had his own dressing room and I can see that the atmosphere was not that good in Deep Purple. David said to me: “In a few months, I am gonna start recording with Roger Glover”. I said “OK, give me a call” and after a while he suggested that I should go to Munich, stay in his house and write the first record. Fantastic…by then, I had left Snafu. When it came time to record the album, David asked me if I knew any good session musicians. He wanted me to play all the guitars in the album, which took me by surprise to tell you the truth because I wasn’t a hard rock guitar player…until Whitesnake, I was playing all kind of stuff except hard rock!

Rockpages.gr: Well, the first album is not a hard rock album, after all…

Micky Moody: No, you are right. But, the thing is that David didn’t want to do a hard rock album. Simon Philips was the drummer…he plays with Toto nowadays. Simon was a little kid…we would all drink vodka and scotch and he will be into lemonade! (laughs)

Rockpages.gr: When David decided with “Northwinds” to go into a harder direction, did you have any second thoughts or you went along with the ride?

Micky Moody: No…well…do you think that “Northwinds” was harder?

Rockpages.gr: Yes.

Rockpages.gr: Well, a little bit. On the other hand, once again I did all the guitars on the album. In December 1977, David wanted to form a real band with steady members. From the beginning, the direction wouldn’t be heavy…we wouldn’t go into the Deep Purple path. We all wanted to have a good time and be a little bluesy…a little bit rock n roll…a little bit of everything. We were younger and we lived a little bit more dangerously…I guess. Certainly, more than nowadays! (laughs) When Jon Lord listened to the “Snakebite” EP, which was the first thing that we ever recorded as Whitesnake, he wanted immediately to join the band because he loved the combination of rock n roll with rhythm n’ blues. A while later, his brother in law, Ian Paice, joined the band, too. Actually, Ian said that he wanted to join Whitesnake, like Jon had done a couple of years earlier.

Rockpages.gr: So, you had a good part of the Deep Purple family in there…

Micky Moody: Yeah…three members. If you add Neil, Bernie and myself, -we were much respected musicians- then you can see why Whitesnake was such a unique band.

Rockpages.gr: Wasn’t about that time, when Bernie Marsden came with the idea of the T’ shirts that said “No, I wasn’t in Deep fuckin’ Purple”?

Micky Moody: That was around 1979. I remember that T’ shirt…the roadies wanted some for themselves! (laughs) When David Coverdale saw it, he didn’t like it at all. But, me and Bernie were always very mischievous…playing constantly jokes and have a laugh.

Rockpages.gr: Did you feel a full member of Whitesnake or just a player in David Coverdale’s band?

Micky Moody: Full member, indeed. I wasn’t getting the full money, but that’s another story! The only time when I didn’t feel a full member of Whitesnake was in 1982 when David asked me to rejoin the band. I had left in late 1981, because I had had enough of the business side of things…anyway, when I returned Cozy Powell and Mel Galley were in Whitesnake…great musicians, to say the least. But, I kinda felt like a session guitar player in that line-up. We had a different management and the vibe was not the same, by any means. I don’t blame David for this decision…we weren’t making any money and he needed something better for his career. But, in that particular line-up, I was treated like a session player…it was all about David and Cozy. I didn’t enjoy that period with Whitesnake.

Rockpages.gr: Did you think that it was during that time that David was thinking of going into a more commercial direction?

Micky Moody: Absolutely!

Rockpages.gr: From your perspective, when exactly do you think he started having those thoughts?

Micky Moody: I think right after the “Saints & Sinners” record. David started listening to a lot of American industry people…especially John David Kalodner from Geffen. This guy was ruthless and I’ll tell you why…the last time that I played with Whitesnake was in October 1983. While, I was playing…I think it was in Hamburg…John Kalodner was standing at the side of the stage and he was taking notes. I thought that “this is sinister…this is dark”. By the end of the show, he went straight to David and he showed him the notes…it was obvious that John Kalodner did not think much of me. Here’s a story after that incident…we were at a hotel in Germany…on the same tour…and David was sitting with John Sykes. Without any specific reason, he turned to me and he said: “Don’t you ever turn your back at the audience during the show”. He said that in front of John Sykes and it was evident that Sykes was really embarrassed. I didn’t say anything, but I remember thinking “Fuck you”! I am sorry to tell you this, but this is the truth. He had embarrassed me in front of another musician, but David had already decided to bring John Sykes in the band. After the last gig in Belgium, I asked the tour manager to go and get all the members of Whitesnake in my room to announce my decision to leave the band. Everybody came in my room except Coverdale…Cozy –being a truly honest guy- said to me: “Good decision”! Jon Lord started crying…cause Jon is always very emotional. A week later, David called me and said… “ Oh, you’re leaving the band…”. That’s the story guys!

Rockpages.gr: So, that was the last time that you saw him? In Belgium, October 1983?

Micky Moody: That’s correct. I’ll tell you a story…Bernie Marsden went to see Whitesnake…I think, four years ago. That was in Bristol…when he went to the backstage area; a guy stopped him and asked him who he was. Bernie said that he was in the original line-up of Whitesnake and he was the co-writer of a song called “Here I Go Again”! (laughs) He let him in and Bernie waited for David to come and meet him…say hello…because, David was already informed that Bernie was in the area. Anyway, Bernie waited and waited…until he found out that David had left without even saying good-bye to him! When we talked with Bernie, after that incident, he said to me that I wouldn’t even recognize Coverdale. He is a different guy, now. He is an American.

Rockpages.gr: How you would compare the two Whitesnake eras?

Micky Moody: Those were two different things…in the beginning we were very raw, hungry and nowadays all you see is a slick, polished…international band. Don’t get me wrong…it’s still a good show, but…now, it’s like a hard rock cabaret…it’s the same thing every single night! With the classic line-up, you didn’t know what would happen on stage…we were wild and we were on fire!

Rockpages.gr: So, if David called you up today and asked you to do another album like in the old days, what would your answer be?

Micky Moody: I’d say “yes” without any second thinking. I don’t think that he will, though…(laughs)! David wants to work with young and fit musicians. We are certainly not young…I look good compared to Bernie…(laughs), but not that good for Coverdale.

Rockpages.gr: What were really your thoughts when you listen to the second version of “Fool For Your Loving” with Steve Vai on guitar?

Micky Moody: I think that the original version is better. Not because I was in that line-up, but because I truly believe that Bernie’s particular solo is far better than the one that Steve Vai came up with. Steve is a phenomenal guitar player but “Fool For Your Loving” is a blues-rock tune that turned into another hard rock song…very typical.

Rockpages.gr: What happened with Company of Snakes and later MIII?

Micky Moody: What happened…I think that we went as far as we could. Tony Martin was good in singing Black Sabbath songs, but it was a totally different think with the Whitesnake ones. Those are really difficult songs and after all, David Coverdale is a serious singer! Tony Martin is a heavy metal singer and the early Whitesnake material is not heavy metal, at all. Jorn Lande and Stefan Berggren did a hell of a job with Company of Snakes but it was a dead end for us…we weren’t going anywhere.. So, we decided to fold both bands.

Rockpages.gr: What do you remember from Cozy Powell?

Micky Moody: Cozy was a straight, no “stamp you in the back” guy. What he wanted to say, he came straight in your face and say it to you. A very honest person! Apart from being a superb and professional musician, he was also a showman! If he didn’t want to do something on stage, everybody followed…we listened to him! He wasn’t your ordinary drummer! Cozy was larger than life!

Rockpages.gr: You are, also, working, on brand new material…