Nazareth POX

(...POVIII it'll be then)

now playing:Grand Funk Railroad-On Time

This Manuel Charlton character really worships Scotty Moore, and that's a great thing.

Roger Glover is pretty cool. I've always loved his bass playing. In fact (!) - just last night when I got home from the bar I decided I wanted to listen to "Armageddon It" by Def Leppard because I had read Di talking about the "C'mon Steve!" bit, on that "rock the fuck out thread". Well, as I scanned my cd rack, Machine Head beckoned me... Paice/Glover = a little something that makes life worthwhile.

One of my earliest memories of viewing "live rock music" was some VHS tape of some random Rainbow concert that this kind of scaggy friend of my mom brought over one day. I was really impressed with Glover's stage presence. He wore one of those silly hats that people in Magritte paintings wear. It takes balls to do that. He was really solid though. The band ripped through classics like "Power" and some other crap, and then for an encore, they did "Smoke on the Water". Some punter threw a frisbee on the stage! The "Man in Black" picked it up, and started banging out the chords to "Smoke on the Water" with that frisbee instead of a pick. It was awesome!!

I quite liked his solo album The Mask too! God that was actually really cool! I'd like to hear it again. It's only been 18 years, for chrissakes.

Anyway, my POX:

1. "The Ballad of Hollis Brown"
2. "Not Fakin It"
3. "Razamanaz"
4. "Hair of the Dog"
5. "Turn on Your Receiver"
6. "Teenage Nervous Breakdown"
7. "Love Hurts"
8. "Shanghai'd in Shanghai"
9. "Alcatraz"
10. "Gone Dead Train"

"Ballad of Hollis Brown" first because, well, it's simply one of THE key epic metallic tracks! "Flight of the Rat", "Like A Dry Camel", "D.O.A.", "July Morning", "Kashmir", "Man From Manhattan", "War Pigs" ... and "Ballad of Hollis Brown"!! Seriously, those reverbed drums SLAY me! The whole arrangement really conveys the tragedy of the song. The tension that builds throughout that single chord drone ... outstanding. They sort of invented the extended drone one-upsmanship that the "stoner" groups (Melvins, Sleep, Corrupted, Boris lineage I guess) appear to be engaged in. Anyway, nice production tricks, echo, flange, why not? McCafferty's performance is sinister. It's waaaay fucking scarier than Dylan's original.

Yeah, I'm a big fan of Loud and Proud, one of my favorite records. "Not Fakin' It" - punk as fuck! One of the great hard rock choruses, too, with that glorious sweeping vocal.

"Razamanaz" because of that great off-kilter riff. The pregnant pause before the two guitar chords in the 4th bar = why guitar-based rock music is wonderful. Also love the switch to the walking bass-line in the chorus.

A curious group. What do folks think of those 1st two records? I only have Exercises, but I couldn't get into it at all.

This cover actually scared me when I was a kid. I first sort of became cognizant of what "rock music" - and the idea of buying records in general - was when I was about 8 or so, when this record came out. It also introduced me to the idea of "cut-out" records. For a couple years afterward, I would always see it in the cut-out bin at my local Meijer Thrifty Acres, filed alongside the likes of this-

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd500/d530/d53014fj90e.jpg

"Back to the Trenches" is an average to excellent collection of live
material that was just issued. Nazareth never had a good live
album when it counted. "Snaz" was poor, making the mistake that
what the fans -really- wanted to hear was the edition of the
act with Billy Rankin on second guitar and John Locke on keys.

Stee-rike! And you're out.

"Trenches" has Manny Charlton firmly in command for the better
material and the first CD is predominantly from the early-70's
four-piece. Zal shows up for the tail end of it; Cleminson in
the band actually being better in theory than in practice.

"Nazareth at the Beeb" on Reef Records is the best for those
who wanted live from the purist part of the catalog. Very
dry, claustrophobic and caustic sounding recording of
Marshall stacks in medium to small-sized wooden rooms with
a BBC announcer who sounds like someone narrating a science show
about birds.

"Homecoming" is the band now, with Pete Agnew's kid on drums and
a guitarist named Jimmy. As a live set, it's better than "Snaz"
and the guitarist tries manfully to do Manny. Almost, but not quite.

