BERNIE MARSDEN – And About Time Too [Digitally Remastered +1]

Draw upon the just released Whitesnake 1987 anniversary edition, one of you asked for the white serpens original guitarist BERNIE MARSDEN first solo recording “And About Time Too“, recently remastered with a bonus track by Hear No Evil / Cherry Red Records.

Originally released by EMI on their famed Parlophone label, “And About Time Too” has an impressive list of guest musicians; Cream’s Jack Bruce on bass and vocals, Don Airey (Rainbow, Ozzy, Deep Purple) on keyboards, Ian Paice (Whitesnake, Deep Purple) on drums, the legendary Cozy Powell (Jeff Beck, Rainbow, MSG, Black Sabbath, Whitesnake) and renowned session drummer Simon Phillips (Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Judas Priest, Toto) on drums, Neil Murray (Whitesnake) on bass and Jon Lord (Deep Purple, Whitesnake) on keyboards, all make an appearance on the album.

Bernie Marsden is certainly a great guitar player and a somewhat underrated songwriter as it was him with Micky Moody and David Coverdale who wrote most of early Whitesnake classics, although he & Moody rarely get the recognition.
On this particular album, his first solo, the songs are all good and very melodic featuring Marsden’s distinctive vocals (great harmonies) and he is on top form with the Les Paul. However, although there are some elements recalling Whitesnake’s bluesy hard rock, this is predominantly a Rock&pop album – but in a good way.

Opener, “You’re The One” hooks you in straight away with its funky riff and a sound typical of the Rock FM around those years. There are two tracks that stand out head and shoulders from the rest which are more in a Whitesnake kind of vein, these are the atmospheric “Still The Same” (one of 4 tracks co-written with Coverdale) with Cozy hitting the skins, and the great instrumental “Head The Ball” showcasing a superb keyboard work by Don Airey and amazing drumming by Simon Phillips.

“Sad Clown” has a very British retro feel about it, where Bernie throws in another skilful guitar solo at the end, “Are You Ready” is a fun bluesy rocker with nice backing vocals, same with the originally single B-side, bonus track “You And Me” (later re-worked for Whitesnake’s Lovehunter), but in a less harder and more whiskey-soaked version here.

The album was produced by Martin Birch (Deep Purple, Rainbow, Iron Maiden and… Whitesnake), and while the material was recorded with analog equipment, this remastered reissue sounds excellent, features new updated artwork based on photos from the original album session, plus a new interview conducted with Bernie for this release.
Highly Recommended

01. You’re The One
02. Song For Fran
03. Love Made A Fool Of Me
04. Here We Go Again
05. Still The Same
06. Sad Clown
07. Brief Encounter
08. Are You Ready
09. Head The Ball
BONUS TRACK:
10. You & Me (Non-Album B-Side)

Bernie Marsden – guitars, vocals
Jack Bruce – bass, backing vocals
Don Airey – keyboards
Jon Lord – keyboards
Neil Murray – bass
Ian Paice – drums
Simon Phillips – drums
Cozy Powell – drums
Irene & Doreen Chanter, Stuart Calvert – backing vocals

BUY IT !
www.cherryred.co.uk/product/and-about-time-too/
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