Nazareth listings

When Guns & Roses first descended onto England in 1987, followed by a whirlwind of media hype and drunken brawls, they brought with them a bunch of cassettes that they would listen to while chilling in between gigs. One such cassette that kept them entertained during their infamous stint at the London Marquee, was entitled 'Greatest Hits' - by Nazareth. There are two things which may seem odd about this fact. One, why would an American band on the verge of superstardom travel around the globe with a cassette by some old Scottish band? And two, that a bunch of hairy blokes from Dunfermline had any great hits at all.

Essential listening But take one listen to an album like Hair of the Dog or Razamanaz, and it is possible to see why many young rock bands, not just Axl's American upstarts, viewed Nazareth as essential listening. The heavy riffs, the screeching vocals (a proto-type for many a future heavy-metal singer), and the driving rhythm section, cemented Nazareth's reputation in early British rock folklore. From playing rock n' roll covers in the Dunfermline ballrooms, to touring the world with the likes of Rory Gallagher and Deep Purple, the Nazareth story really began when the band stuck two-fingers up at the music industry that threatened to hold them back during those turbulent early days, when mimicking London's hip and trendy music scene was the norm. Brightest hope And the band had the talent to back up their audaciousness. Melody Maker's 'Brightest Hope' of 1973 had hit singles with the likes of Broken Down Angel, My White Bicycle, and This Flight Tonight, to which the song's original performer Joni Mitchell is reported to have said on hearing the cover, 'Oh a little rock band, how cute!' Perhaps their most famous track however, is Love Hurts. Yep, that old Everly Brothers song, proving that Nazareth rarely did things the conventional way, in a business where covers were often frowned upon. These hits were all backed up by huge selling albums. Hair of the Dog was a massive success worldwide.

Todays Nazareth still features two origanal Members Dan McCafferty on Vocals and Pete Agnewon Bass ,plus Jimmy Murrison on Guitar and Lee Agnew on Drums.

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Nazareth