Album
Ready an’ Willing
Ready an' Willing is Whitesnake's third studio album, released on 23 May 1980 on Liberty. It follows Trouble and Lovehunter and sits in the band's bluesy hard rock phase, before the glossier records of the mid-1980s.
The big news in the line-up was drummer Ian Paice, who joined for the first time. He had been in Deep Purple with singer David Coverdale and keyboardist Jon Lord, so the record effectively brought a chunk of that old band back together under the Whitesnake name. It gave the group a new weight and a familiar history.
The album reached No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart and was the band's first to chart outside Britain, getting to No. 32 in Norway and No. 90 in the US. For anyone tracing how Whitesnake grew from a British blues rock act into an international name, it's an important step.
Ready an’ Willing: tracklist, credits and charts
8 tracks · 35:38Tracklist
- 1Fool for Your LovingCoverdale, Marsden, Moody4:15
- 2Sweet TalkerDavid Coverdale and Bernie Marsden3:35
- 3Ready an' WillingCoverdale, Lord, Moody, Murray, Paice3:42
- 4Carry Your LoadDavid Coverdale4:01
- 5BlindmanDavid Coverdale5:08
- 6Ain't Gonna Cry No MoreDavid Coverdale and Micky Moody5:50
- 7Love ManDavid Coverdale5:02
- 8She's a WomanDavid Coverdale and Bernie Marsden4:05
- Produced by
- Martin Birch
- Recorded at
- Central Recorders Studio, Ridge Farm Studios, Rusper & Central Recorders Studio & Sauna (London)
- Recorded
- December 1979 – February 1980
- Mixed by
- Martin Birch
- Engineered by
- Martin Birch
- Labels
- Liberty, Mirage/Atlantic (North America), Polydor (Japan), United Artists/Sunburst (Rest of the World), EMI (UK reissue)
- Length
- 35:38
Line-up
- Jon Lord · keyboard
- Bernie Marsden · guitar, background vocals
- Micky Moody · guitar, background vocals
- Neil Murray · bass guitar
- Ian Paice · drums (drum set)
- David Coverdale · background vocals, lead vocals
Singles
- “Fool for Your Loving” · 11 April 1980
- “Ready an' Willing” · 20 June 1980
- “Sweet Talker” · October 1980 (US)
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1980 | 6 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1980 | 90 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1980 | 32 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 2006 | 160 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom · 1981 | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
61.6
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
1.7k
ListenBrainz listeners
52k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
4.9k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 23 May
Every year →
Dynasty
KISS · 1979
Mer de noms
A Perfect Circle · 2000
Out of Exile
Audioslave · 2005
Brain Drain
Ramones · 1989
Mad Season
Matchbox Twenty · 2000
Look What the Cat Dragged In
Poison · 1986
The ConstruKction of Light
King Crimson · 2000
Yeah!
Def Leppard · 2006
The Painful Truth
Skunk Anansie · 2025
World’s on Fire
The Prodigy · 2011
KISS 40 Years: Decades of Decibels
KISS · 2014
Deviant
Pitchshifter · 2000
More from Whitesnake
Full discography →
Snakebite
1978
Trouble
1978
Lovehunter
1979
Live… In the Heart of the City
1980
Come an’ Get It
1981
Saints & Sinners
1982
Slide It In
1984
Give Me All Your Love
1987
Whitesnake
1987
1987 Versions
1987
Slip of the Tongue
1989
Whitesnake’s Greatest Hits
1994
Restless Heart
1997
Starkers in Tokyo
1997
20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Whitesnake
2000
The Silver Anniversary Collection
2003
The Early Years
2004
The Definitive Collection
2006
Live in the Shadow of the Blues
2006
Good to Be Bad
2008
30th Anniversary Collection
2008
Forevermore
2011
Live at Donington 1990
2011
Made in Japan
2013
The Purple Album
2015
Flesh & Blood
2019
The ROCK Album
2020
Love Songs
2020
The best of 1980
All of 1980 →
Back in Black
AC/DC · 1980
Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
David Bowie · 1980
Blizzard of Ozz
Ozzy Osbourne · 1980
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden · 1980
Seventeen Seconds
The Cure · 1980
Boy
U2 · 1980
Making Movies
Dire Straits · 1980
British Steel
Judas Priest · 1980
Sandinista!
The Clash · 1980
Permanent Waves
Rush · 1980
The Game
Queen · 1980
Emotional Rescue
The Rolling Stones · 1980
More on Liberty
The label →Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia only
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 1980 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 23 May 1980 | |
| Wikidata | 1980 | |
| UK / Europe release | 1980 | earliest UK or European date |
15 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XE | Liberty | 5099915760814 | other |
| 1980 | PT | Liberty | original | |
| 1980 | GB | — | original | |
| 1 December 1987 | JP | Polydor | 4988005027047 | other |
| 1989 | GB | Fame | other | |
| 1990 | JP | Polydor | 4988005064448 | other |
| 1994 | GB | EMI United Kingdom | 077775205428 | other |
| 2000 | FR | Axe Killer | 3596971552626 | other |
| 2006 | GB | EMI | 094635969221 | other |
| 8 May 2006 | XE | EMI | 094635969221 | other |
| 10 May 2006 | JP | Sunburst | 4988005429117 | other |
| 8 October 2008 | JP | Sunburst | 4988005532480 | remaster |
| 2010 | GB | Back on Black | 803341325081 | other |
| 10 May 2013 | AF | Parlophone | 5099998494057 | other |
| 2014 | AR | Mirage | 0068381260536 | other |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 497×500 | upscaled |