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A spiritual save
Roger Glover has contributed to a new book PRAVDAoNAZ: The Truth About Nazareth being prepared for publication by a Russian photographer and journalist Mikhail Vaneev.
I’ll tell you something about Nazareth… they saved my life, maybe not literally, but spiritually. In June ’73, six months after we’d recorded Razamanaz, and after gruelling tours of Europe, USA and Japan, I was jettisoned from Deep Purple. It’s very difficult to be forced to leave the biggest band in the world, which is what we were by then. For four years, we’d been on this incredible journey from In Rock to Machine Head and Smoke on the Water. An incredible journey, and all of sudden – I’m off the cliff. I arrived back from Japan feeling very low until I read in the music papers that Broken Down Angel was high up in the charts. What a great surprise and totally lifted my spirits. I had produced a hit – with Nazareth! And that made me feel so good. I happily changed my career and became a producer.
They were a solid band and went down well with the people. The crowds liked them. The thing about Nazareth is, they always meant it. They had great commitment. They stormed on stage every night and gave a hundred percent. That’s why people liked them.
The interview in full is presented in the book, illustrated with pictures taken by the author over the years. The book is a 252-page photo album, 300*300 mm format (roughly the size of an LP vinyl), that will get a limited release this spring. It can be preordered through the Russian crowdfunding site planeta.ru at the price of 5,000 rubles (approximately $67 / €57), plus shipping, with shipping costs to be paid on delivery. Target publication date is February 28, 2022.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Nazareth before or after never sounded as good as in those years with Roger. He de-mudded their sound and gave them a single-friendly pop sheen, yet retained their hard rock edge.
January 23rd, 2022 at 01:17Razamanaz has always been one of my favorites, regrettably never saw them live!
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:40I agree Uwe. Those Glover Produced Nazareth Albums are the best of the bands output.
January 24th, 2022 at 09:49I wouldn’t be surprised if Roger’s acclaimed Nazareth work was his ticket to Rainbow as a producer. The fact that a Scottish B league hard rock outfit all of the sudden had several single hits in the UK and US cannot have escaped Blackmore and must have made him think twice eventually. And there are quite a few similarities in the sound of, say, Rampant and Rainbow’s Down To Earth. Roger gave both of them a pop sheen (almost a touch of glam) – something Martin Birch productions always lacked (producing pop just wasn’t his style). He did the same thing with Rory Gallagher’s Calling Card and Judas Priest’s Sin After Sin, both albums are more accessible and have a more glistening sound than their respective predecessors and successors.
January 24th, 2022 at 13:05Rampant have always been a big fave for me and Razamanaz is very good too. Really enjoy Hair of the Dog too.
January 24th, 2022 at 20:49Someone was wearing a Nazareth shirt backstage after a DP concert at Pine Knob in 2007 or 2008 in Clarkston, MI. I was sitting there talking with Ian Gillan and Darby O’Toole, drinking a beer. I said to them, “That was a great band.” Gillan replied, “Yeah. I met (singer) Dan McCafferty backstage in 1969.” Gillan said he really appreciated the uniqueness of Dan’s voice.
January 24th, 2022 at 22:48*Dan, I mean to type. Edit that previous post, Wolf.
January 24th, 2022 at 22:49