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Come an' Get It

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This article is about the Whitesnake album. For other uses, see Come and Get It (disambiguation).

Come an' Get It
Studio album by
Whitesnake
Released6 April 1981
RecordedJuly – September 1980,
January 1981
StudioStartling Studios, Tittenhurst Park, Ascot, England
Genre
Length40:24
LabelMirage/Atlantic (North America)
Polydor (Japan)
Liberty (Rest of the world)
ProducerMartin Birch
Whitesnake chronology
Live...in the Heart of the City
(1980) 		Come an' Get It
(1981) 		Saints & Sinners
(1982)
Singles from Come an' Get It
  1. "Don't Break My Heart Again"
    Released: March 1981[1]
  2. "Would I Lie to You"
    Released: 22 May 1981[2]
Alternative cover
2007 EMI reissued cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal7/10[4]

Come an' Get It is the fourth studio album by English hard rock band Whitesnake, released in 1981. It was, at the time, Whitesnake's highest-charting release in the UK, hitting No. 2[5] and being kept off the top spot by Adam and the Ants' Kings of the Wild Frontier.[6]

"Don't Break My Heart Again" and "Would I Lie to You" were released as singles, the former making the UK Top 20.[5]

EMI remastered the CD in 2007, adding six bonus tracks, mainly rough mixes.

Cover art

[edit]

Come an' Get It's cover art was designed and created by British artist Malcolm Horton. Horton had been contacted by an old friend John Ward, who was at the time road manager for Whitesnake. He explained that the band did not like any of the ideas for the album cover their record label EMI had come up with, so he suggested getting Horton involved. The final artwork shows a white snake trapped inside a glass apple on the front cover; on the reverse, the glass apple is shown shattered, which represents the power of seduction/temptation becoming too strong.[7] The snake's open mouth shows its tongue, which is painted to look like a vulva.[8] Horton has addressed the album's "explicit" cover, saying:[7]

One thing I always get asked about is the snake's mouth. At the time it just felt right to give it, how should I say, “a sexual element”. I felt some apprehension at first to how it would be received and if it would be acceptable. I felt that in the context of all the elements “Come An' Get It," apple, temptation, seduction it all seemed to work. Thankfully it worked and gave the piece an edge. The American market though thought differently and apparently, the mouth was airbrushed out!!

However, it did not stir as much controversy as the infamous cover of the band's second album, Lovehunter (1979).[9] The 2007 EMI reissue redesigned the mouth to more closely resemble a regular snake's tongue.

Commercial performance

[edit]

At its debut, Come an' Get It debuted at No. 2 in the UK chart, the highest debut in the band's discography ever in their native country, but was prevented from the top spot over Adam and the Ants' Kings of the Wild Frontier. It eventually stayed 23 weeks up in the charts. The album charted on 7 countries, with Finland charting on No. 3, Germany on No. 20, Japan on No. 41, Norway on No. 26, and Sweden on No. 24. In the US, it only debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at No. 151 and kept showing for 6 weeks, unlike the moderate successes of their previous album 'Ready an' Willing' that formerly stayed for a total of 16 weeks at that time in 1980. Although the album charted poorly there, it became certified platinum by the RIAA eventually, selling over 1,000,000 copies.[10]

The album was certified by BPI within silver status on 27 April 1981, then gold on 16 September 1981, eventually reaching platinum (300,000 copies).[11] The album also received a gold award by RIAJ in 1981.

Touring

[edit]

The band first embarked on a promotional supporting tour on 14 April 1981.[12] The act headlined Billy Squier's 1981 "Don't Say No" album at that time. They were then joined by headlining British heavy metal band Judas Priest, "World Wide Blitz Tour" alongside other acts with Iron Maiden and Foghat in July through August, respectively.[12][13] The tour also included their very first appearance in Monsters of Rock performance at Castle Donington on 22 August 1981 headlined by AC/DC. The tour would come to an end on 12 December 1981 at Stadthalle Freiburg located at Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, lasting for an approximate five months.[14]