Man, did these guys have impeccable taste in covers or what?

They sure did! When your own writing skills sag, no harm in doing someone else's tune a turn for the better.

Now, if only more people thought that way...

Kudos to Scott who recognized the timeless mightyness of Naz enough to start the thread.

I was pretty suprised a few years back when I found out that they were from Scotland. At least based on "Hair of the Dog", I figured they were either from Arkansas or Oklahoma.

"You bring the wine, I'll bring the weather..."

Scramble for "Savage Return," one of the forgotten Savoy Brown records.

Produced by Robert John Lange before he was Mutt, it's Savoy Brown's "metal" album. It's 100 percent crushing guitar cack
and has one song, "My Own Man," that predates the Axl Rose/GNR-style by a good many years. At the time, Simmonds quickly disowned it.

I went out to a local club for the express purpose of seeing
Savoy Brown perform tunes from it the year it came out and it
was like the album hadn't even been made.

"Blue Matter" would have to be one of my favorites from the
classic line-up with pre-Foghat. "Don't Turn Me From Your Door"
and "She's Got a Ring in His Nose" are fine stomps, the latter
having a wonderful herky-jerky feel.

I'll also cop to liking a lot of the out-of-print stuff: "Skin
'n' Bone" and "Boogie Brothers."

Simmonds, apparently, won't quit until they put him in the ground.
But you take your chances with subsequent albums.

The latest with the Savoy Brown name, for example, is terrible
laid-back Chicago blues fit for fern bars. The one before it,
however, "The Blues Keep Me Holding On," is much in the vein of
the 70's style.

Foghat was an American stadium-rock institution. Ram Jam never
was. ... a Long Island institution, I think, maybe.
Plus, the latter was the product of Kazenetz-Katz, made only
two albums (the second of which bore no resemblance to the first)
and is one of the many acts who have, disapointingly, covered
Charlie Karp's "Too Bad on Your Birthday."

Anyway, Armageddon had everything going for it. Name, album art,
actually received a good review in Rolling Stone.

Every one of my hermit-like hard rock-loving geek pals had a copy.

Armageddon could even be slummed as prog to the 70's audiophile snobs.

As for Valhalla, you have me by the short hairs on that one.

Seconded. Even post-Dave's death ersatz Foghat still draws 'em by
a couple thousand in hinterland gigs. Last summer they got top
billing at the Bethlehem Music Fest, an astonishing trick having to
do with the solidity of their presence in the local FM. This,
even with Charlie Huhn on vocals, a man who sounds nothing like
Lonesome Dave, but rather Bon Scott.

The only other two things I know about Foghat is that they played this small bar in the shitty part of town in Muncie around 88 or 89 called Hendersons, which maybe could hold 150-200 people. A classic rock rumor was that Foghat's drummer had a motorized drum stool that would spin him around when he did his drum solo. I've never confirmed this mind you, but this was a rumor put out by a friends older angeldusted brother who also claimed that George Thorogood blew the Stones off the stage and 38 Special was awesome because they had three guitarists and TWO drummers, so it may not be a reliable source.

Savoy Brown is one of those bands like the Atlanta Rhythm Section or Wishboy Ash that was around forever, I met people who liked their records, but I haven't heard even one song.

Torture! You have my sympathy.

A classic rock rumor was that Foghat's drummer had a motorized drum stool

Never saw it but saw Foghat many times including during the late '80's when various members of the band would fight with Dave,
necessitating the hiring of assorted ringers. Perhaps this was more than was safe for good mental hygeine.

awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_nM8s4GpJ8

Mama, mama, please no more jaguars
I don't want to be a pop star
Mama, mama, please no more deckhands
I don't wanna be a sailor man
Mama, mama, please no more facelifts
I just don't know which one you is
Mama, mama, please no more husbands
I don't know who my daddy is.

always great with the covers (Gone Dead Train, I Want To Do Everything For You, This Flight Tonite, Hollis Brown, Love Hurts, etc)...

One more great cover. Definitely prefer this to the original. I'm not sure if it's been mentioned elsewhere, but Ram Jam will now live forever thanks to Rayman. One of the best video game moments that I've ever had.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7bF8YqrUFE

Can't believe no one's had 'Waiting For The Man'.