The Nazareth band is a legend of world rock, which has firmly entered history thanks to its gigantic contribution to the development of music. She is always ranked in importance on the same level as The Beatles.
It seems that the group will exist forever. Having lived on the stage for more than half a century, the Nazareth group pleases and surprises with its compositions to this day.
The birth of Nazareth
The 1960s in the UK were notable for the fact that at this time a lot of rock and roll groups were created, striving to become famous.
So in Scotland, in the town of Dunfermline, The Shadettes began its existence, which was founded in 1961 by Peter Agnew. The group was mainly engaged in the performance of cover songs.
Three years later, drummer Darrell Sweet joined the band, and a year later Dan McCafferty joined them. All members of The Shadettes understood that the provincial group could never achieve real success.
Real "promotion" requires producers, sponsors, recording studios and the media. While the musicians were making plans to conquer the English public, guitarist Manny Charlton joined them.
In 1968, the group changed its name and became Nazareth. At the same time, the style of performances also changed - the music became louder and more incendiary, and the costumes became brighter.
Millionaire Bill Fehilli saw them like that and took part in the fate of the group, having agreed with the Pegasus studio. The Nazareth group went to London.
In the capital, the team recorded the first disc, which was called Nazareth. Critics received the album positively, but it did not enjoy significant popularity among the public.
The English public has not yet accepted the Nazareth group. The second album turned out to be a "failure" in general, and the critics completed the rout of the group. To the credit of the musicians, we can say that they did not despair and continued to work hard at rehearsals and tours.
Recognition of the group Nazareth by the public
The Nazareth team is lucky to be on friendly terms with the musicians of Deep Purple. Thanks to them, 1972 was a turning point for the group.
Having performed "as the opening act" for the Deep Purple group during one of the concerts, the band was noticed and appreciated by the public. This was followed by successful tours in America and the recording of the next album, RazamaNaz.
The album has yet to enter the top ten of the charts. But many songs from this disc gradually became hits and gave the long-awaited profit. And the next album, Loud 'n' Proud, took the lead.
The popularity of the Nazareth group increased, the singles occupied the leading positions of the charts, the albums were successfully sold. The group worked on itself and constantly improved.
For some songs they introduced keyboards, which was unusual. At the same time, the band abandoned the services of their producer, and guitarist Manny Charlton took his place.
The rise of the band's success
1975 can be called one of the most fruitful in the history of the team. Albums were released, the best compositions appeared - Miss Misery, Whiskey Drinking Woman, Guilty, etc. Dan McCafferty, thanks to the increasing success of Nazareth, created a successful solo program.
The following year, the group created an unusual composition Telegram, which had four parts and dealt with the difficult touring life of rock musicians. The album with this song was very successful in England, and in Canada several dozen times became gold and platinum.
Unfortunately, in the same year, the group suffered a loss - a plane crash claimed the life of the band's manager, Bill Fehilly, thanks to whom the Nazareth group reached the world level.
Towards the end of 1978, another member joined the Nazareth band, guitarist Zal Cleminson.
At the same time, the group finally became disillusioned with the British public and purposefully turned to the conquest of other countries. In Russia, the team was very popular.
Its composition has undergone several changes, sometimes increasing, sometimes decreasing. As a result, the team was left with four people.
In the 1980s, the group changed their style, adding a bit of pop to rock and roll. As a result, the music began to be a cross between rock, reggae and blues.
The keyboard parts of John Locke gave originality to the compositions. At the same time, Dan McCafferty continued to pursue a solo career in parallel. In 1986, a biopic about Nazareth was made.
In the 1990s, the Nazareth group gave many concerts in Moscow and Leningrad. The performances were an incredible success. But at this time there were disagreements in the group, after which, after two decades of successful work, Manny Charlton left.
In April 1999, the band's longtime drummer Darrell Sweet died. The group had to cancel the tour and return to their homeland.
At this point, the Nazareth team was on the verge of disintegration, but the musicians decided that Darrell would be against it and kept the team in memory of him.
Nazareth band now
The group worked successfully throughout the period of the 2000s, changing its composition more than once.
Dan McCafferty left in 2013. But even in the updated version, the band continued to record albums and tour.
In 2020, the legend of world rock music will celebrate its XNUMXth anniversary and I want to believe that it will delight fans with new bright concerts.
