Guitarist ADRIAN VANDENBERG Looks Back On Replacing JOHN SYKES In WHITESNAKE, Recording Guitar Parts For "Here I Go Again" (Audio)
July 31, 2020, 4 years ago
Former Whitesnake guitarist Adrian Vandenberg recently guested on the Eddie Trunk Podcast, and during the chat he looked back on recording guitar parts for "Here I Go Again", the smash hit from Whitesnake's self-titled album released in 1987. All guitar parts on the album were recorded by John Sykes except for the breakthrough single.
Vandenberg: "David (Coverdale / vocals) asked me to make new guitar arrangements for 'Here I Go Again' because John from Geffen records thought it sounded like 'metal-country-western.' It's how he described it. So, I was in the back of the studio working on a record to figure out the new guitar arrangement, and there was a lot of noise in the control room, with John Sykes and David arguing about the fact that John didn't really accept not being in Whitesnake anymore.
John Sykes was in England at the time, and David let John know that the cooperation didn't work anymore. So, I was working in the back room when John Sykes and David were arguing; it was quite a historic event, especially looking at it afterwards. At that particular moment, nobody could have predicted the immense success of the record so, yeah, I'm still really proud to have been a part of it all.
I just bought a cheap-ass Japanese Stratocaster copy or something, and David asked me to play the parts on 'Here I Go Again,' and I did. So it was quite a strange experience to watch the song go all the way to #1 on a cheap Japanese guitar."
