Reb Beach of Whitesnake & Winger

by Steve Patrick
– Sr. Columnist —

Radio rock legends Whitesnake are currently in the midst of a North American greatest hits summer tour. This means spot-on live renditions of “Here I Go Again”, “Is This Love”, “Still of the Night” and many others will be satisfying rock lovers all over the U.S. this summer. Since frontman David Coverdale has made some comments suggesting that he may retire soon, this also just might be the last chance fans have to see one of Rock’s most iconic voices in concert.

Whitesnake guitarist Reb Beach took a moment out of the band’s touring schedule to speak with Hardrock Haven. Beach discussed the current Whitesnake tour, his thoughts on Coverdale retiring, and the dynamic between him and fellow Whitesnake guitarist Joel Hoekstra. Beach also plays guitar in Winger, so he kindly provided an update on the progress that he and Kip Winger have made towards their next record.

HRH: Hi Reb! I saw that this might be the last time out for you guys. Is that right?

RB: It’s possible. It’s possible. You know, I don’t see David ever stopping. You know? (laughs) He’ll always be doing music and frankly I’ve never heard him sing this good and I’m not just saying that because I’m doing an interview. I mean it’s crazy. He was singing last night and he hit this one note in “Crying in the Rain”. Last year it was kind of hit or miss, but so far on this tour he’s hitting that note every time and it’s crazy. It gives me like goosebumps. I looked over at the bass player and said, “What’s going on with David?!” I mean, my mouth was open and his mouth was open. That amazing, legendary voice is back and stronger than ever. It’s just amazing. I’m excited. (laughs)

HRH: I am too! I hope to catch the Cincinnati show and see this for myself.

RB. Great. Well, you know it’s greatest hits, so that’s the thing. Greatest hits, baby. I’ve never done a greatest hits tour and it’s so much different when you’re out there. When you’re out there playing a greatest hits tour … I’ve played in a bunch of bands and I’ve never had enough hits to play a whole show of hits, so I’ve never experienced it and it’s so cool. People don’t text. They’re not getting up and going to the bathroom. They’re all just mesmerized and singing every word. It’s like going to see Eddie Money live, you know? Every song is a hit!

HRH: Speaking of hits, you’ve got a couple of hit-makers opening up for you guys on this tour as well in the shape of Whitford St. Holmes.

RB: Oh man, they’re so cool. I mean, it’s a huge honor for me. Brad Whitford, are you kidding me? I’m the biggest Aerosmith fan of all time. I’ve been having conversations with him. He’s the nicest guy you ever want to meet. So down to earth. Just a normal guy. And, you know, telling me Steven Tyler stories and we’re swapping stories. It’s really, really cool to be out with him, but that band is smoking. You want to see a good band … freaking Whitford St. Holmes man. That’s great stuff.

HRH: Oh I know, I caught them last fall when they had Troy from Tesla on drums. They’ve got a different drummer for this tour, though, right?

RB: They do. He’s good, though. They got a really good drummer.

HRH: That’s great to hear. So we talked about the possibility of … you said that you don’t think David will every truly retire…

RB: Yeah, that’s what it’s up to. If David’s just like, “I can’t do this anymore” then that’s when it’ll stop, but I don’t see him doing that. I really don’t. I mean, we are just starting the tour so maybe things will change in a couple of months and he’ll be like, “I’m through with this crap!” (laughs) I don’t know.

HRH: Well hypothetically speaking then, if Whitesnake ends would your focus shift solely to Winger or what would you do at that point?

RB: Absolutely. Well, I would do stuff with David still. You know, David’s always thinking of new things to record. He might do a blues album, he might do an acoustic album, you never know what he’s going to do. He’s got all of these millions of ideas and I’m the music director. I help him with his ideas and arranging his ideas. So like when he plays a guitar riff, he’s not a real guitar player, you know … he just knows the chords. So he’ll play me something and then I’ll say, “We’ll kind of jazz that up to be this.” And that’s how we’ve worked together in the past, but we haven’t worked together that much. We’ve really only done it a handful of times. So I think I would still work with David because he’s always going to still do music and I’m really happy being his right-hand man.

HRH: I imagine that’s a nice place to be. Well, I just mentioned Winger … is there a new album in the works there?

RB: Uh, Kip is my best friend. I talk to him almost every day. Maybe every other day I talk to Kip and it’s really strange because, in these rock bands of the genre, most of them hate each other, but all four of us are best friends.

HRH: Wow, that’s rare.

RB: It is rare! When we’re on the road together we do breakfast, lunch and dinner together. You know, “What time’s dinner?” We all converge in the lobby and go to dinner together and laugh. We laugh our asses off. It’s amazing. So Kip…Kip and I have been talking about it. He definitely wants to do another record. He just released his classical record and he put his whole life for years into that record. Took him a year to write. It’s like a symphony orchestra playing what he wrote, so it’s pretty amazing. It’s getting great reviews. It’s selling really well. It’s number one on Billboard right now for classical albums. So that’s really where his heart is and he just does Winger just because he loves hanging out with us. (laughs) We have such a good time. We’re a great writing team … Kip and I. We’re like Lennon and McCartney in that we’re opposites. I can do stuff that he can’t do and he can a lot of stuff that I can’t do … like everything. (laughs) We’re great together. We wrote the last album in ten days. We did a song a day. So that’s what we’re going to shoot for in November and try to get it out by next summer, so we can go out and do a tour. It all depends on what David’s gonna do, you know?

