Winds From The North

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the release of David Coverdale's second solo album, North Winds.  I discovered it in 1988, along with his debut album from 1977, White Snake, on a double album by Connoisseur Collection.  I soon purchased the Connoisseur double version on CD, and then later both albums individually when they had been remastered with extra tracks.

North Winds is a soulful album and a funky album.  You get the funky side of things on the opening track "Keep On Giving Me Love" and then move into the deeply soulful "Northwinds," a song that demonstrates how well Coverdale's vocals can shape a song.

I don't know what it is about the third track, "Give Me Kindness," that for some reason reminds me of New Orleans, but it does.  Perhaps it's the horn section.  It's a fun, swinging kind of song for those who've been around the block a time or two and as a result know a thing or two about life.

"Time & Again" is the stand out track for me.  I included it on a mix tape back in the day for the girl who would become my wife and to this day remains one of my all-time favorite romantic songs.  This is a soft, gentle number for lovers who are so deep into each other than completely understand what it means when Coverdale sings, "all I want to do is just talk about the woman I love."

"Queen Of Hearts" gives us the first taste of what the early Whitesnake would become, and for good reason.  It appeared on the first Whitesnake album, the Snake Bite EP.

"Only My Soul" is simply exquisite.  It touches that place in a man's soul where all he wants to do is weep, where he needs someone to lead him on "through restless waters" and to walk with him "along the way."  It is hauntingly beautiful number.

The next track, "Say You Love Me," opens with a piano riff that makes you think you are standing with good friends around the upright in someone's living room sharing memories in song.  Another horn selection gives this a good-time groove that leaves you saying, "Ah, yes!"

"Breakdown" concludes the original album and is a number about the breakdown of Deep Purple Mark IV in 1976.  A fast-paced rocker, it documents the end in the only way fitting, with solid rock 'n' roll.

The remastered album includes what to me were two fascinating surprises.  The first is an up-tempo, seriously funky number called "Shame The Devil" that has me reaching for polyester bell-bottoms and platform shoes.  It has the characteristic Coverdale flair in its lyrics with the line "shame the devil, tell the truth," and it makes you wonder with its horns and funk what it would have been like had he gone full tilt in this direction.

The other track is "Sweet Mistreater," that opens with a very surprising layer of synthesizer.  It sounds like nothing else Coverdale ever recorded and is squarely in the pop genre.  Again we see his affection for wink-wink, nudge-nudge lyrics in "you shame the devil when you tell me the truth, just like a dance hall queen."  The lyrics actually tell a rather said, typically blues tale, but that synthesizer takes it straight into pop.

All in all, it is well worth adding to any collection of great '70s music and great rock music, and it is a must for all fans of the unparalleled voice of David Coverdale.