I remember as if it were yesterday… February 27th 1973 at Newcastle City Hall was the venue and I was there to see Deep Purple. The support band was Nazareth and they were, quite simply superb as they ran through the then brand new Razamanaz album: Dan McCafferty with his whisky-soaked anthracite vocals made sure I immediately became a lifelong fan.
Fandom that included his, less rock, more varied solo outings: the self-titled debut from 1975 had a surprising cover of The Great Pretender, the near hit of ‘Out of Time’ and the cracking version of ‘Stay With Me Baby’ among some originals. 1986’s ‘Into The Ring’ was even more varied with plenty of synths and soft rock but the added benefits of the blissful ‘Caledonian Suite’ and the sea-shanty like ‘Sally Mary’ all made for a satisfying un-Nazareth album. His sadly prophetic Last Testament from 2019 stayed true to his roots with the heart-rending ‘Look At The Song In My Eyes’ amongst many excellent, if restrained, songs.
Dan left us on November 8, 2022 at the age of 76. Now, Rock of Angels Records are releasing an album of highlights from those first two albums, plus three previously unheard tracks… there are also two versions of Dan’s songs by Greek vocalist Panos Kalifis, whose vocals are remarkably similar to McCafferty’s and he does a damn good job but (no offence Panos) I will stick with Dan’s.
Called No Turning Back – In Memory of Dan McCafferty it is an essential purchase for fans of Dan for those three tracks. ‘Occident’ and ‘No Turning Back‘ are original recordings from the late 1990s that McCafferty made with German director, composer and music producer Christoph Busse, who also wrote ‘Starry Eyes’ from Into The Ring which also appears here. The first is a laid-back rock ballad with guitar and piano backing that voice admirably and the second a soft rock song with neat slide and a suitably emotional, typical Dan vocal excursion. The third, ‘Children’s Eyes’ is a co-write with the composer and producer Detlef Wiedeke whose name may be familiar to John Lawton fans. This is another slow, slide-driven, soft rocker on which Dan simply excels.
If, like me, you have the solo albums, this is still essential; if you like Nazareth, it’s still essential as it shows the versatility and unforgettable vocals of the much missed Dan. (If you’ve never heard of him, this is an essential album to hear how a proper vocalist embraces a multitude of styles, immaculately).
In Memory of Dan McCafferty is out on December 7th 2023.