HRH: Speaking of Kip, I know you had a stint in Alice Cooper’s band and appear on the Fistful of Alice live album. Kip played with Alice long before that, so how did that come together?

RB: I was broke. I was super broke. Winger lost everything. I sold all my guitars. It was really, really bad. And when I heard about the audition for Alice, I called up Kip and borrowed $500 from Kip to buy cool clothes and to buy the ticket to fly to L.A. for the audition. So I auditioned for it with like 30 other guys including Warren DeMartini. I was nervous as a cat. And the only reason I got the gig is because I sang. I got up to the mic and just went, “Poison!” You know, sang it. The second I sang that Alice just went, “You got the gig.” (laughs) I was like, “Wow! Cool!” because nobody else sang and that’s a big reason why I got Whitesnake as well, to tell you the truth. I wasn’t gonna get the Whitesnake gig and the guy they wanted, the guy Doug Aldrich wanted, couldn’t sing.

HRH: How about that. That’s a good skill to have. You’ve got to keep that in practice, never know when it could come in handy.

RB: Well there’s not a lot of flashy guitar players that sing. You know?

HRH: That’s a good point. Last year when HRH interviewed Joel Hoekstra, he mentioned that when he joined Night Ranger that it was you that showed him the ropes before you departed that band. What is like now working with Joel now that he’s your guitar partner in Whitesnake?

RB: We’re really good together. I’m old school rock guy, road dog guy. He’s like Broadway, chart it all out with charts, learn it inside and out, and be incredibly prepared for anything. He knows the songs. He can play them backwards, you know, and he can chart that for you. I mean the guy is like…his parents were violinists in an orchestra and so all they did was play scales all day like (sings scales). All day long! So that’s what he’s great at. He’s regimented. And he can tell you, “Oh, that’s a flat five Mixolydian scale.” You know? He knows all the names of everything, what it is. And then me, I just know what’s in tune and what sounds like crap and what’s cool and what’s not cool. So we go really well together. Also, he came in wanting to play the stuff exactly like it is on the record. He listened to the stuff and down to the most minuscule detail…he learned it. (laughs) “Actually Reb, it goes like this.” And I’m like, “Really? You really want to get this detailed?” And he kinda got me into it! So now he got me going, “Wait a second, this part actually goes like this. This is different. The second time is different.” We started getting into it, he got me into it now and now the guitars are tighter than they ever were with me and Doug, no disrespect to Doug. Me and Doug were both the same. “Just play the part.” (laughs) You know, he plays it different the second time. And he plays it different the third time. You know, “Nobody’s gonna hear it in an arena. Nobody’s gonna know.” And it’s true, nobody’s gonna know, but it certainly has added to the tightness of the band. Joel brought in a whole new attitude towards recreating this music, I have to say.

HRH: I caught the Purple Tour last year and you guys sounded great.

RB: Well, that was us kind of recreating our own versions of the songs. This … this is just doing the hits and all of the guitar parts are like spot on. I’m a good rhythm player. I’m a better rhythm player than I am a solo player, believe it or not. I’ve been told this a lot. Joel really likes my rhythm playing and so we kind of pride ourselves in making the rhythms as tight as possible. And it makes a difference out there when you’re listening to a super-tight band, really loud and in tune.

HRH: Can’t wait to see it. To get back to Purple for a moment, was that intimidating to try to recreate legendary rock songs like “Burn”?

RB: That’s the thing. Look, when David called me, I immediately got excited and said, “Okay, I’m going to make this sound like 1970 baby. It’s just gonna be raw. Just 2 guitars, bass, and drums. It’s gonna sound like a band.” That was my vision for it. I wanted to make it sound just like it sounded back then, right? And David said, “Absolutely not. That will not be what we’re doing Rebel.” (laughs) He wanted it to be Whitesnake. He wanted it to be a big production with giant vocals and a million guitars. “Guitars coming over the mountain like tanks coming over for attack!” That was his vision and that’s what we ended up doing. So no I wasn’t nervous at all to do it because doing 80s guitar rock tracks is what I do. I can double guitars like nobody’s business. Make it as fat and 80s sounding as possible anytime.

HRH: Speaking of Mr. Coverdale, what are your thoughts on his recent long overdue induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

RB: It’s very cool. I mean the guy was in Deep Purple for God’s sake, so he deserved it. It’s too bad they couldn’t have all, you know, all got along and been there and jammed. It would have been really cool if … I mean, the current Deep Purple did jam, but I wish Richie Blackmore had been there.

HRH: I couldn’t agree with you more. Personally, I wanted Rod Evans to come out of the woodwork.

RB: (laughs) Wow. Rod Evans.

HRH: Well Reb, is there anything you’d like to say to Whitesnake fans looking forward to catching the band out on this tour?

RB: Yeah, David’s voice is like it’s never been before and the band is super tight. And there’s nothing boring about it. It’s just hit after hit. It sounds really great and it’s a fun, fun show. And Whitford St. Holmes will kick your ass. (laughs)

HRH: That’s putting it mildly. Well Reb, thanks again, I really appreciate it.

RB: (laughs) Thank you, Steve, talk to you soon.

For more information and full listing of the Greatest Hits Tour 2016 dates, please visit www.whitesnake.com.