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.