While David Coverdale was lead vocalist of the rock band Deep Purple, he recorded several songs that have become indelibly associated with his voice. One of them, perhaps the most iconic of all, is “Soldier Of Fortune” from the 1975 album “Stormbringer“. You can listen to that original version here.
After leaving Deep Purple, Coverdale founded the group Whitesnake, which is still active. In 2015 the group recorded “The Purple Album“, featuring songs Coverdale had performed while with Deep Purple. It included a very good rendition of “Soldier Of Fortune”, which has become my favorite version of the song. (The entire album makes for very good listening. I think the renditions there are arguably better, more “mature”, than the Deep Purple originals.)
What I didn’t know, because it’s not included on my early copy of “The Purple Album”, is that Whitesnake also recorded an unplugged version of “Soldier Of Fortune”, using acoustic guitar only. I came across it recently on a YouTube recording of what appears to be a 2019 re-issue of the album, and was very taken with it. Since I’m sure I’m not the only Deep Purple and Whitesnake fan to have missed it, I thought I’d embed it here. I’ve used the full album recording for the purpose, isolating start and end times to play that song alone, since I can’t find a stand-alone recording of it on YouTube.
Lovely!
Peter
Here you go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z69sxDq3Ybc
@MadMcAl: No, I linked to that one in the article. There's a second version, without as many instruments, a true "unplugged" rendition, which is what I embedded. I haven't found a stand-alone version of that (yet).