Incredibly, by the
time this album was released in 1981 by
Vertigo Records as a live double album
(oh those good old days of vinyl), Nazareth
had already released thirteen studio albums.
That does not include the masses of Greatest
Hits, etc., that have been put out over
the years by the record companies. That
was surprising as Nazareth had always
been known as a live band, guaranteed
to deliver live and pack them in wherever
they were booked. But by not putting out
their live albums until 1981, Vertigo
rather missed the boat. Punk rock had
already come and gone, which had not really
hurt Nazareth as they were always too
hard-edged to be roped in with the hated
progressive bands like Pink Floyd, Genesis,
etc. However, when you look at what live
double albums did for the careers of the
likes of U.F.O. with 'Strangers In The
Night’; Deep Purple with 'Made In
Japan'; or Thin Lizzy with 'Live And Dangerous’,
it raises the question of how would Nazareth
have fared had they had the extra kick
of a double live album out on the shelves
as further grist to their mill.
There is no doubt that this is a mighty
tome indeed. Nazareth's original Scottish
quartet of musicians are still together
by the time of Snaz. Manny Charlton with
his thick chords and chopping riffs. Was
there ever a tighter rhythm section of
Pete Agnew and Darrell Sweet? And all
topped off by the gravel vocals of Dan
McCafferty, who sounded as though he gargled
with acid before hitting the stage. The
only changes to the lineup to this point
had been the addition of fellow county
man Zal Cleminson (ex- The Sensational
Alex Harvey Band) for a couple of albums
and tours directly before this album.
The story goes that the rest of Nazareth
found Zal temporarily between bands driving
Taxis in Glasgow, Scotland. Not believing
that such a talent was not actually playing
in a rock 'n' roll band, they dragged
him out of the taxi and immediately enrolled
him in the band until he found his musical
feet again. And then when he did, they
let him go. After Zal departed, the band
felt a bit of a musical void, so they
enrolled fellow Scots Billy Rankin on
guitar and John Locke on keyboards. Then
they set out on a massive tour of North
America, recorded every concert for their
projected live album, and decided that
the concert held at the Pacific Coliseum
in Vancouver, Canada, was just what they
wanted. So they discarded all the other
recordings and put this one out in its
entirety.
I think they were right as it catches
the band on what was definitely a special
night. Starting with the epic ‘Telegram’
(the story of being on the road with a
rock 'n' roll band, including the immortal
lyric "I need your picture, smile
this way, oh, by the way, will you tell
me what you play?) they carried on till
a rousing encore of Nazareth's biggest
hit, the ballad 'Love Hurts', followed
by a version of ZZ Tops 'Tush', left both,
band and crowd, breathless. In-between
are all the classic Nazareth songs and
cover versions which they became famous
for. Of course this is one of the advantages
of not recording your live album early
in your career, but saving it till you
have a full two hours of classic material.
Mind you, if Nazareth had released a live
album in the early seventies, they could
of done an equally good one for the eighties.
Snaz was first released on C.D. in 1997,
but horrifically, that was a pretty poor
effort as the sound was very tinny, and
it was not possible to get all the material
from the live double vinyl album onto
one C.D. As a solution they hacked off
six tracks to make it a more manageable
seventy minutes, and so completely ruined
the flow of the running set, especially
as it meant missing out ‘Big Boy’,
magnificently penned by Zal Cleminson.
However, Eagle Records have gotten hold
of the original masters and under the
expert supervision of Robert M. Corich
and Mike Brown, the original Snaz has
been returned to its full glory. The spread
covers two C.Ds, has new liner notes,
and even the two new studio tracks that
had been tacked onto the end of the live
recording in 1981 have been faithfully
restored. Whether you want to buy a collection
of Nazareth's greatest hits or just of
a very fine rock 'n' roll band doing what
they do best on the live concert circuit,
Snaz will not disappoint.
Razzed by Mott The Dog
Snazzed by Ella Crew
E-mail: review@mott-the-dog.com
