The musicians on the album:
You're The One : Don Airey - Acoustic Piano/Moog Synthesizer, Jack Bruce - Bass Guitar, Bernie Marsden - Guitars/Vocals, Ian Paice - Drums. Song For Fran : Don Airey - Fender Rhodes/Yamaha C.S. 80, Jack Bruce - Bass Guitar, Bernie Marsden - Guitars, Simon Phillips - Drums. Love Made A Fool Of Me : Don Airey - Acoustic Piano/Moog Synthesizer, Neil Murray - Bass Guitar, Bernie Marsden - Guitars/Vocals, Cozy Powell - Drums. Here We Go Again : Don Airey - Acoustic Piano/Yamaha C.S.80/Moog Synthesizer, Jack Bruce - Bass Guitar, Bernie Marsden - Guitars/Vocals, Simon Phillips - Drums. Still The Same : Don Airey - Acoustic Piano/Hammond Organ/Moog Synthesizer, Neil Murray - Bass Guitar, Bernie Marsden - Guitars/Vocals, Cozy Powell - Drums. Sad Clown : Jack Bruce - Bass Guitar, Jon Lord - Hammond Organ, Bernie Marsden - Guitars/Vocals, Simon Phillips - Drums. Brief Encounter : Don Airey - Yamaha C.S. 80, Jack Bruce - Bass Guitar, Jon Lord - Hammond Organ, Bernie Marsden - Guitars, Ian Paice - Drums. Are You Ready? : Jack Bruce - Bass Guitar, Jon Lord - Acoustic Piano/Hammond Organ/Clavinet, Bernie Marsden - Guitars/Vocals, Ian Paice - Drums. Head The Ball : Don Airey - Yamaha C.S. 80/Moog Synthesizer, Jack Bruce - Bass Guitar, Bernie Marsden - Guitars, Simon Phillips - Drums.

Bernie Marsden's career as a rock guitarist has spanned the best part of three decades, during which time he has rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest names in the business. It was whilst with WHITESNAKE that Bernie really made his mark, but the solo albums which Bernie made at the time are often overlooked.

He had already played with UFO, WILD TURKEY, COZY POWELL'S HAMMER and BABE RUTH before Cozy Powell called him up to tell him Jon Lord and Ian Paice were auditioning for a new group, PAICE, ASHTON, LORD. Bernie was in his element here but sales of their LP were disappointing and they split after one LP.

Meanwhile ex-Deep Purple singer David Coverdale had formed Whitesnake and was looking for a second guitarist. He remembered seeing Bernie at PAL's London show and called him up. Bernie was quickly off the mark with the writing and was eventually responsible for much of what people would now call the classic Whitesnake tracks from this period. In July '79 Bernie Marsden recorded his first solo album for the Japanese market, where he found himself high in guitar polls thanks to the success of Whitesnake.

The impressive list of musicians on the album still amazes Bernie. "It's not a bad line-up even when you look at it now. Jack Bruce came in thanks to Cozy really, because he'd played on Cozy's album Over The Top. I said it would be great to have him play and Cozy just said 'well ask him then!' Jon Lord came in and did all his stuff in about two days. Paice was similarly enthusiastic: "Paicey was only going to play on one but when he heard the tracks he demanded to play on more". One extra track cut during the sessions, titled "You & Me" is here restored to the album, along with two tracks from a live session. Once the LP was finished, it was back to work in Whitesnake, who issued "Ready An' Willing", perhaps their strongest album of the Marsden era. "Fool For Your Loving" established them right across Europe.

In 1981 Bernie finally managed to find time to record a second solo album ('Look At Me Now', now also available on CD from Purple Records). The guest list this time round wasn't quite so big. Ian Paice, Neil Murray and Jon Lord did most of the honours, with Simon Phillips depping as the second drummer. When it came time for EMI to issue the Marsden albums in the UK, they asked Bernie which label he'd like it to be on. As a record fan, Bernie immediately said "Parlophone", thinking they'd never agree to it. He was overjoyed when they resurrected the label, complete with the original label design. There were plans for some live shows but Whitesnake were so busy these couldn't be sorted out.

Bernie did manage to get the musicians together in August 1981 for a radio session, which remains the only contemporary live outing for any of this material. Performing four songs from the album, the session was made even more interesting when Coverdale turned up to sing one song. Two songs from this session have been added to each CD. The pressure was beginning to tell in Whitesnake and half way through the next LP their manager persuaded David that it was the band who were the problem and ended up firing them.

Both of Bernie's solo CDs come with detailed booklets and comments from Bernie on the events surrounding the recording of the original albums. They can be ordered from the dpas online store.

purple records catalogue