Metal heads in the mid 1970’s all owned the following three albums: Paranoid by Black Sabbath, Machine Head by Deep Purple and Hair of the Dog by Nazareth. Stereos were cranked to 10 when the title track “Hair of the Dog” screamed out, “Now you’re messing with a son of a bitch.” The man behind the microphone was Dan McCafferty, who took smoky, gritty vocals to a new level. His vocals were so raw and unique that it sounded as if eating glass was part of his daily vocal regiment. His scowl has became synonymous with the band and to this day, Dan is still cranking out his screaming style while those listening to him wonder how in the hell he can do that without spitting blood.

Now, nearly 40 years since they started, Nazareth is back with a classic sounding album, aptly titled Big Dogz. This is an album of hard rocking grooves, tasty guitar solos, bittersweet ballads and those amazing McCafferty pipes. Sound familiar? You bet it does. While Nazareth has never been one to recreate the past, there are moments on the new album that evoke the same emotions of Hair of the Dog.

The band features Pete Agnew on bass and McCafferty from the glory days. The “new” guitar player in the band has been a member of Nazareth for seventeen years. Pete’s son, Lee took over when original drummer Darrell Sweet passed away.

It is hard to make lightening strike twice, but Nazareth have churned out two albums of basic, power chord and snare drum hard rock ‘n’ roll in Big Dogz and its predecessor The Newz.

In the interview that follows Dan tells how the new album came to be and why the band is happy with both the new music and Nazareth’s legacy. We also talk about some important songs from the past and what it takes to keep his voice sounding so damn ugly.

Dan: We are really happy with it. The band is going great. Jimmy [Murrison] has been with us seventeen years. Lee [Agnew] joined after Darrel [Sweet] died.

We kept writing songs before The Newz but we never really recorded them. The record companies kept telling us that we were too old to make a record. It was all very negative. We decided that was not the case, so we went in and did The Newz, which really, really pleased us. We really liked that album because we don’t like to do albums where the songs are all the same.

Jimmy was really coming in as his own as a writer. These guys were really writing great songs. Pete [Agnew] and I were not really that involved in the writing of that album. The songs were very Nazareth. They were scarily Nazareth.

Dan: We did. Times are really good right now and we are really getting along well. I am afraid to talk about it because I don’t want to break something.

Dan: Jimmy had this riff; Lee had a great drum sound as well. I had this great chorus, “Tonight, tonight, the big dogs gonna howl” and they all said, “That’s the one.” We did the chorus first and we worked back. We had an idea for the start of the song and then we went into automatic mode and it all came together.

Dan: I think that everything that happens is a thrill; everything is climatic. It was the same before as well, do you know what I’m saying?

Dan: We are starting to see a lot of people in Europe who claim to be religious and they get on TV and promise to cure your ass of this or that. They make these promises and people follow them and it gets to be really dangerous because these people end up giving them everything that they’ve got. We used to call them charlatans when I was a lad. If you have faith then that is great but don’t go running up to everyone’s door telling them that they are going to go to hell unless they join your cult.

Dan: “Butterfly” is actually about Pete’s mother. She was a very brave woman. She had cancer for a very long time. “Butterfly” was a hard song to record because we all started crying because we were thinking of our mom or dad. There is a genuine feeling to that song.

Dan: When I was in there singing it, I was thinking about my folks. You just can’t help it. Everyone has memories. Pete’s mom was very ill but she was very special to us all. Pete’s mom was one of the people who encouraged us to go into rock n’ roll. She was a very special woman.

Dan: Over the years, Nazareth has had a lot of songs about monsters and dogs. We have all of these images that are on the album covers and in the songs but they were a farce. Now, the monster is out of the album and into the real world and he is going to give them hell. He’s a monster now so he is not there to cuddle.

Dan: It was a very fun album to make. The place we recorded is a big old studio. There are great ambient sounds there. Most of the tracks were done live.

Usually a band does the backing track first and then they do instruments and then the vocals and finally the backing vocals. This time we did the backing tracks and then we did the vocals. After that we did the guitar overdubs. It was great because while they were working on the last track then I could be working on the next song.

Dan: We are doing three. The album was released in Europe in April. We are doing “Big Dogz,” “Radio” and “When Jesus Comes to Save the World.” We would love to do four new ones but the thing is that people buy tickets to hear “This Flight Tonight,” “Love Hurts” and “Razamanaz.” You don’t want to do too many new songs and piss the crowd off.

Dan: I would say that is the most commercial song on the album. When we started out there was no MTV. We just had the radio. There was nothing else and everybody listened to the radio. There wasn’t any DVDs or video games; all there was, was music and sports.

We would travel to the States and Canada and we would listen to all of these radio stations. The deejay got to play whatever he wanted. He would just sit back and open up a six-pack and play what he liked. You heard so much stuff you had never heard before. It was our upbringing and it was a great experience for us and our entire generation.

I don’t think it happens today. I have grandchildren and they don’t do that. Everyone has become very insulated. They have their computer or their headphones or their game and they don’t know how to act, socially. I think it is very scary.

Dan: I think it is mostly just pure dumb luck. The thing is that I don’t worry about it. I smoked for years; I don’t anymore though. I still have a few drinks with dinner. I think too many singers are too paranoid about their voice. They think it is too smoky or that it is not smoky enough. They are frightened that they are going to lose it and they drive themselves insane.

Generally speaking, I have been pretty lucky. Years ago, I had something wrong with my vocal chords and I had to have something done to them but that was it.

Dan: Very much so. I meet people all the time that tell me how much Hair of the Dog means to them. We never really tried to dial our sound into a certain taste. We are very proud of what we have accomplished. Gun’s N’ Roses even covered one of our songs.

Dan: No, you can’t do that! I think it comes down to melodies and all of the different kinds of approaches you can take. I wanted to do it with a heavy metal voice but there are all different kinds of things people can do. There are people who are basically storytellers but people dig them too. I want to be able to get my message across but I want to do it with a certain feeling.

Dan: Every album Nazareth makes is different. The record companies just wanted us to keep making the same album over and over again. They made me want to cut my wrists. I just couldn’t handle that and neither could the rest of the guys. We wanted the music to evolve. I think that is why we have lasted so long and why our fans have stayed with us so long. We have evolved. We are still Nazareth but there are different sides to us and we like to explore all sides of the music we create.

Dan: For a start, I would say “Hair of the Dog,” the son of a bitch song. We wanted to call the album Son of a Bitch but the record company went ape shit. They said, “You can’t say that.” We said, “Fuck off, John Wayne says that in his movies and he is the neatest thing that you’ve got going.”

“Love Hurts” I have to add. That was the first rock ballad like that, ever. We get to lay claim to that one. I would also have to add “Razamanaz” because I just love that song.

Jeb: I love “Shanghai'd in Shanghai.”

Dan: I really love that one too. Man, there are 23 albums, its difficult to remember them all as I am 65 years old this year, I mean shit man [laughter]. “Shanghai'd in Shanghai.” is a nice little boogie.

Dan: That was pretty heavy. I mean we really got nasty on that song. It was so heavy. You see, I like everything that we have ever done. If we did not like it then we did not record it.

Dan: That is the plan. We are too old and ugly for anything else. We really are! If you could have Rihanna, Beyonce or Dan McCarffety then it would be goodbye Dan!

Dan: Rock n’ Roll has kind of taken a back seat in the States. We have some dates coming up in Canada so you never know. Our friends Uriah Heep are in the States and we have played a lot of gigs with them in Europe over the years. Call your local promoter and ask him why Nazareth is not being booked in the States. We would love to play there again.

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