David Coverdale Coverdale was born on 22 September 1951, in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Riding of Yorkshire, England. Around the age of 14, he began performing professionally and developing his voice. "I don't think my voice had broken," he explained to "Sounds" in 1974. "And that's when I first learnt how to sing with my stomach, which sounds silly, but it's totally different from a normal voice." Coverdale started performing with local bands Vintage 67 (1966–68), The Government (1968–72) and Fabulosa Brothers (1972–73). In 1973, Coverdale saw an article in a copy of "Melody Maker", which said that Deep Purple was auditioning for singers
Neo (British band) part of Ultravox. North sacked Paul Simon, and included session players in his project: ex-ZZebra members, Steve Byrd on guitar and John McCoy on bass, and Bryson Graham on drums. They recorded an album in Ian Gillan's studio, and after Gillan heard them, he hired Byrd and McCoy away from North. Gillan and the ex-Neo musicians formed Gillan. Only Graham stayed with North. North renewed Neo again with Steve Wilkin (ex-Wired and Masterwitch) on guitar, Nick South on bass and Graham on drums, but shortly afterwards South and Graham were replaced by Mik Sweeney and Derek Quinton, respectively. Dan Black