Nazareth was formed in December 1968 in Dunfermline, Scotland, out of the ashes of semi-professional local group The Shadettes (formed in 1961) by vocalist Dan McCafferty, guitarist Manny Charlton (ex Mark V and The Red Hawks), bassist Pete Agnew, and drummer Darrell Sweet.[2] They took their name from the first line of The Band's classic song "The Weight" ("I pulled into Nazareth / Was feelin' about half past dead...")[2]. Nazareth's cover version of "Java Blues" by The Band's bassist/singer Rick Danko and Emmett Grogan is on their 1981 live album Snaz.
The band moved to London, England in 1970, and released their eponymous debut album in 1971.[2] After getting some attention with their second album Exercises, released in 1972, Nazareth supported Deep Purple on tour, and issued the Roger Glover produced, Razamanaz, in early 1973.[2] This collection spawned two UK Top Ten hits, "Broken Down Angel" and "Bad Bad Boy".[2] This was followed by Loud 'N' Proud in late 1973, which contained another hit single with a hard-rocking cover of Joni Mitchell's song "This Flight Tonight".[2] Then came another album Rampant, in 1974, that was equally successful although its only single, "Shanghai'ed in Shanghai", narrowly missed the British Top 40.[3] A non-album song, again a cover version, this time of Tomorrow's "My White Bicycle", was a UK Top 20 entry in 1975.[2]
Hair of the Dog was released in April 1975.[3] The title track of that album (popularly, though incorrectly, known as "Son Of A Bitch" due to its chorus lyrics) became a staple of 1970s rock radio. The American version of the album included a song originally recorded by The Everly Brothers, and also covered by Roy Orbison, the melodic ballad "Love Hurts", that was released as a hit single in the UK and in the U.S., where it went platinum. The track became the band's only U.S. Top Ten hit.[4] The song spent a record-shattering 60 weeks on the Norwegian chart.[4]
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