Alternative rock noir chanteuse Eleni Mandell exudes a nocturnal, beat-poet, wry, avant-garde veneer on Snakebite, an alluring collection of intimate torch songs, jazzy arrangements, and theatrical wordplay. Akin to Concrete Blonde's Johnette Napilitano, Tom Waits, and Rickie Lee Jones, Eleni Mandell's songs are filled with dark characters enmeshed in ominous circumstances. Abetted by a dexterous coffee-house boheme rhythm section of Sheldon Gomberg on upright bass and drummer Danny Frankel, Mandell casts an eerie spell via her fragile melodies, slippery rhythm guitar phrasing, and varying tempo. The sophisticated cabaret rendering of "I Believe in Spring" is worthy of a Tony Bennett or Bobby Short interpretation, and the title track, which details love gone awry with the "promise to kiss me with a snake bite" is highly cinematic by way of Mandell's sweeping cries of passion and misplaced ecstasy. Closing the disc with "Madhouse," the beleaguered singer, rails out at liars and schemers in a bawdy, barroom stream of conscious diatribe that corroborates the old proverb that misery loves company, and vice versa. Intriguing and street-smart, Snakebite is a record that will always be relevant and entertaining. ~ Tom Semioli, All Music Guide
Snakebite is an Extended Play and the first release by Whitesnake which was mid-1978. This EP unto itself would not be released in the U.S. The four tracks on this release would end up being included on a Double Extended Play containing the four tracks from Snakebite EP plus four extra studio tracks from David Coverdale's second solo LP Northwinds all under the title Snakebite. This Double Extended Play would often be perceived as an LP but this was because there was no explanation of it being otherwise to those who did not know the history of Whitesnake's catalog worldwide until the age of the internet. The original UK EP sleeve is entitled David Coverdale's Whitesnake and features photographs of the live band in concert. All tracks from this EP also were used as bonus tracks on the 2006 remaster of Whitesnake's Trouble album. [1]
Shortly after producing and then touring Northwinds, Coverdale found his new band was already producing and testing new material. Thus they returned to the studio to capture this new found energy.
The resulting mini-album (Snakebite EP) features the cover song "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City", originally performed by Bobby Bland. Although it is now considered a classic Whitesnake song, according to Coverdale it wasn't planned that way: "Originally I had no plans to actually record ‘Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City’…if you can you believe it…a song that connects so deeply with so many that I still play it today, 25 years later." [2]
Some of the songs from this album would be captured later in 1978 and released on the 1980 Live...In the Heart of the City live album.
