Manny Charlton
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Manuel Charlton (25 July 1941 – 5 July 2022) was a Scottish musician, who was known as a founding member of the influential Scottish
hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
band
Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...
and was their lead guitarist from 1968 to 1990. He also produced a string of successful Nazareth albums in the 1970's, including the seminal album "Hair of the Dog" (1975).


Career


Nazareth

Charlton was born in
La Línea LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
,
Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...
, southern Spain. His family had emigrated from Spain to
Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...
, Scotland in the 1940s when he was aged 2. 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 "The Weight" is a song by the Canadian-American group the Band that was released as a single in 1968 and on the group's debut album ''Music from Big Pink''. It was their first release under this name, after their previous releases as Canadian ...
", a song by The Band. Charlton played a huge part in Nazareth's worldwide success. His
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
y style of playing, combined with
Dan McCafferty William Daniel McCafferty (14 October 1946 – 8 November 2022) was a vocalist and songwriter best known as the lead singer for the Scottish hard rock band Nazareth from its founding in 1968 to his retirement from touring with the band in 2013. ...
's vocals, first came to the attention of wider rock audiences when Nazareth toured in 1971 as the opening act for
Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...
. But by 1973, they were headlining their own shows. Charlton was also the band's producer for many years, succeeding Deep Purple's
Roger Glover Roger David Glover (born 30 November 1945) is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the member of the hard rock bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. As a member of Deep Purple, Glover was inducted into the Rock and Ro ...
, after the band decided they wanted to move in a new direction for the ''
Hair of the Dog "Hair of the dog", short for "hair of the dog that bit you", is a colloquial expression in the English language predominantly used to refer to alcohol that is consumed with the aim of lessening the effects of a hangover. Many other languages hav ...
'' album. ''Hair of the Dog'' attained
platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...
sales in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and has to date sold in excess of two million copies. It is the band's most well known album, and contains their biggest hit "
Love Hurts "Love Hurts" is a song written and composed by the American songwriter Boudleaux Bryant. First recorded by the Everly Brothers in July 1960, the song is most well known from the 1974 international hit version by Scottish hard rock band Nazaret ...
" which reached No. 8 in the United States. Charlton also produced the self-titled ''Dan McCafferty'' debut LP in 1975, with a single "Out of Time" (1975) reaching # 41 in the UK chart. He would go on to produce a string of successful Nazareth albums, up to and including No Mean City (1979).


''Appetite For Destruction'' (Guns N' Roses)

Axl Rose W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.; born February 6, 1962) is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its incep ...
of
Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...
initially wanted "the guy who produced Nazareth's Hair of the Dog" to produce what would become the band's breakthrough album. Charlton got the request from
Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...
and produced several recordings at
Sound City Studios Sound City Studios is a recording studio in Los Angeles, California, known as one of the most successful in popular music. The complex opened in 1969 in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles. The facility had previously been a production facto ...
(
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
) in June 1986. At the end of the session they had 25 songs on tape, including "Paradise City", "Rocket Queen", "Welcome to the jungle", "Nightrain", two versions of "Move to the City", "November Rain", "Shadow of your Love" (takes one and two), and "Reckless Life". After this initial work, he rejoined Nazareth in Europe, and Guns N' Roses hired
Mike Clink Mike Clink is an American record producer. He began his career as an engineer at Record Plant Studios, recording such bands as Whitesnake, Triumph, Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe, Megadeth, UFO (including ''Strangers in the Night''), Jefferson ...
to produce the album. Charlton's productions are included as bonuses on the 2018 reissue of ''
Appetite for Destruction ''Appetite for Destruction'' is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. It was released on July 21, 1987, by Geffen Records. The album was released to little mainstream attention in 1987. It was not until the following ...
''.


Exit from Nazareth

After leaving Nazareth in 1990, Charlton played some
solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...
shows on the Scottish
club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...
circuit, and released his first solo album ''Drool'' in 1997, on the Red Steel
record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
with Neil Miller on vocals. The following year, he relocated to
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, where he formed the Manny Charlton Band (MCB). The new band released a pair of albums – ''Stonkin'' and ''Klone This'' – before disbanding in 2003.


