a collaboration was in the works. Coverdale and Page agreed to take the project slowly, first making sure they could actually write songs together. The two then met up for a writing session at Lake Tahoe, Coverdale's residence. Within the first day they had written "Absolution Blues" together. From there, Coverdale and Page continued writing, eventually relocating to Barbados at Page's suggestion. The two were later joined by drummer Denny Carmassi and bassist Ricky Phillips to flesh out the songs; these rehearsals lasted for several months. Coverdale and Page made their first public appearance together in May 1991, when they joined Poison onstage in Reno for a rendition of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" (1971). Production and composition Recording for Coverdale–Page began at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, where all the rhythm tracks were recorded. From there, recording was moved to Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, where the vocals and overdubs were done. Coverdale and Page also employed several local session musicians while in Miami. Additional recording was also done at Abbey Road Studios in London, and Highbrow Productions, Coverdale's home studio in Nevada. The recording process lasted from late 1991 to early 1992. According to Phillips, however, it took Page approximately a year to record his guitar parts. The album was recorded using analog equipment as opposed to digital, as Coverdale and Page felt analog suited their style of music better. Initially, Coverdale and Page were set to be credited as the sole producers, but they eventually decided to give recording and mixing engineer Mike Fraser a co-production credit for his extensive work on Coverdale–Page. Mastering was handled by George Marino at Sterling Sound, while the cover art was designed by Hugh Syme. Aside from Coverdale and Page, the album features performances from Carmassi, Phillips, keyboardist Lester Mendez and backing vocalist Johnne Sambataro, among others. Music and lyrics Coverdale and Page's music has generally been referred to by music publications and critics as blues rock and hard rock. The opening riff of "Shake My Tree" dates back to Led Zeppelin's 1979 album In Through the Out Door. Page had played the riff during rehearsals, but it was left unused. He later presented the riff to Paul Rodgers while playing together in the Firm, but it was again rejected. When Page presented the riff to Coverdale, he "immediately latched on to it". For "Waiting on You", Coverdale initially struggled