Hi Billy,
Chris Hludzik here with another “short note”. Here goes…

I may have mentioned this back on your old site, but “Sound Elixir” is one of my favorite Nazareth albums. I know you think it’s the worst thing you guys ever did, but I wanted to know why, because by your own accounts, you had good memories recording it.

One thing I saw a while back on Manny’s old forum, was that although the album was produced by Manny, it was really, in Manny’s words, the “Pete and Billy show”. I know Manny hadn’t produced the previous 3 albums (plus the new ‘Snaz songs), and from what I understand, he was never happy about that (I don’t recall him saying anything knocking John Punter, but he’s made it well known that he didn’t like Jeff Baxter). So you would think that Manny getting to be in the producer’s chair again would have made him happy, and he would have put in a good effort. Perhaps he was burnt out on Nazareth by this point? Or he just didn’t care anymore, because the balance of power in the group at that time wasn’t on his side? Or, maybe he just relented to you guys, because you were coming up with more of the material?

At any rate, the album is great. Great songs, great production (no matter who did it) and it’s well performed, well engineered, well mixed and well mastered. For a recording from 1983, it sounds as though it could have been done yesterday. Calum Malcolm and Mike Fraser did an outstanding job. I believe I mentioned to you on your old site that as an engineer myself, I liked the work Calum did with Nazareth. The version I have of Sound Elixir is the U.S. pressing on MCA which was mastered by Greg Fulginiti at Artisan, and sounds huge and dynamic. The U.K. version was mastered at Town House, and while I don’t have that version, other albums I have that were cut there sound great. Only knock I have on the U.S. version is, it doesn’t have the lyric sleeve that literally every other version has. Even my A&M Canadian pressing has it (it’s the only reason I have that version, actually, as I will explain in great detail below).

I think one reason some Nazareth fans point to concerning this albums’ general disregard, is that the production isn’t cohesive. But in all honesty, how could it have been? This wasn’t a by-the-numbers Nazareth album. There are lots of different styles here, and getting that all to flow isn’t easy. But I have a few bigger places to lay blame on the album’s lack of appeal/success: One being something MCA Records did WRONG, and the other being something I believe MCA did RIGHT that all the other labels who released this around the world did wrong.

First, the wrong. MCA apparently did nothing to promote this album. I’m guessing they figured, “Hey, it’s Nazareth, they’ve had hits, they’ll be fine”. Even bands who have had hits still need a promotional push if they’re on a new label. I’m guessing A&M nurtured Nazareth over the years, and MCA just left you guys out in the cold, and figured you didn’t need nurturing. Another thing I find interesting, is that almost every copy of the U.S. pressing of Sound Elixir that I’ve come across is a gold stamped promo copy. My very copy I bought was still sealed, and it’s a gold stamped promo. Did MCA just GIVE this album away? Did they think that if they gave it to people for free that the album would just take off on its’ own? Hell, I’ve even seen cassette promo copies of this album. CASSETTE! What were the marketing people at MCA doing?

Now, here’s what I believe they did right. THEY SEQUENCED THE ALBUM DIFFERENTLY, AND TO GREATER (BETTER) EFFECT THAN THE REST OF THE WORLD. When I saw the tracklist of every other country’s version of Sound Elixir, I scratched my head. For those who don’t know, here’s the tracklisting for the rest of the world:

A1 All Nite Radio
A2 Milk And Honey
A3 Whippin’ Boy
A4 Rain On The Window
A5 Backroom Boys
B1 Why Don’t You Read The Book
B2 I Ran
B3 Rags To Riches
B4 Local Still
B5 Where Are You Now

The album starts with a darker, slow number, and while it rocks and does build up a bit as it goes on, it doesn’t exactly start the album off strong. Then, another dark song. Then a hard rocker, which would be fine where it is on this side if it were not for the 2 songs that precede it. Next, a light-hearted folk ballad? Great song, but here on the album, it doesn’t work. Then to close out side 1, a mid tempo kinda rocker…? We’re already halfway through the album, and it hasn’t even gotten off the ground yet. Whippin’ Boy may have held peoples’ attention, but I’m guessing a lot of people lost interest after that. Side 2 starts with a good uptempo number, but again, by this point it’s too late. Then a weird, funky number with strange lyrics to follow (not a knock – I love the song, it’s just a little out of left field, ya know?). Again, it might spark someone’s interest, but it’s not looking good. Next up, a hard rocker in the same spot on this side as the other hard rocker on the album was on side 1…and it’s the same result, caught in the middle with no place to go. Then another folky number, but uptempo this time. This would have been good anywhere on the album to help it either pick up some momentum or maintain it, but here near the end of the album, its’ potential is wasted. And finally, we end this version of Sound Elixir the same way we started it off, with a slow, dark song, this time a ballad. Considering that this would become the biggest and best known song from the album (ESPECIALLY in some of the countries that used this very tracklisting), you would think this song would have been positioned a little better. Overall, this version of Sound Elixir is dull.

AND HERE’S THE U.S. TRACKLISTING:

A1 Why Don’t You Read The Book
A2 Whippin’ Boy
A3 All Nite Radio
A4 Where Are You Now
A5 Backroom Boys
B1 Rags To Riches
B2 Local Still
B3 I Ran
B4 Rain On The Window
B5 Milk And Honey

HOLY SHIT! We’re going to start the album with an uptempo number to get the ball rolling, and then KEEP said ball rolling with a good hard rocker, then gear down JUST A LITTLE BIT with a dark, moody rocker, and then gear down a little more for a dark moody ballad, and then finish off the first side with a nice mid tempo number to bring the mood back up just enough. Then side 2 opens and POW! A good hard rocker that continues the pallet-cleansing of the darker songs that was started by the last song on side 1. Then an uptempo folky number to turn the volume down a little but keep the spirits up. Follow it up with that out of left field song, which actually fits in nicely between the previous song and the next song, the folky ballad. The out of left field song also serves as a bit of a pallet cleanser in a weird way. Then after the folky ballad, close it off with the other dark moody song that has a big finish to close off the album right.

THE U.S VERSION IS LIKE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ALBUM, AND BETTER IN EVERY WAY AS A RESULT.

If it were released this way throughout the rest of the world, who knows how differently it might have been received. If Phonogram and their associated labels or A&M Canada used this tracklisting and actually put some promotional muscle behind the album – which MCA failed to do – there’s no telling how successful this album might have been. I don’t know how involved the band was in sequencing albums, or if that was strictly a management and/or label decision, but either way, MCA got it right. If only they could have got EVERYTHING ELSE right…

Perspective is everything.

And with that, I will now rest my case for Sound Elixir, an underrated album in the Nazareth canon. Mr. Rankin, you may take the stand with any evidence you may have… 😉

Many thanks in advance,
Chris.

P.S., I also love “On The Run”, the b-side to the “Where Are You Now?” single, which I think is as good as anything on the album. Any stories/insight about that one Billy?