Track listing

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Come an' Get It"David Coverdale3:59
2."Hot Stuff"Coverdale, Micky Moody3:22
3."Don't Break My Heart Again"Coverdale4:03
4."Lonely Days, Lonely Nights"Coverdale4:16
5."Wine, Women an' Song"Coverdale, Moody, Bernie Marsden, Neil Murray, Jon Lord, Ian Paice3:45
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Child of Babylon"Coverdale, Marsden4:48
7."Would I Lie to You"Coverdale, Moody, Marsden4:29
8."Girl"Coverdale, Marsden, Murray3:55
9."Hit an' Run"Coverdale, Moody, Marsden3:23
10."Till the Day I Die"Coverdale4:23
2007 remastered bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Child of Babylon" (Alternate rough mix)Coverdale, Marsden4:28
12."Girl" (Alternate version/rough mix)Coverdale, Marsden, Murray4:07
13."Come an' Get It" (Rough mix)Coverdale3:59
14."Lonely Days, Lonely Nights" (Alternate version/rough mix)Coverdale4:13
15."Till the Day I Die" (Rough mix)Coverdale4:44
16."Hit an' Run" (Backing track)Coverdale, Moody, Marsden3:18

Personnel

[edit]

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[15][16]

Whitesnake
Technical
Design
  • Malcolm "Magnet" Horton – illustration, album art, cover concept development, artwork co-ordination
  • Fin Costello – photography
Reissue
  • David Coverdale & Michael McIntyre – producer
  • Jo Brooks, Libby Jones, & Nigel Reeve – project and A&R co-ordination (in retrospect for EMI)
  • Koh Hasebe & Paul Cox – additional photos
  • Geoff Barton – sleeve notes
  • Hugh Gilmour – artwork remastering
  • Peter Mew – remastering (at Abbey Road Studios in London)

Charts

[edit]
Chart (1981) Peak
position
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[17] 3
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] 20
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[19] 41
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[20] 26
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[21] 24
UK Albums (OCC)[22] 2
US Billboard 200[23] 151
Chart (2007) Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[19] 143

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[24] Gold 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[25] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Whitesnake singles".
  2. ^ "Music Week Magazine May 23 1981 issue" (PDF). Music Week. 23 May 1981. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  3. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Whitesnake - Come an' Get It review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 25 April 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. ^ a b "Whitesnake - Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  6. ^ Barton, Geoff (2007). Come an' Get It (CD Booklet). Whitesnake. London: EMI. pp. 8–9.
  7. ^ a b Horton, Malcolm (6 April 2021). "Painting Whitesnake's Come An' Get It album cover – 40 years on". Malcolm Horton: artist portfolio, photos and blog. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  8. ^ DiVita, Joe (10 July 2023). "50 Most Controversial Hard Rock + Metal Album Covers (NSFW)". Loudwire. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  9. ^ Ling, Dave (29 October 2023). ""We are bathing in innuendo": Whitesnake's Lovehunter artwork was knee-jerk response to their critics, but the album itself was a game-changer". Classic Rock. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  10. ^ "Whitesnake Come An' Get It Signed Custom Designed Vertical Award Style with Black & Rust Suede & Genuine RIAA Platinum Award Album". 24 May 2024.
  11. ^ "WHITESNAKE/TRIPLE PLATINUM ALBUM DISPLAY/LOVE HUNTER + READY AN' WILLING + COME AN' GET IT/COA". Everything Collectible. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  12. ^ a b Popoff, Martin (2015). Sail Away: Whitesnake's Fantastic Voyage. Soundcheck Books LLP. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-9575-7008-5.
  13. ^ Millar, Robbi (September 1981). "Year of the Snake". Kerrang!. No. 3. London, England: United Newspapers. pp. 10–11.
  14. ^ Barton, Geoff (2007). Saints & Sinners (booklet). Whitesnake. EMI. pp. 4–11. 0946 381961 2 9.
  15. ^ Come An' Get It (booklet). Whitesnake. Liberty. 1981. LBG 30327.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. ^ Come An' Get It (booklet). Whitesnake. EMI. 2007. 0946 381958 2 5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  17. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 166. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  18. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Whitesnake – Come an' Get It" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  19. ^ a b Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  20. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Whitesnake – Come an' Get It". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  21. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Whitesnake – Come an' Get It". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  22. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  23. ^ "Whitesnake Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  24. ^ "1981 Polydor Japan label award for Whitesnake album Come an' Get It". 9 September 2023.
  25. ^ "British album certifications – Whitesnake – Come And Get It". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
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