NASHVILLE INTERNATIONAL
A London-based Country Music label, owned by Mervyn Conn; a successor to his 'Nashville'
(q.v.) label. Nashville International's imminent launch was reported in 'Music Week' of the 16th of September
1972; article stated that Conn had arranged for
Pye to handle the new label, and that it would offer a mixture of
originals and American material sourced from the 'Mega' label. For some reason
the company's first two singles, 'Dialogue / Looking Back In Anger' b/w
'Greystone Chapel' by Glen Sherley (7N-45181) and Sammi Smith's 'I've Got
To Have You' b/w 'Kentucky' (7N-25595) were issued on the Pye / Pye International
labels (3) on the 6th of October, by which time it was
already issuing albums - the Sherley single carried a note that the tracks
were taken from his Nashville International LP (NAL-5003). Nashville International made its debut as
a 7" label in its own right the
following month, and it went on to issue eight more singles, which were numbered in
a NAS-100 series; NAS-107 seems not to have been used. It also released around
a dozen albums, including a new one from British duo Graham &
Lynn McCarthy and reissues from Bill Black's Combo and Harlan
County. Its final records came out towards the end of 1974 but it must have
continued as a company for at least a few more years - several
of its products were listed in the Pye catalogue for
1977. Manufacture and distribution were by Pye throughout; demo copies were
marked with a silver 'A' and had the release date on them (2). In 1980
Conn started up the 'Mervyn Conn Presents' label, which was again dedicated to Country
music. See also 'Carnaby', which was another of his labels.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.