Ted Nugent - Stakes Are High & So Am I

By Brian Tarquin | Photos: Jay Skolnick

We all know the motricity madman Ted Nugent. Before embarking on his solo career, Nugent was the central figure of the Amboy Dukes. Previously he was in the group called the Lourds, where he met future Amboy Dukes lead vocalist John Drake. Nugent remained with the Lourds until his family relocated to Illinois, at which point he established the Amboy Dukes in the Chicago area in 1964.

However, it was his solo career that really interested me. I remember those long summer nights in the 70’s playing 8 track cassettes in our Chevy’s and indulging in mother earth essentials blasting “Stranglehold” & “Free For All” by the motor city madman. In 1975, growing up in NYC on the upper eastside, I distinctly remember Uncle Ted’s debut album under his namesake. My parents were in advertising and one summer day I went with my mother to see an art director friend of hers at CBS records in midtown NYC. He greeted me with an armful of promotional records coming out for the year. One of them was the Ted Nugent debut album along with Aerosmith’s Get Your Wings and Mother’s Finest debut album. When I got home and listened to Uncle Ted, it turned out to be a crazy revolution of guitar colors and howling, especially on the track “Stranglehold”. Killer energy and for the time fast and furious finger licking guitar licks! Other highlight songs from the album were "Stormtroopin'" and “Snakeskin Cowboys". I was sold; this cat could rock with the best of them. Especially intriguing was his guitar choice of a Gibson hollow body jazz guitar the “Byrdland”. And even more curious was his amp selection of Fender Twin Reverb amps.

BTQ: You may get this from your old fans, like me, having grown up in the 70's on Ted Rock n Roll, but why did you change your axe choice from the Gibson Byrdland thru Fender twins to what you have been using in recent years?

Ted: Ah yes, the sweet smokey BBQ grease drip of the mighty Gibson Byrdland in the hands of a pure, primal scream aboriginal dog man fresh from a steaming gut pile campfire somewhere way back in the Spirit Wild hinterland that we all love so dearly. Such romance! It is indeed the unleashing of numerous Byrdlands from my glowing arsenal of assault guitars that were not turned over to the evil government when they attempted to ban them years ago. Though there are many moments of tonal splendor throughout my albums like LOVE GRENADE where my 59 Les Paul's join the fray, plus the occasional throttling on those very special hollow body PRS masterpieces as well, it is the combination of Peavey 6505s and some old pre-CBS Fender Twin amps that ultimately make the sound so wonderful. I give much credit to the soul music loving ears of my musical compatriots Jack Blades, Tommy Clufetos and Barry Sparks who constantly goad me into total Nugeland throughout the recording celebrations. Much credit must be paid to the positive animal uninhibitedness that these guys help create. It is insanely fun and the guitar tone is merely the manifestation of our united love for original black soul music that feeds the beast. Regarding my choice to change up guitars and amps off and on during my adventurous musical career, it is a direct result of my being a music fan first and foremost, and in my inexhaustible quest for the ultimate guitar tone, I drive aggressively to leave no stone unturned. The quest throttles on but I always return to the Byrdland beast to cleanse the soul.

BTQ: Being a rock n roller, what drew you to the Byrdland and Fender twins in the 70's, a predominately jazz set-up?
Ted: Walled lake Casino, west of Detroit, MI, summer 1960 or thereabouts, my band The Lourds was opening for Martha and The Vandellas, Gene Pitney and the most popular band in MI, Billy Lee and The Rivieras. Billy Levise on lead vocals and tambourine annihilation, Johnny Bee on thunder drums, Earl Elliot of Rickenbacker bass, Joe Kubrick on ES335 rhythm guitar, and dear God in heaven, sir Jimmy McCarty on lead Gibson Byrdland plugged into a Twin Reverb amplifier, tilted back on its shiny chrome legs. Words fail to convey the ferocious brutality of these guys intense energy, pure black tightness and groove and the mesmerizing tone of each of these virtuosos' individual instrument sound. It was breathtaking and life changing. Of course, a few years later, they changed their name to Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, but to this day, what and how Jimmy played that amazing Byrdland guitar has intensely guided my musical dreams. It was the cleanest, fattest, brownest tone I have ever heard.

