Ready an' Willing

1980 studio album by Whitesnake
Ready an' Willing
Studio album by
Whitesnake
Released23 May 1980 (1980-05-23)
Recorded
  • December 1979
  • February 1980
Studio
  • Ridge Farm Studios
  • Rusper & Central Recorders Studio & Sauna (London)
Genre
  • Hard rock
  • blues rock
Length40:00
Label
  • Mirage/Atlantic
  • Polydor
  • United Artists/Sunburst
  • EMI (UK reissue)
ProducerMartin Birch
Whitesnake chronology
Lovehunter
(1979) 		Ready an' Willing
(1980) 		Live...in the Heart of the City
(1980)
Singles from Ready an' Willing
  1. "Fool for Your Loving"
    Released: 18 April 1980
  2. "Ready an' Willing"
    Released: 4 July 1980 (UK)[1]
  3. "Sweet Talker"
    Released: October 1980 (US)[2]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal9/10[4]

Ready an' Willing is the third studio album by English hard rock band Whitesnake, released on 23 May 1980.[5] It was the group's first album to feature singer David Coverdale and keyboard player Jon Lord's former Deep Purple colleague Ian Paice on drums. It peaked at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart,[6] it was also the band's first to chart outside of the UK, reaching No. 32 in Norway[7] and No. 90 in the US.[8]

Release

The album featured two of the band's UK single-hits from that year: "Fool for Your Loving" had reached No. 13 in the charts on 26 April 1980,[6] and the title-track, "Ready an' Willing (Sweet Satisfaction)" made No. 43 in July of the same year.[6] On 2 August 1980 "Fool for Your Loving" peaked at No. 53 on the Billboard Hot 100; the song would later be re-recorded for the Slip of the Tongue album. The track "Blindman", initially from David Coverdale's first solo album White Snake, was re-recorded for this album.

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Fool for Your Loving"David Coverdale, Micky Moody, Bernie Marsden4:17
2."Sweet Talker"Coverdale, Marsden3:38
3."Ready an' Willing"Coverdale, Moody, Marsden, Neil Murray, Jon Lord, Ian Paice3:44
4."Carry Your Load"Coverdale4:06
5."Blindman"Coverdale5:09
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Ain't Gonna Cry No More"Coverdale, Moody5:52
7."Love Man"Coverdale5:04
8."Black and Blue"Coverdale, Moody4:06
9."She's a Woman"Coverdale, Marsden4:07
2006 Remastered Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."Love for Sale"Coverdale3:05
11."Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" (Live at the Reading Festival 1979)Michael Price, Dan Walsh6:54
12."Mistreated" (Live at the Reading Festival 1979)Coverdale, Ritchie Blackmore13:30
13."Love Hunter" (Live at the Reading Festival 1979)Coverdale, Moody, Marsden5:56
14."Breakdown" (Live at the Reading Festival 1979)Coverdale, Moody5:38

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[9][10]

Whitesnake
Technical
Design
  • David Coverdale – original sleeve concept
  • George Bodnar - inner sleeve photography
Reissue
  • Michael McIntyre & Nigel Reeve – A&R
  • Geoff Barton – sleeve notes
  • Jo Brooks & Libby Jones – album project coordination
  • Hugh Gilmour – artwork (remastered)
  • Peter Mew – remastering (at Abbey Road Studios, London)

Charts

Album

Chart (1980) Peak
position
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[11] 32
UK Albums (OCC)[12] 6
US Billboard 200[13] 90
Chart (2006) Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[14] 160

Singles

Fool for Your Loving

Chart (1980) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[15] 11
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[16] 19
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17] 22
UK Singles (OCC)[18] 13
US Billboard Hot 100[19] 54

Ready an' Willing

Chart (1980) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[20] 43

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[21] Platinum 300,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Kerrang! United Kingdom "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time"[22] 1989 81

References

  1. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 894. ISBN 9780862415419.
  2. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 894. ISBN 9780862415419.
  3. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Whitesnake - Ready an' Willing review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  4. ^ Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 411. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
  5. ^ "BPI certifications for Whitesnake".
  6. ^ a b c "Whitesnake - Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  7. ^ "Whitesnake Ready an' Willing (album)". Norwegiancharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  8. ^ "Ready an' Willing Billboard Albums". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  9. ^ Ready an' Willing (booklet). Whitesnake. United Artists. 1980. UAG30302.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ Ready an' Willing (Remastered + bonus tracks) (booklet). Whitesnake. EMI. 2006. 094635969221.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Whitesnake – Ready an' Willing". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  12. ^ "Whitesnake | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  13. ^ "Whitesnake Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  14. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  15. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Fool for Your Loving". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  16. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Whitesnake" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  17. ^ "Whitesnake – Fool for Your Loving". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  18. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  19. ^ "Whitesnake Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  20. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  21. ^ "WHITESNAKE/TRIPLE PLATINUM ALBUM DISPLAY/LOVE HUNTER + READY AN' WILLING + COME AN' GET IT/COA". Everything Collectible. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  22. ^ "Kerrang – 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time - January 1989". Kerrang!. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
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