Manny Charlton, who has died aged 80, was a Fifer who went from jamming on the streets of Dunfermline to rock stardom.
Born Manuel Charlton in La Línea, Andalusia, he spent the first two years of his life in the Spanish municipality before his family headed to the Kingdom.
And the Nazareth guitarist never forgot his roots, returning to play a gig at PJ Molloys in 2019.
Speaking to blues rockers The Fluffy Jackets‘ YouTube page, with his accent unchanged despite years away from home, he reflected on Nazareth’s inception in Dunfermline.
He said: “I knew Pete [Agnew] and Dan [McCafferty] because we were both playing in the Kinema Ballroom with the resident band.
“They played on one stage and we played on the other.
“We used to walk up the road after the gigs with our fish suppers; we always spoke about trying to do something together one day.
Song-writing ambitions clear
“They had a pretty good guitarist who left to go to university.
“They asked me to take his place, and I said sure, but only if we do originals.”
The four aspiring musicians would go on to form rock band Nazareth in 1968.
Nazareth bass player Pete Agnew confirmed to Classic Rock last Thursday: “When Manny joined, he was the first guy to suggest writing songs of our own.
“We’d never even thought of it until then, because they employed you as human jukebox.
“Then suddenly Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple started to appear, and a whole range of possibilities opened up.”
Nazareth’s debut album was released in 1971 but it was the follow-up, Exercises, that caught the eye of Deep Purple.
It wasn’t long before they were a support act for the band they had looked up to.
Deep Purple’s producer Roger Glover then oversaw Nazareth’s third album, Razamanaz, in 1973, and it featured the band’s first two UK Top 10 hits – Broken Down Angel and Bad Bad Boy.
By 1973, the Dunfermline band were headlining their own shows and Charlton and his bluesy guitar riffs, a hit with audiences, were a huge part of their success.
He soon replaced Glover as Nazareth’s producer, with the band deciding to move in a new direction.
Then came Hair of The Dog, released in 1975.
Its hit single Love Hurts – a cover of the song originally recorded by The Everly Brothers in 1960 – was a Top 10 hit in the US and also No1 in Canada, The Netherlands, and Belgium.
It also charted for 61 weeks on the Norwegian charts, including 14 weeks at #1, making it the top single of all time in that country.
Hair of The Dog would prove to be Nazareth’s biggest record, and sold over two million copies worldwide.
In 1984, while playing in Canada, Charlton would take another step on the road into rock folklore.
Nazareth ran into a group of young rockers who were working on their debut album and dreaming of stardom.
They called themselves Guns N’ Roses.
Axl Rose – three years away from global fame – was aware of Charlton’s producing talents and wanted him to produce the record.
In 2016, Charlton spoke to MariskalRockTV about the early days of Guns N’ Roses.
He said: “They got in touch with me through their label.
“They sent me some cassettes of the band playing live, but I couldn’t hear it very well.
Heading to LA
“At that time, Nazareth were working on an album called Cinema.
“But I said I’d go to over to Los Angeles and meet the band.
“If we liked each other, and I liked their music, it was possible that I’d produce for them.”
Charlton started work on some demos for Guns N’ Roses in 1986 at Sound City Studios in Los Angeles.
It resulted in a list of 25 songs, including future classics Welcome to the Jungle and Paradise City.
But recording duties with Nazareth meant Charlton had to return to Europe and Mike Clink was hired to produce Appetite For Destruction, now an all-time classic rock record.
Both bands kept in touch over the years and Guns N’ Roses credited Nazareth as their biggest influence.
The group – then featuring Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin and Steven Adler – took time out of their infamous Hell Tour to attend a Nazareth show Nazareth in Canada.
Guns N’ Roses even covered Nazareth’s Hair of the Dog on their album The Spaghetti Incident? in 1993.
And Charlton’s demos were included as a bonus on the 2018 reissue of Appetite For Destruction.
Life on the road looked to be on the backburner for Charlton when he returned to Scotland in 1990 and began playing solo shows on the club circuit.
The guitarist released his first solo album, Drool, in 1999.
Shortly after he relocated to Texas, where he passed away on Tuesday at home.
Last year Charlton returned to the studio for the final time.
He re-recorded a new version of Nazareth’s 1976 hit Telegram to celebrate his 80th birthday.
Charlton was joined by Norwegian rockers The Halloween Project, former Whitesnake bassist Neil Murray and London’s The Fluffy Jackets, who he collaborated with on their debut album Fighting Demons.
The news of Charlton’s passing was announced on Facebook by his grandson Jamie, who posted a picture of them both and the caption “RIP Grandad” on July 6.
His passing was confirmed by former Nazareth bandmate Pete Agnew, who said: “We had our ups and downs over the years but we never once disagreed about the music.
“I would like to offer condolences on behalf of the Nazareth family to Manny’s own family.
“Our thoughts are with you at this sad time.”
Charlton continues to live on through his legacy as one of Fife’s greatest rock heroes.
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