In a recent chat with Alma Hard, former Snakewhite guitarist Adrian Vandenberg shared how ‘frustrating’ it was to have another guitarist play the material he co-wrote for ‘Slip of the Tongue.’ However, the guitarist admitted that he was glad his former bandmate David Coverdale didn’t pick a ‘sh*tty player.’
After recalling Steve Vai joining the band, he reminisced about the friendship of the two. “Of course, Steve and I became really good friends during that tour,” the guitarist explained. “It was after the frustrating period, when I was looking to get doctors, to get my wrist problem solved. At the same time, I realized, ‘Man, as frustrating as it is, it’s still a big kick that somebody of Steve Vai’s caliber plays my music.’ So, had it been a sh*tty guitar player, I would have gone out. But Steve made it, put his mark on it.”
Vandenberg had to share his guitar duties with Vai after injuring his wrist. The two played in ‘Slip Of The Tongue’ together, but at first, Vandenberg wasn’t entirely happy with Vai’s playing on the album, since it didn’t align with the creative vision he had originally imagined for the record.
“It took me a while to come to terms with it,” the guitarist said during another interview. “I was a big admirer of Steve, but I had a vision of how I wanted those songs to sound: I wanted big rhythm guitars, melodic, and bluesy licks.”
“It was one of the most challenging things I’d ever done, and it took me a few weeks to start appreciating Steve’s work. I had to overcome my frustration about not being able to play the songs as I’d hoped, but once I overcame my frustration and became close with Steve, I came to love how they turned out,” he added.
Whitesnake achieved their third platinum record with the release of ‘Slip of the Tongue.’ The album came out in November 1989 and reached No. 10 on both the U.K. and U.S. album charts. The album turned 30 in 2019, and to celebrate, Rhino released several new versions, including a large seven-disc box set.