Why Nazareth’s ‘Hair of the Dog’ Was So Controversial
One of the most famous classic rock songs from the 1970s that wasn’t a single was Nazareth’s “Hair of the Dog.” Notably, the song caused controversy before and after its release. Despite its mixed reception, “Hair of the Dog” inspired a cover by Guns N’ Roses.
Why Nazareth’s ‘Hair of the Dog’ includes profanity in its lyrics but not its title
Nazareth’s “Hair of the Dog” repeatedly uses the phrase “Son of a b****.” According to a 2004 interview with Classic Rock, the band wanted to give the song the title “Son of a B****.” However, the censors didn’t like that title. Despite this, the members of Nazareth still refer to the song by its original title.
Even with its new title, “Hair of the Dog” still ruffled feathers. Nazareth’s Pete Agnew remembered one of the band’s performances that was televised in Chile. “The first night John Denver of all people headlined, and we finished our set by getting the audience to sing along with ‘Son of a B****,'” Agnew explains. “We were on the front page of all the newspapers — ‘Nazareth go home.’ They said we were corrupting the nation’s youth with swear words.
“The next night, which we headlined, the Lady Mayoress came into the dressing room, got right in our faces and told us: ‘You will not finish with that song,'” he recalled. “Darrell [Sweet] nodded: ‘Aye, OK.’ And we opened with it instead.”
Guns N’ Roses later covered ‘Hair of the Dog’
Nazareth and “Hair of the Dog” had some famous fans, including Guns N Roses. “Just before they became really famous we played six gigs in California, and they came to everyone,” Agnew recalled. “Later on, in Winnipeg, we were playing a 5000-seater and they were at the enormodome down the road, but they came and stood right in front of the stage for our set. Our audience was going, ‘Jesus, that’s Guns N’ Roses!’ and throwing devil signs at Nazareth.”
In addition, Guns N’ Roses covered “Hair of the Dog” on their album “The Spaghetti Incident?” That album included covers of several hard-rock and punk rock songs. “The Spaghetti Incident?” version of “Hair of the Dog” is faithful to the original track. Arguably, “Hair of the Dog” is most famous today because Guns N’ Roses decided to cover it. This feels like Nazareth coming full circle, as The Everly Brothers’ “Love Hurts” is mostly famous because Nazareth covered it.
Nazareth captured the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll with the song
“Hair of the Dog” was not a hit. It never charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Despite this, it proved that Nazareth could be provocative, and provocation is (for better or worse) the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll. It’s incredible to think that a song was so controversial for using the word “b****” when that would barely raise eyebrows today. “Hair of the Dog” remains the band’s most famous song besides their cover of “Love Hurts.”
“Hair of the Dog” remains a great song even if Nazareth dropped its original title.
