Nazareth guitarist Jimmy joins rock’s all-time greats

May 13 2008 by Andrew Welsh

NAZARETH guitarist Jimmy Murrison says he can’t wait to perform in front of his home town fans at Perth Concert Hall.

Incredibly, the axeman from Craigie has never so much as set foot inside the Fair City’s showpiece venue since it opened almost three years ago.

The veteran heavy rock legends, whose hits include ‘Love Hurts’ and Bad Bad Boy’, will play PCH on August 22 as part of their 40th anniversary tour to raise cash for the Rockin’ For Kids charity.

And generous Jimmy has donated a limited edition copy of an ultra-rare signature Les Paul he was recently presented with by guitar makers Gibson.

“The guitar was specifically made for me by Gibson to my specifications,” said Jimmy (43).

“I was also given 10 replicas of it. They are Epiphones by Gibson which are very, very good guitars in their own right.

“I can do what I want with them - keep them, sell them or give them to friends. I certainly won’t be putting them on Ebay!

“The band’s plan is we’ll use them for good causes. I might keep one as a spare but I’ve got enough guitars already.

“Gibson don’t make the award very often and my guitar will never become a production model.”

The copy will be the star item in a blind auction being held at August’s gig.

However, the rocker, who joined Nazareth in 1994, says he’s been too busy with the band to check out the Perth venue.

“The amazing thing is I’ve never been in the building,” he confessed.

“I’m really looking forward to playing there and seeing what it’s like. I’ve heard great things about it.

“There have been bands there who I would have liked to have seen but I’ve been away on the road.”

Jimmy reckons anything will be better that the last time he played his home town, in front of thousands of bikers at PCH’s King Edward Street predecessor.

“The old city hall, God bless it, was never built for rock gigs and that was a horrible gig to play,” he admitted.

“It was basically a closed doors gig for a bikers’ rally so it was a strange one. It’ll be good to do a proper show this time.”

The guitarist is full of praise for Perth band The Original Windows, whose frontman Athole Fleming has fixed up the charity show.

“We’re right behind them, we do a lot of charity gigs ourselves actually so we’re more than happy to come on board,” said Jimmy.

“I’ve been aware of Athole’s band for a while now. While I was away I’d get the PA and I’ve kept up with goings-on.”

Nazareth have gone on to further success after surviving the tragic loss of original drummer Darrell Sweet, who died of a heart attack in 1999 ahead of an American tour.

With founding members Dan McCafferty (vocals) and Pete Agnew (bass) still going strong after four decades, what’s been the secret of the band’s longevity?

“We wouldn’t have existed for this long if enough people hadn’t continued to like us,” Jimmy replies straightforwardly.

“In Dan you’ve got an iconic voice in rock. For my money he’s definitely up there in the top five or six all-time rock singers.

“His voice is up there with Ian Gillan, Paul Rodgers and people like that, and he’s still got it.”

Originally from Aberdeen, Jimmy moved to Perth in 1985 and eventually joined Nazareth after his talents were spotted while studying music at Perth College.

“On a late year at college, Pete Agnew’s son was also there and he came up and saw me playing,” said Jimmy.

“I was working in Bandwagon Music and the guys phoned and asked if I could come down and play and it took off from there.

“Prior to that I just played in any band that’d have me, including wedding function and covers bands.

“I didn’t want to have a normal job.”

Having played on three studio albums, a live CD and two live DVDs, the guitarist has firmly made his mark on the Nazareth story.

The band’s latest album, ‘The Newz’, was recorded in Switzerland and has cemented their reputation as a still-viable chart act across Europe.

However, its success has been marred by a dispute with the band’s former guitarist Manny Charlton, who has set up his own touring version of Nazareth.

Unsurprisingly, Jimmy and his bandmates are urging fans to ignore the unauthorised copycat outfit.

“There’s been two or three famous examples of rip-offs down the years, the same thing happened to Deep Purple and Fleetwood Mac and Saxon, there was two of them as well,” he said.

“But it’s not something you expect to happen and it’s really a piece of nonsense to be honest.

“Basically, I don’t think about it. The guy was sacked by the band 20 odd years ago and has had nothing to do with the band since then.

“He’s just trying to cash in and I think most people are finding out that it’s not the real deal.

“They still bill themselves as Scottish rockers but you’ve got one Spanish guy and four Americans.

“They use our picture and stuff like that but for legal reasons we have to be careful what we say.

“It’s being dealt with and simultaneously most of the gigs on their tour are getting cancelled.”

Not that the controversy has hampered Nazareth any.

This year the band has already toured the UK, Ireland and western Europe, including Scandinavia.

They’ll be heading to South America next week for a month, then North America and eastern Europe, before reaching the Montreux Rock Festival in Switzerland in July.

“Nazareth have never been to Australia, but that has been talked about every year since I have been in the band,” Jimmy revealed.

“Short of Africa I cannot think of anywhere we’ve not been - other than Perth Concert Hall!”