As bass player for the 1970’s Pittsburgh rock n’ roll band, Diamond Reo, Norman Nardini got his career started. After a very brief stay at Berklee School Of Music and more than a few special moments….while still in high school he rented his Hammond B-3 organ and roadied for Billy Preston and Sly and the Family Stone when they came to town…..was hired to play guitar and keys in fake versions of The Sonics and The Cherry People…………backed up Little Anthony and the Imperials, The Detroit Emeralds, and The Manhattans in pickup bands…..played guitar behind Big Mama Thorton and George Harmonica Smith at The Jazz Workshop in Boston Mass. At Fox studio he had the opportunity to play on recordings by Jimmy Beaumont and the Skyliners, Lou Christy, Terry Bradshaw……Nardini played bass on “The Pennsylvania Polka” Steeler fight song. After doing an arrangement of “Dancing In The Street” that got picked up by RCA he did an arrangement of Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t That Peculiar” that brought an album deal with Big Tree Records that got Diamond Reo started. With a single on the charts The Diamonds appeared on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand and did shows with Aerosmith, Rush, Ted Nugent, Kansas, Canned Heat, Blue Oyster Cult……they opened up for Kiss at Cobo Hall in Detroit the night they recorded Kiss Alive. Dirty Diamonds, they’re second release was on the Buddah label and was produced by Adrian Barber who had done Aerosmith’s first LP……although it didn’t do so well at the time, Dirty Diamonds is currently being re-released on Rock Candy Records and is considered to be a classic piece of work……Nardini produced Ruff Cuts The Diamonds third and final LP. Norman Nardini and the Tigers started tearin’ up rock n’ roll shows in 1979 opening shows for bands like The Romantics, Joan Jett, and Beaver Brown. In the fall of 1980 The Tigers played Asbury Park’s Fast Lane and opened the show for The Rest, one of Jon Bon Jovi’s early bands, he and Jon remain friends to this day. Jon had Nardini open his 2011 performance at Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center. Recorded at Cleveland’s legendary Agora Nightclub, Eat n’ Alive, which received a 4 star review from Rolling Stone Magazine was released in ’81 and kept The Tigers on the road constantly. CBS released Norman Nardini and the Tigers in ’83, ole buddy Jon Bon sang BG vocals. With the Tigers broken up, Nardini did one more release with CBS, Love Dog, which featured Rick Derringer, Dr John, and Paul Shaffer and hit in ’86 and was followed by a tour with The Radiators. A tour of Germany as opening act for The Blues Brothers came about because “Smoke Two Joints”, the single off the Circumstantial LP, This Ole Train was hitting the airways just after the Berlin wall came down and folks were exercising their freedom to rock and smoke. Two more LP’s on Circumstantial followed, 1993’s Breakdown In Paradise and 95’s It’s Alive.
http://normannardini.com