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Doogie White: travelling the rock’n’roll world

Doogie White; image courtesy of Rick Freeman

Rick Freeman offered us for publication an interview with Doogie White that he did recently.

Rick: How did the solo album come about? Hard to believe that this is your first!

Doogie: Well I had a great many songs kicking around that I had written over the years and during the down time after parting from Yngwie I decided to record an album. You either step up or get off.

Rick: Did you go into the studio with songs to record or did you work them out during the sessions?

Doogie: The songs were all demoed with the other writers and sent out to the musicians. They then played and recorded their parts and Pontus Norgren put it all together.

Rick: When you write a song what comes first, the Title, the lyrics or the music?

Doogie: It can go either way. I tend to have lots of scraps of paper or notebooks with ideas lying around. I also tend to put ideas down on a small recorder for riffs or melodies. It’s a very organic spontaneous way of working. Sometimes someone will send me music and I have to work round that.

Rick: What was the atmosphere like in the studio making your first solo album, were you the “Boss” or did you work as a band?

Doogie: I did have final say on what was included but the musicians are all top class and know their craft so it was never a problem.

Rick: In retrospect, do you think you should have recorded a solo album earlier as opposed to working with so many others?

Doogie: Well the songs have been ready for a while, but I was so busy with various other musical endeavors that to have released it any earlier would have left me competing with myself. I am happy with everything.

Rick: Do you look at your volume of work as a time of learning, a great experience?

Doogie: It’s not anything I have reflected on. From Cornerstone to Tank and all in between have been great fun to do, even in the more challenging of times or when the well is dry. But it’s all a journey that I am pleased to be on.

Rick: The first thing I noticed is that this is a guitar album in the vein of AC/DC, and The Rolling Stones among others not in the style of a guitar virtuoso.

Doogie: Well I did the guitar virtuoso stuff with others and this was to be a strong song adventure. However, there are very strong guitar performances from the chaps. “Secret Jesus” was the first song written after I left Rainbow and had no solo in it at all but Phil Hilborne found a gap and put a blistering flurry of sonic loveliness in there.

Rick: Are you paying homage to groups that you like on this album? In the intro I hear a echo of “Kashmir”. “Come Taste The Band” just the title along seems to be a tip of the hat. “Catz Got Yer Tongue” is Rock and Roll from the title to the final beat. I can hear AC/DC easily recording this one. The first two words “Brown Sugar” had me smiling.

Doogie: The song CTTB, the first song on the album, was written for my Rainbow audition in the style of Mk4 Deep Purple. Ritchie liked the song and thought it was cheeky of me to do it. It’s the song that I guess people expected me to do, so its first and the only song like that on the album. Catz is from the same writing session.

Rick: Tell us about this fantastic group of musicians you have assembled.

Doogie: I did not want it to be a band but a group of friends making great music. So I asked people who I had traveled the rock n roll world with to join in and they all did. We worked round everyone’s schedule. Of everyone I asked only Ritchie declined.

Rick: Do you plan to tour or just play a few selected shows to support “As Yet Untitled”?

Doogie: I record albums hoping to take the music to the live arena. This one is no different. Talks are taking place.

Rick: You are in such demand. You along with Paul Rodgers are the only two singers that seem to be able to not only fit in but, sing anything. I can see you fronting Queen, and Aerosmith among others. I personally enjoyed your work with Jon Lord. I hope that you will work with him again in the future. With everything going on with Tank, recording with Kruk, Demon’s Eye to name a few I was surprised you found the time for a Solo CD. Was it hard to squeeze in the time?

Doogie White; image courtesy of Rick FreemanDoogie: Wow!! That’s a statement!! I am just a singer who happens to sing rock music because I love it. I have done sessions for publishing companies for pop songs but I don’t really get the vibe. I love big guitars. There are 52 weeks in a year I try to work, if I can, in most of them. To work with Jon Lord was a serious highlight for me and if I have one wish it is that I get to sing with Jon again, hopefully in 4 or 5 years time.

Rick: At the moment you are recording with Tank, correct?

Doogie: We are writing the new album between doing shows. There is pressure for this one as the last one “War Machine” was so strong. It’s coming together quite well, we will write 15, record 12 and put 10 on the album.

Rick: Can you tell us about any other projects you have in the works?

Doogie: Not at the moment. I am concentrating on promoting the solo album and looking at tour dates. Also with Tank live shows and a new album in the works that will take me to Christmas.

Rick: One last question, is there anyone you would like to work with that you have not?

Doogie: I wrote and performed with Michael Schenker and hope we can do more together. I would quite like to challenge myself with Tony Iommi but I guess every singer in rock would love to do that. Also I would like to finish what Ritchie Blackmore and I started in 94. It seems unfinished to me. I think that’s wishful thinking though.

