Bernie Marsden - ...and on guitar (2003)

Bernard John Marsden was born on 7 May 1951 in Buckingham, England, and was inspired to play the guitar as a teenager by such authentic blues players as Howling Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson. He later picked up on such 60's white blues players as Peter Green, Eric Clapton, and Jeff Beck, and after playing with local Buckingham based groups, he formed Skinny Cat at the age of 17. After playing with them for a while, he got his first professional gig with UFO in 1972, but he left after recording some demos with Dave Edmunds at Rockfield Studios, as the rest of the group wanted German guitarist Michael Schenker in the band, who had actually been recommended by Marsden to the other members of UFO. He then joined Juicy Lucy, but once again was ejected before he could record an album with them, following which he played with Glenn Cornick's Wild Turkey in 1973, before he joined drummer Cozy Powell's band Cozy Powell's Hammer, playing on the band's hit single 'Na Na Na' in 1974. Babe Ruth were next in 1975, and he finally managed to record an album with one of his bands, playing on two releases for Capitol Records with 'Stealin' Home' in 1975, and 'Kid's Stuff' in 1976. During his time with Babe Ruth, Cozy Powell recommended him to Jon Lord who was forming a post Deep Purple outfit with Ian Paice and Tony Ashton called Paice Ashton Lord, and Marsden joined the band, along with bassist Paul Martinez, in time to record their 'Malice In Wonderland' album in 1976. While with Paice Ashton Lord he worked alongside saxophonist Howie Casey, who recommended him to Paul McCartney as a replacement for Henry McCulloch in Wings, but the offer never materialised, as after Paice Ashton Lord folded following the release of their sole album, Marsden formed a new band with former Deep Purple vocalist David Coverdale and guitarist Micky Moody. They started as David Coverdale's Whitesnake, which then became Whitesnake, and Marsden played on their debut EP, their first five studio albums and a live record between 1978 and 1980, co-writing many of the songs with Coverdale, and sometimes Moody. Following his departure from Whitesnake, he formed a short-lived band called Bernie Marsden's SOS, and then not long afterwards he put together Alaska, with Robert Hawthorne on vocals and Richard Bailey on keyboards, releasing two melodic rock albums, 'Heart Of The Storm' in 1984 and 'The Pack' in 1985, before splitting up. In 1986 he formed MGM with former Whitesnake members Neil Murray and his replacement guitarist in Whitesnake Mel Galley, with the band also briefly including former Toto vocalist Bobby Kimball, and while recordings were made they remain unreleased. In 1988 he wrote the song 'South Africa', which was recorded by Ian Gillan and released as a single, and in 1989 he reunited with Whitesnake guitarist Moody to form The Moody Marsden band, recording the acoustic live album 'Live In Hell' in Norway, and an electric live album in England titled 'Never Turn Our Back On The Blues', before releasing their one studio album 'Real Faith' in 1994. Marsden released two solo albums during his time in Whitesnake, and has continued to record and release albums right up to date, with his 'Kings' album coming out a few months ago, and with this post you can hear how he filled his spare time by appearing on a wide variety of albums from other artists throughout his early years.  

Track listing

01 Reality In Arrears (from 'You & Me' by Chick Churchill 1973)
02 Suzanne (from 'Journey's End' by Matthew Fisher 1973)
03 Oh My (Rockfield Studios demo for UFO 1973)
04 Na Na Na (single by Cozy Powell's Hammer 1974)
05 Some Kind Of Beautiful (from 'Jumble Queen' by Bridget St John 1974)
06 The City (from 'Why' by K2 1980)
07 Chance On A Feeling (from 'Before I Forget' by Jon Lord 1982)
08 Head The Ball (from 'Guitar Speak II' 1988)
09 South Africa (single by Gillan 1988)
10 In A Perfect World (from 'Forcefield IV: Let the Wild Run Free' by Forcefield 1991)
11 Check Me Out (from the soundtrack of the TV series 'Frankie' 1995)
12 A Woman Like That (from the soundtrack of the film 'Still Crazy' 1998)
13 Als God Geen Vrouw Is Mam (from 'Pop Model' by Mama's Jasje 2000)
14 On Common Ground (from 'I Eat Them For Breakfast' by Micky Moody 2002)
15 Lady Starlight (from 'Freak Out!' by Chris Catena 2003)

UFO - Galactic Love (1976)

Lead singer Phil Mogg, guitarist Mick Bolton, bassist Pete Way, and drummer Andy Parker formed Hocus Pocus in 1968, before changing their name in October 1969 to UFO in honour of the London club of the same name. They actually played there, and were spotted by Noel Moore, who signed them to Beacon Records, and they released their debut eponymous album in 1970. It was a typical example of early hard rock, including a heavy version of the Eddie Cochran classic 'C'mon Everybody', but although it was very successful in Japan and Germany, it didn't generate much interest in Britain and America. Their early work could be very strongly influenced by space rock, and their second album included a 26-minute title track and a 19-minute-long opus 'Star Storm'. The band soon realised that this style was somewhat limited, and after Mick Bolton left the group in 1972 they began the search for a new guitarist who could provide the band with a more standard rock sound. After brief trial runs with Larry Wallis and Bernie Marsden the band recruited Michael Schenker from the Scorpions. Schenker was only 18 at the time but was already a well-respected guitarist, and with a new label, Chrysalis Records, the revamped UFO recorded a non-LP single in 1973, 'Give Her The Gun'/'Sweet Little Thing'. In 1974, the band recorded 'Phenomenon', produced by Ten Years After's Leo Lyons, and from that point on they became one of the UK's best and most popular hard rock bands. This post collects together a few one-off singles, including that 1973 offering, plus some previously unreleased gems, proving just what a great hard rock band UFO were.

Track listing

01 Galactic Love (single 1972)
02 Give Her The Gun (single 1973)
03 Sweet Little Thing (b-side of 'Give Her The Gun')
04 Sixteen (previously unreleased 1974)
05 Oh My (previously unreleased demo 1974)
06 A Million Miles (previously unreleased 1975)
07 All Or Nothing (previously unreleased 1975)
08 French Kisses (previously unreleased 1976)
09 Have You Seen Me Lately Joan (previously unreleased 1976)
10 All The Strings (previously unreleased 1976)
11 Do It If You Can (previously unreleased 1976)