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SNOWY WHITE - GUITAR 1980 - 82
Terence Charles "Snowy" White
was born in Devonshire, England and grew up on the Isle Of Wight in the
English Channel, where, as a child, he gained his lifelong nickname for the
blondeness of his hair. Taking an interest in music early upon hearing blues
heroes such as BB King, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy and Albert King, he took up the
guitar and started to play his own blues. At the time, London seemed more
attractive and after leaving school at 17 he moved to the capital. A meeting
with a Swedish woman led to him moving to Stockholm, where he soon found
himself playing in a band called The Train who mostly played covers but
threw in some of their own songs once in a while.
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Returning to London he spent the early ‘70s making a reputation as a
reliable session musician and a great blues guitarist. During this time
he played with Joan Armatrading, Linda Lewis and Peter Green; who,
incidentally, offered him the famous ’59 Les Paul Standard that would
eventually be owned by Gary Moore and used throughout his career. Snowy
declined, believing that one guitar was enough for anybody and continued
to use his trademark Les Paul ‘Goldtop’. |
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He went on to form Heavy Heart with Jonathan Kelly and Snowy's guitar
playing was etched in vinyl for the first time with "Waiting On You". Jim
Cregan of Cockney Rebel then asked Snowy to play rhythm guitar on tour.
Halfway through this tour he also got a call from Al Stewart to join his
tour, this time as lead guitarist.
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At this stage in his career Snowy’s reputation was about to increase
tenfold. He was invited to join Pink Floyd as an additional guitarist to
David Gilmour on the "Animals" tour of 1977 and subsequently "The Wall"
tours of 1977 and 1980. During this time, and in-between touring he also
had a band with Kuma Harada and Reg Isadore – later all three of them
were invited by Peter Green to play on his album "In The Skies".
Whilst considering a replacement for Gary Moore, Philip Lynott recalled
being impressed with Snowy’s playing for the Floyd and approached him,
asking him to jam with Lizzy and subsequently to join permanently.
Snowy’s tenure with Lizzy lasted for the "Chinatown" and "Renegade"
albums and tours, through 1980 - 82. |
Leaving Thin Lizzy was a mutual decision; Snowy is a blues guitarist with
little interest in playing fast, hard rock. He was more interested in
playing the slower, bluesier numbers in the band’s set. "Don't Believe A
Word" was one such track that was reverted to its bluesier and slower
original arrangement. Philip Lynott was sure Snowy would bring that little
extra light and shade to the band, but later admitted it didn't turn out the
way he'd expected. Although often overlooked and underestimated in the
history of Thin Lizzy, his playing and writing produced some classic
moments, including the masterpiece that is the track ‘Renegade’.
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After leaving Thin Lizzy Snowy recorded his first solo album "White
Flames" in 1983, which unexpectedly brought him a UK hit single with
'Bird of Paradise'. The style of the music ranged from blues to jazz to
pop ballads. Two further albums followed in a similar vein: 'Snowy
White' in 1984 and 'That Certain Thing' in 1987. Snowy then formed The
Blues Agency, which dropped the other influences and continued in a more
pure blues direction. After producing two albums to little acclaim,
Snowy again rethought his approach and after meeting bass player Walter
Latupeirissa and drummer Juan van Emmerloot at the Jimi Hendrix Festival
in Holland in 1992, he invited them to play with him with the thought of
forming a band. They originally performed under the name of ‘Snowy White
and the Shadow Indians’ but eventually settled on ‘Snowy White and the
White Flames’. |
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Their first album together in ’93 was ‘Highway to the Sun’ which featured
notable guest performances from Gary Moore, David Gilmour, Paul Carrack and
Chris Rea. Further releases have been ‘No Faith Required’ in ’96, ‘Little
Wing’ in ’98 and ‘Keep Out – We Are Toxic’ in ’99. These releases are among
Snowy’s finest recorded work, featuring a more unique blend of blues-rock
with jazz blended in to the mix.
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In 1990 Roger Waters invited Snowy into his Bleeding Heart band to play
on the historic live performance of "The Wall", to mark the dismantling
of the Berlin wall. This performance also featured other artists such as
The Scorpions, Bryan Adams and Van Morrison. Snowy has since been a
mainstay of Roger Waters band whenever he plays live, most notably on
Waters extensive tours of the USA and the World in 1999, 2000 and 2002
and his playing was featured on Waters’ live release: In The Flesh.
Snowy released ‘Melting’, a new White Flames album in 2002 and is
contributing to Roger Waters new studio album, scheduled for release in
2003. |
Thanks to Tracey Ganapathy at the
Snowy White Fan Club
for
her kind permission to use the bottom two photos on this page.
Ozzie Adenborg & Dave Hirst
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