Snakes and Ladders - My Autobiography

Book excerpt: WHEN THE WORLD WAS BITTEN BY THE HARD-ROCKING, HARD-TOURING AND HARDDRINKING WHITESNAKE, IT WAS MICKY MOODY’S GRITTY RIFFS AND SIGNATURE BLUESY SLIDE-GUITAR THAT HELPED PROPEL THEM TO INTERNATIONAL STARDOM, AS THEY SHOULDERED ASIDE CONTEMPORARY RIVALS, GOING ON TO SELL MILLIONS OF ALBUMS WORLDWIDE. But before Whitesnake—and life on the road with former Deep Purple singer David Coverdale—became a chaotic reality, Moody had already formed a teenaged band with Free’s Paul Rodgers, played with Juicy Lucy, been a founder member of Snafu and worked as an in-demand session musician. This saw him play with performers whose egos, neuroses—and, in some cases, supreme talent—led to some memorable encounters, giving him the opportunity to contribute, with some gusto, to the hedonism of the Seventies. His musical footprint has been nothing short of epic. But how did such a party-loving, excess-fueled outfit as Whitesnake conquer the mighty world of hard rock—and at what cost? Outrageous stories about catastrophic narcotic mix-ups and infamous groupies come as thick and fast as the band’s musical output itself. However, with success comes a price, and as global domination, commercial success and late-night carousing began to give way to suspicion, greed and the repercussions of excess on the road, serious fallout was inevitable. In his memoir Snakes and Ladders, Micky relates his musical odyssey with fondness and a wry sense of humour. From, guitar lessons to guitar hero, this is his story of climbing the ladder—and surviving the ’Snake.