BTQ: Do you have your own studio at Tedquarters or did you use an outside studio for projects?
Soulmaster Michael Lutz of Brownsville Station Smokin in The Boysroom fame and I built one hell of a killer state of the old school art studio in his basement in Ann Arbor MI and I try to unleash my beast there as often as I can, but as a fulltime Texan now I record at Christian music whiz David Crowder's studio near home in Waco TX. I have no home studio as I am helpless to keep up with the technology.

BTQ: I was a big fan of your releases way back when of Stranglehold & Free For All, and wanted to see how your approach to composing & playing have change thru the years? Can you take us thru the Ted physique of the creative & recording process?
I lead a dreamlife of intense balance combining the ultimate physical with the ultimate spiritual. I am a hopeless hands-on independent guy, and my aboriginal hunting, fishing, trapping, guiding, outfitting fall and winter propels the purity of my primal scream musical creativity. I am convinced that nothing in life so thoroughly prepares one to literally unleash his musical vision than to live as one with the wild, the earth and her life-giving creatures and resources. That first drumbeat somewhere by a fire in a cave by a black man in the year one, celebrating the killing of his enemy, the killing of the beast and or the breeding of his woman, pure survival, is at the heart and soul of 99% of my musical dreams and statements. Including Stranglehold, Wang Dang Sweet Poontang, Love Grenade, Great White Buffalo, Fred Bear and all of them, I assure you. My most explosive guitar fire licks erupt after a good, challenging, spiritually intriguing hunt, which I conduct daily September through February every year. It is thrilling, fascinating, exciting and fun as all hell I assure you. Grinding, pure animal fire grooves and fire licks literally fly off my guitar necks every time I grab one. Ask my bandmates, they will tell you, it is endless and stunning. I blow my mind pretty much daily.

BTQ: What guitarists in recent years have you been influenced by?
I have been so fortunate and blessed to have experienced intimate jam sessions with many of the world's greatest guitar masters, Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddly, Jimmy McCarty, Johnny Winter, Rick Derringer, Billy Gibbons, BB King, Freddy King, Ricky Medlocke, Rick Nielson, Eddie Van Halen, Ronnie Montrose, Derek St. Holmes, Chris Duarte, Johnny Lang, Brad Whitford, Joe Perry, Brad Gillis, Dave Amato, Joe Bonamasa, Bugs Henderson, Andy Timmons, Eric Johnson, Wayne Kramer, Richie Sambora, Tommy Shaw, Gary Rossington, and so many others whose names would not be recognizable, but nonetheless, inspire me no end with their unique musical visions and artistry. The Angus Youngs, Joe Satrianis, Steve Vais and so many others will always kick me in the ass to pursue uncharted guitar adventure, as clearly there is no limit.

BTQ: Closing statements or sentiments?
I have never considered anything in my life to be projects or specific goals, but rather an ongoing demand for quality-of-life, family time and explosive adventure without any parameters. My music has a life of its own. New licks, new noises, new sounds and new songs constantly erupt out of me and my guitars. My CMT Nuge reality show, Spirit of the Wild TV show for the Outdoor Channel continues to be top rated and a riot to produce. My amazing wife Shemane, all my kids and grandkids, sister, brothers, nieces and nephews all need more of my time and there are more amazing hunting opportunities now than ever before. I am turning up my all American WE THE PEOPLE activism and heat all the time, serve proudly on the NRA Board of Directors, and am increasing my charity work for children and military heroes. I can do more and more exciting speaking presentations each year, and I write for dozens of diverse publications. I've got life licked and there is no end in sight to the adventure and joy that lies before me. I seize each and everyday to be the best that I can be in appreciation to God for so blessing me. My life is a force to reckon with and, I am kicking more ass than ever before. I am after all, adorable and precious. Check out my writings at tednugent.com, wacotrib.com and humanevents.com to witness the carnage. Cute is as cute does.

Conclusion:
Nugent continues to march on at the ripe old age of 77 performing live shows carving a permanent place in rock & roll history selling more than 40 million albums, performing over 6700 concerts. As we all know he is an outspoken proponent of the 1st and 2nd Amendment rights, conducting thousands of pro-gun, pro-freedom, pro-America interviews in major media worldwide. But underneath the patriotic exterior and rough imagery of a neanderthal hunter, beats the heart of a true musical pioneer of a genre that would later become heavy metal. Like Aerosmith, Kiss & Boston Ted opened the door to the tribal beating, vocal shrieking, guitar shredding music that only a some bands were experimenting with in America at the time. He was one of the few in the 70’s that could compete with the established arena British bands as The Who, the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.