Manny Charlton - Charlton With Nazareth

Charlton With Nazareth

Spanish-born Charlton's family had emigrated to Dunfermline, Scotland in the 1960s. Prior to joining Nazareth, Charlton played in a few bands, most notably the Mark 5 and later the Red Hawks, until joining the local semi-pro Dunfermline band The Shadettes. In 1968, the band changed their name to Nazareth, inspired by the opening lyric from "The Weight", a song by The Band.

Charlton played a huge part in Nazareth's worldwide success. His no-nonsense, fluid and bluesy style of playing, combined with the raw power of Dan McCafferty's vocals, first came to the attention of wider rock audiences when Nazareth toured in 1971 as the opening act for Deep Purple. But by 1973, they were headlining their own shows. Charlton also became the band's producer for many years, succeeding Deep Purple's Roger Glover, after the band decided they wanted to move in a new direction for the Hair Of The Dog album. Hair Of The Dog attained platinum in the United States and has to date sold in excess of two million copies. It is the band's most well known album, it contains their biggest ever hit "Love Hurts" which reached No. 8 in the U.S., and also holds the record for the number of weeks spent on the Norwegian chart. Charlton also produced the self-titled Dan McCafferty debut LP around this time.