Rick: Thank you for your time. Best wishes for the album “As Yet Untitled”. Very enjoyable, both the album and the interview.

Doogie White “As Yet Untitled” 2011 artwork; image courtesy of Metal Mind ProductionsDoogie’s new solo album As Yet Untitled will be released via Metal Mind on October 24 in Europe and November 7 in the US.

Track list:

  1. Come Taste The Band
  2. Time Machine
  3. Dreams Lie Down And Die
  4. Lonely
  5. Land Of The Deceiver
  6. Secret Jesus
  7. Sea Of Emotion
  8. Catz Got Yer Tongue
  9. Living On The Cheap
  10. Times Like These

Personnel:

  • Patrick Johansson (Yngwie Malmsteen) – Drums
  • Thomas Broman (Glenn Hughes) – Drums
  • Derek Sherinian (Black Country Communion) – Keyboards
  • Tony Carey (Rainbow) – Keyboards
  • Neil Murray (Whitesnake) – Bass
  • Greg Smith (Ted Nugent) – Bass
  • Paul Logue (Edens Curse) – Bass
  • Pontus Norgren (Hammerfall) – Guitar
  • Marcus Jidell (Royal Hunt) – Guitar
  • Phil Hilborne (Queen Musical) – Guitar
  • Mick Tucker (Tank) – Guitar
  • Patti Russo (Meatloaf, Cher) – Guest vocals

Preorder the album from a store near you:



11 Comments to “Doogie White: travelling the rock’n’roll world”:

  1. 1
    fdr says:

    Nice of him to wish to sing again with Jon in a 4/5 years time. Nice little touch.

  2. 2
    buttocks says:

    Doggie is not my type of singer a little winey like ‘Axel Rose’ and to european for my taste, did not care for the vocals on ‘stranger in us all’ thought was a little weak. Nice to see ‘Tony Carey’ back and healthy again agood lad and nice person.

  3. 3
    Gary says:

    Great interview, Rick !

  4. 4
    marcinn says:

    Great job, Mr. Freeman!

  5. 5
    Dave says:

    Good Job Rick !

  6. 6
    Roberto says:

    Very good singer (I like more european style) but not great composer (as the 90% of nowdays musicians…)

  7. 7
    RickF says:

    Thanks to the THS team for posting this. Rasmus!! Marcin for opening a door and Gary for pushing me thru. This is a great album. His comments on Jon Lord were perfect. I did bring up Ritchie, he did. This guy is a true Gentleman and a class act. Good Luck. I have been a fan since ’95. When I got my hands on “Stranger in us all.” this young man can sing anything!

  8. 8
    Tracy Heyder (Zero the Hero) says:

    As a Purple fan, I found Doogie to be the consummate addition to the fold after I heard him on the live recordings in Rainbow in 1995. He is able to cover All of the Purple and related tunes. His renditions of Burn songs, DIO songs, Rainbow and Purple songs were nice and close to the original singers, yet he kept them close to ‘home’ too. He did it believably, without trying too hard and without showing signs of being intimidated. I agree with his feelings about the ‘unfinished business’ regarding a follow-up to “Stranger In Us All”. Candice snipped Ritchie’s cod sack and cut short a truly remarkable pairing in those 2. Ritchie really did miss out by not going further with that venture. As far as he and Iommi???? Ritchie better snap him up again ASAP before Tony reads this. Doogie would be a great choice for furthering the Sabbath legacy.

    Cheers

  9. 9
    Macgregor says:

    Yes I have to agree with Tracey Zero the Hero here! Shock horror perhaps? Not really, when the rave is about the music, I am all ears. I always liked the Stranger In Us All album & have surprised a few people with it over the years. It was fresh, exciting & had all the elements of a classic Rainbow album IMHO. With Doogie’s vocal melodies w& Blackmore’s riffs etc & being something new, it didn’t have the in differences that were present with any of the band personal, as appeared to be the case with the previous 2 Purple albums! Well, one Purple album & 1 Deep Rainbow album! As far as working with Iommi, yes Doogie would fit in there also, however he is a similar vocalist to Tony Martin, hence the covering all styles praise. I wish Iommi would do something with Martin again or White perhaps, & call it (the band) something different, not Sabbath. It could work!

  10. 10
    Mr Simpson says:

    Just recently heard some of the stanger in us all tour stuff and Doogie did indeed do an excellent job, he had a lot of large boots to fill on that tour and he filled them well

  11. 11
    Larry R. Toering says:

    Nice to see this here, great work, Rick.

    The album is out, and it kicks major ass, every last bit of it is fantastic!

    “lonely… lonely comes the morning, lonely comes the evening… and the rest of the night…” -if that doesn’t indicate the groove, you have just lost it.

    I like the theories of the Sabbath nature here, he could do the legacy justice.

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