By: Rob Cavuoto
Whitesnake have just released their 12th studio album, The Purple Album, which is a re-imagination of classic songs during David Coverdale’s time as lead singer for Deep Purple’s Mark 3 and Mark 4 studio albums.
Turns out it was David’s wife, Cindy, who suggested he create this CD celebrating his legacy with Deep Purple.
The CD features killer versions of “Burn”, “Stormbringer” and “Come Taste the Band” to name a few. Other songs like “Lady Double Dealer,” “Soldier of Fortune” and “Sail Away” are given a new energy in the very capable hands of the current Whitesnake lineup of David Coverdale on vocals, Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra on guitars, Michael Devin on bass and Tommy Aldridge on drums.
The band have also kicked off a world tour in May that started in the U.S.
I was able to catch up with an old friend and newest member of Whitesnake, Joel Hoekstra, to talk about the creation of this “Snaked-up” version of Deep Purple’s classic songs, as well as his solo CD which will be coming out this October.
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Robert Cavuoto: I was never really familiar with a lot of Deep Purple songs outside of their hits, so for me listening to this CD it came across as new Whitesnake material. Were you a big fan of Deep Purple and how did they influence your playing?
Joel Hoekstra: I’m in the same boat as you. I was a casual fan who knew the hits and the bigger songs. When David informed me about the CD, I listened to the original versions for two or three weeks before transcribing the ones that were going to be on this CD.
When we went into the studio we did our own thing with them, as they say “learn it all and then forget about it” [Laughing]. This way you end up playing like yourself in the end. Hopefully some of it comes off inherently as an influence.
Robert: Did David give you a lot of freedom for interpretation during the recording?
Joel Hoekstra: David was fantastic and very open minded in the studio. We didn’t do “note for note” versions and really got a chance to flex our creative muscles quite a bit.
Some of these versions are completely reworked. I would encourage anyone to give a listen and check it out.
Some of them we “muscled up” or “Snaked up”, as David would say. Others we drastically re-did, like on “Sail Away” which we turned into a complete acoustic version.
I had the opportunity of creating the acoustic arrangement for that song. There is a real fresh spin on these songs where people who are familiar with the material will enjoy, as well as people who are hearing them maybe for the first time.
Robert: When you joined Whitesnake when did you first learn that the project would be a Deep Purple cover CD?
Joel Hoekstra: The first time I met up with David was in the end of May, he filled me in on it and I thought it would be a lot of fun for me. I thought it was an opportunity to put my own spin on playing some classic and proven songs.
Whitesnake has such a killer line-up with Reb Beach on guitar, Michael Devin on bass, and Tommy Aldridge on drums, as it was such fun to work together in the studio and to be able to do some double guitar parts and leads that aren’t on the originals.
Robert: How was it coming into the band as the “new guy” and how was determined who would be taking which parts?
Joel Hoekstra: It was pretty easy actually as they are all great professionals. My audition for the band was soloing over “Lady Double Dealer.” What I played on the audition was pretty much what ended up on the CD. There was also a harmony solo after the main solo which I wrote on the spot. Then we did some singing and that was really my audition.
I figured we were not going to lean as heavy on the keyboards during the recording and Reb was going to be playing a lot of the riffs that were existing. So, I just tried to come in to the recording with as many alternate ideas as possible and a lot of counter parts…textural parts. A lot of these ideas ended up on the CD.
Robert: What phase was the band in the development of the CD when you joined them?
Joel Hoekstra: They were in pre-production.
Robert: You talked about coming up alternate parts to the songs; did the band record any alternate versions of the songs to see what sounded the best?
Joel Hoekstra: There are some alternate mixes that are out there and may be released as bonus tracks. I’m not really sure where David will use them. There is a version of “Stormbringer” with one of my solos and a version of me soloing on “Love Child.
There is an alternate version of “Solider of Fortune” with just nylon string guitar and David singing. That’s originally how we cut it. It was a real goose bumps moment.
Robert: How did you decide how you and Reb with split up leads?
Joel Hoekstra: I’m not that kind of guy that needs to play every lead and neither is Reb. It ended up as 50/50 anyway. A lot of times I get off playing rhythm guitar as much as playing leads. I don’t need to have the spot light in order to feel important as a player.
For me, it’s about playing something at a high level. I rather sacrifice and play D, C, G all night on a high level than play a million notes in a musical scenario. Reb is super easy to work with in that department and super generous.
Robert: Did you explore using any vintage gear during the recording?
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Joel Hoekstra: We didn’t have a ton of time to really dive into that. So, I went with my standby EVH 3 amp heads which I have used for years with Night Ranger and my Friedman BE100, which Bruce Swanson from Foreigner turned me on to. I love that head and used it on the bulk of the CD. That’s pretty much what I’ll take on tour, as well.
Robert: I saw you have some new Whitesnake Les Paul guitars; did you use them on the recording?
Joel Hoekstra: They weren’t ready in time, but I did use Les Pauls.
I used my Gold Top that I used all those years in Night Ranger and my white Custom. I used this opportunity of being with Whitesnake to touch base with all my favorite gear companies. Gibson made me two custom Les Pauls with the Whitesnake medallions in the body.
With the Strat connection of Deep Purple, Fender put two custom Strats together for me with the medallions in the body as well. I’m using Gibson and Fender as God intended [Laughing].
There a small company, Atomic Guitars, that made a guitar for me every year through my gigs. They made that American Flag Les Paul guitar that I used with Night Ranger, a guitar for the play Rock of Ages and a white Explorer for Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
With my new guitar they totally hit it out of the park and made a me a purple crystal Les Paul styled guitar with gold crystal “WS” in the body. I’m heading out on the road this year with five brand new guitars [Laughs]. You can see them all on my Twitter page.
Robert: Was it a challenge to conquer Ritchie Blackmore’s fluid style of playing for this CD?
Joel Hoekstra: All music is a challenge when trying to emulate it. Thankfully for the solo I just did my own thing and so did Reb. It was a great honor for me to record songs by Ritchie and Tommy Bolan.
Like David says all the time, “This isn’t so much about comparison.”
Robert: You have your own solo CD coming out, what can you tell me about it?
Joel Hoekstra: It going to be called Joel Hoekstra’s 13 and will be out in October. I wanted to create something where I did all writing. To also give people a taste of what my influences are in the rock scene; which is Dio at its heaviest and Foreigner at its lightest.
I had some amazing people on it with me. I had Russell Allen and Jeff Scott Soto singing, I had Vinny Appice on drums, Tony Franklin on bass and Derek Sherinian was on keyboards. I can’t wait for people to hear it.