''Doom''

In 1995, Charlton sent to
id Software id Software LLC () is an American video game developer based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and ar ...
, creator of ''
Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * L ...
'', a cassette tape featuring an untitled song that
John Romero John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...
would later title "Blood on the Walls". The liner said, "For all the guys and gals at I.D. (sic) who came up with the coolest game this side of
hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
, kick some demon butt to this!!" It also said "distribute as
shareware Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer ...
", in keeping with the old days of PC gaming in which one could get the first third or fourth of the game for free or a reduced price, and buy the full game later. Romero would later find this tape and record it to
mp3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
, providing it for free on his website. The song is actually titled "Doom" from Charlton's album ''Drool''.


Solo career

In 2004, Charlton released ''Say The Word'' on the Scottish label River Records. 2005 saw the release of ''Sharp'', which is on the whole a covers album, including
Tim Hardin James Timothy Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk and blues musician and composer. As well as releasing his own material, several of his songs, including " If I Were a Carpenter" and "Reason to Believe", becam ...
's "Hang On To A Dream" and
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
's "
Shelter from the Storm "Shelter from the Storm" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded on September 17, 1974, and released on his 15th studio album, ''Blood on the Tracks'', in 1975. It was later anthologized on the compilation album ''The Essential Bob Dylan'' in 2000. Com ...
". Later that same year, Charlton completed the follow-up to ''Sharp'', titled ''Sharp Re-Loaded''. In early 2006, Charlton joined the Swedish rock band, From Behind, who released their debut album titled ''Game Over'', and toured in support of the album around
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
before disbanding in late 2007. Charlton then released a solo album ''Americana Deluxe'', covering songs such as
Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
's "
Tusk Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canine teeth, as with pigs and walruses, or, in the case of elephants, elongated incisors. Tusks share c ...
". In March 2013, Charlton released ''Hellacious'' co-produced by Gary Bryant (GB Records). This recording was made in California and featured
Tim Bogert John Voorhis "Tim" Bogert III (August 27, 1944 – January 13, 2021) was an American multi-instrumentalist, musician. He graduated in 1963 from Ridgefield Memorial High School in his hometown of Ridgefield, New Jersey. As a bass guitarist an ...
,
Walfredo Reyes, Jr. Walfredo Reyes Jr. (born Walfredo de los Reyes Palau IV; December 18, 1955) is a Cuban American musician who is an expert in drum set and auxiliary percussion, a music educator, and a clinician. He has performed with many jazz, Latin, World mus ...
,
Steven Adler Steven Adler (born Michael Coletti; January 22, 1965) is an American musician. He was the drummer and co-songwriter of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s. Adler was fired from Guns N' Roses ...
,
Vivian Campbell Vivian Patrick Campbell (born 25 August 1962) is a Northern Irish guitarist. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as a member of Dio (band), Dio, and has been a member of Def Leppard since 1992 (replacing Steve Clark after his death). Camp ...
, and Robin DeLorenzo. In 2014, Charlton's solo albums ''Sharp'' and ''Sharp Re-Loaded'' were issued as a double CD. Neil Jefferies of ''
Classic Rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
'' commended Charlton's production work, writing: "Among three Dylan songs tackled, '
All Along The Watchtower "All Along the Watchtower" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from his eighth studio album, ''John Wesley Harding'' (1967). The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. The song's lyrics, which in its original vers ...
' is simply stunning, sidestepping both the original and
Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
’s seminal version with quasi-reggae tones that cement Charlton’s reputation as a truly gifted arranger." In 2018, Atom Records released ''Créme De La Créme'', an album celebrating the 'Best Of' Charlton's solo career.


Personal life

Charlton was married to Isabel and they later divorced. They had a son and daughter together. His son preceded him in death by six months. In 1997, Charlton moved to Texas in the US, where he married his second wife Julie. He relocated again to Cordoba in Spain in 2015. During a visit to the US, Charlton died in Texas on 5 July 2022, aged 80.


Discography


Solo


Singles

* Manny Charlton Band – "It Does Something" (2012)


ROIO

* ''Nazareth with Manny Charlton – Rock ‘N’ Roll Resort (Live)'' (2008)


Contributions


References


External links


Official Manny Charlton website
* * *

features a section on MCB's gift to id Software and accompanying mp3 and a scan of the liner

features an obituary including pictures, references and links. {{DEFAULTSORT:Charlton, Manny 1941 births 2022 deaths People from La Línea de la Concepción Spanish emigrants to the United Kingdom Scottish rock guitarists Scottish male guitarists Scottish heavy metal guitarists Lead guitarists Nazareth (band) members Blues rock musicians