A shorthand description of the musical style of Nazareth would be hard rock, but it was a cover of a slow ballad with its roots in country music that was the trigger to the band winning international acceptance. Love Hurts had originally been recorded by the Everly Brothers in 1960, but Nazareth preferred the version from the Gram Parsons album Grievous Angel (1974).
“We had always liked Love Hurts as done by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, so we thought we would have a go at that one,” recalled the band’s vocalist, Dan McCafferty, who has died aged 76 after suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). “We recorded it and thought it was great.”
