Ready an' Willing

Ready an' Willing is the third studio album by English hard rock band Whitesnake, released on 23 May 1980,^[5] and 14 July in the US.^[6] It was the group's first album to feature drummer Ian Paice, a former bandmate of singer David Coverdale and keyboardist Jon Lord in Deep Purple. It peaked at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart,^[7] it was also the band's first to chart outside of the UK, reaching No. 32 in Norway^[8] and No. 90 in the US.^[9]

Ready an' Willing
Studio album by Whitesnake
Released	23 May 1980 (1980-05-23)
Recorded	December 1979 February 1980
Studio	Ridge Farm Studios Rusper & Central Recorders Studio & Sauna (London)
Genre	Hard rock blues rock
Length	40:00
Label	Mirage/Atlantic (North America) Polydor (Japan) United Artists/Sunburst (Rest of the World) EMI (UK reissue)
Producer	Martin Birch
Whitesnake chronology
Lovehunter (1979) Ready an' Willing (1980) Live... in the Heart of the City (1980)
Singles from Ready an' Willing
"Fool for Your Loving" Released: 11 April 1980 "Ready an' Willing" Released: 4 July 1980 (UK)[1] "Sweet Talker" Released: October 1980 (US)[2]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	9/10[4]

Release

The album featured two of the band's UK single-hits from that year: "Fool for Your Loving" had reached No. 13 in the charts on 26 April 1980,^[7] and the title-track, "Ready an' Willing (Sweet Satisfaction)" made No. 43 in July of the same year.^[7] On 2 August 1980 "Fool for Your Loving" peaked at No. 53 on the Billboard Hot 100; the song would later be re-recorded for the Slip of the Tongue album. The track "Blindman", initially from David Coverdale's first solo album White Snake, was re-recorded for this album.

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Fool for Your Loving"	David Coverdale, Micky Moody, Bernie Marsden	4:17
2.	"Sweet Talker"	Coverdale, Marsden	3:38
3.	"Ready an' Willing"	Coverdale, Moody, Marsden, Neil Murray, Jon Lord, Ian Paice	3:44
4.	"Carry Your Load"	Coverdale	4:06
5.	"Blindman"	Coverdale	5:09

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Ain't Gonna Cry No More"	Coverdale, Moody	5:52
7.	"Love Man"	Coverdale	5:04
8.	"Black and Blue"	Coverdale, Moody	4:06
9.	"She's a Woman"	Coverdale, Marsden	4:07

2006 Remastered Edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"Love for Sale"	Coverdale	3:05
11.	"Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" (Live at the Reading Festival 1979)	Michael Price, Dan Walsh	6:54
12.	"Mistreated" (Live at the Reading Festival 1979)	Coverdale, Ritchie Blackmore	13:30
13.	"Love Hunter" (Live at the Reading Festival 1979)	Coverdale, Moody, Marsden	5:56
14.	"Breakdown" (Live at the Reading Festival 1979)	Coverdale, Moody	5:38

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.^[10][11]

Whitesnake David Coverdale – vocals Micky Moody – guitars, backing vocals Bernie Marsden – guitars, backing vocals Neil Murray – bass Ian Paice – drums Jon Lord – keyboards Technical Martin Birch – producer, engineer, mixing Design David Coverdale – original sleeve concept George Bodnar – inner sleeve photography

Reissue Michael McIntyre & Nigel Reeve – A&R Geoff Barton – sleeve notes Jo Brooks & Libby Jones – album project coordination Hugh Gilmour – artwork (remastered) Peter Mew – remastering (at Abbey Road Studios, London)

Charts

Chart (1980)	Peak position
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[12]	32
UK Albums (OCC)[13]	6
US Billboard 200[14]	90

Chart (2006)	Peak position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[15]	160

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[16]	Gold	100,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Accolades

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Kerrang!	United Kingdom	"100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time"[17]	1989	81