Manny Charlton, lead guitarist for Scottish rock band Nazareth, has died at age 80.
Charlton was a founding member of Nazareth and was with the band from the start in 1968 through to 1990. He played on 17 Nazareth albums from ‘Nazareth’ (1971) to ‘Snakes & Ladders’ (1989).
Nazareth’s biggest hit was a cover of Boudleaux Bryant’s ‘Love Hurts’, originally a hit for The Everly Brothers. The Nazareth version reached no 8 in Australia and the USA in 1974 but fell outside the Top 40 on their home-turf UK.
Charlton crafted the Nazareth sound earning a co-producer credit for the fifth Nazareth album ‘Rampant’ alongside Deep Purple’s Roger Glover.
For the sixth album ‘Hair of the Dog’, Charlton had full producer credit. It earned him a fan in Axl Rose who recruited Charlton to produce their early sessions. However, Charlton had Nazareth touring commitments and after recording 25 tracks in 1986 for the band had to opt out and return to Scotland. Mike Clink took over as producer and finished the album ‘Appetite For Destruction’. It was Manny who produced the first sessions of “Paradise City”, “Rocket Queen”, “Welcome to the jungle” and “Nightrain”.
Guns N’ Roses would later honour Charlton and Nazareth by covering ‘Hair of the Dog’ on ‘The Spaghetti Incident’.
After leaving Nazareth, Charlton formed the Manny Charlton Band and released around a dozen albums with the band or solo through to 2016.
Charlton’s grandson Jamie shared a photo of his grandfather with the caption “RIP Grandad”.
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