Ted Nugent - Scream Dream (1980)

(U.S 1964 - Present)

Self-styled 'wild man of rock', Ted Nugent's antics include hunting with bow and arrow and wearing a loin cloth over his decade and a half of recording have almost justified epithet. He acquired first guitar at the age of eight and made his first performance at the Polish Arts Festival in Detroit in 1958 when he was just 10 years old. He played professionally with the 'Royal Hardboys' between 1960 - 1962, and later in the band called the 'Laurds'. He joined his first major band, the Amboy Dukes in 1964. The Amboy Dukes played quasi-psychedelic music appropriate to times, but with extra Detroit metal quotient. This group scored US Top 20 hit in summer 1968 with "Journey To The Centre of The Mind", later included on notable Nuggets double LP. Early LPs became collectors' items when greater '60s consciousness returned in late'70s.

This Group continued through the '60s, eventually adopting the name of Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes - Nugent in typical manner had altered the nature of band from democracy to dictatorship, with himself as dictator. Band's most famous member (other than Nugent) was probably Rusty Day, later in Cactus, although perhaps 10 people were members at one time or another.

Ted Nugent And The Amboy Dukes

Despite label changes, the group had little success and even a two-year period without a record deal. After signing with Epic in 1975, fortunes improved. The Amboy Dukes tag was dropped. First LP for new label was Nugent's first self-titled album which made the US Top 30 using the long-lived band (by Nugent standards): Derek St Holmes, rhythm guitar & vocals; Rob Grange on bass; and Cliff Davies on drums.

His 1976 LP 'Free For All' featured Meat Loaf (then less than a household name) as guest vocalist and again reached Top 30. By the time Nugent had released his third LP 'Cat Scratch Fever' in 1977, his albums were reaching Platinum status and he was the highest grossing tour act in the United States at the time. By 1978 his LP 'Weekend Warriors' band was beginning to change again, although Cliff Davies remained as drummer and sometime producer through the 1981 live LP 'Intensities ln Ten Cities'.

During 1982, Nugent changed labels after seven successful years with Epic and formed new band of previous members Dave Kiswrney (bass) and Derek St Holmes (lead vocals).

plus noted drummer Carmine Apprice (ex Vanilla Fudge) etc With his lengthy experience and nearly 20 LPs behind him, Nugent is difficult to criticise, especially as his guitar playing is exemplary, if not ear-splitting

Nugent has continued to record throughout the 80s, hardly modifying his style. He maintains faithful fan following, although many of them may now be close to deafness (like Nugent himself). Although recently mad axeman has kept relatively low profile by his standards, his bank manager is no doubt comforted by recent achievement of multiplatinum status by Epic's self-titled album Ted Nugent.

Album Review

'Scream Dream’ is the sixth studio album by American hard rock guitarist Ted Nugent, released by Epic Records in 1980, and debuted at #13 on the US Billboard Charts. The album-opening track "Wango Tango" became an instant Nugent standard, including a humorous middle breakdown section in which he shows off with a carnival barker-esque rap.

From my point of view, there are four standout tracks on ‘Scream Dream’ with the remaining songs being just so, so IMHO. Standout tracks are, in increasing order:

Hard As Nails - Ted Nugent has never being known for brilliant lyrics and this song doesn't change this trend for his simple minded discussions about sex. Ted apparently has quite a reputation backstage with the ladies although oddly enough he was a Tee-totaller. So he only engaged in 2/3 of the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll lifestyle. This mid-tempo song has a great driving and chunky guitar riff which really makes you want to pound your fist. The guitar solo on this song leaves a little to be desired but is still good and I wish there wasn't a fade out at the end. A hard rock song like this should have an abrupt ending.

Terminus Eldorardo - this track has a ZZ Top feel about it, and the reference to the 'Eldoprardo' been driven by a crazed young girl puts some credibility to this notion. It too is a mid-tempo song with another driving guitar riff, and the use of the Whamy bar to produce a sound affect not unlike that in middle section of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" makes it interesting.  The unfortunate storyline of the girl killing herself in a car accident is a little disturbing, however.

Scream Dream - On this song, Ted's vocals are being pumped though some sort of Phase Shifter and sounds really creepy at times. Ted's lyrics appear to be about the violent perils of the big cities like Chicago, New York and Detroit and how they give him bad dreams at night, making him want to Scream. Once again, there is another classic driving Nugent guitar riff on the verses and Chorus. This track is a faster tempo than the previous 2 tracks however there is a nice little key change bridge in the middle, just before an absolutely blistering guitar solo, which starts off Chuck Berry Style. At the end of the song, he is actually screaming 'Scream Dream' over and over again, instead of singing it, and it sounds as if he's gonna blow his vocal cords out. This doesn't stop until you hear a sinister half tone laugh at the end. Nice one Ted

Wango Tango - of course this is my favourite track and was the only single taken from the album (with Scream Dream on the B-Side). It quickly became a staple part of his live act and a favourite amongst his fans. The urban dictionary says that Wango Tango is a crude way of describing 'sexual intercourse', and its no surprise that Nugent quickly popularised this term.

This song is an upbeat rocker with a really good guitar solo, but for some reason was ranked #7 on Guitar World's List of the 100 worst guitar solos!  Very strange indeed. In the middle of the song, he breaks into verbal rap of crazed words where he describes Wango Tango as a 'crazed gyration of the rock generation', and it’s his 'motivation to avoid the nauseation, frustration when he needs some lubrication'. This is all classic Ted. He definitely gives David Lee Roth a run for his money with regards to his gift of the gab. There are also some typical 50's background vocals going on at the same time, credited to the "Immaculate Wangettes" in the liner notes (Curtis Lanclos, Rectro Zest Podscast)

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my trusty vinyl which sparkles more today than when I first bought it back in the 80's.  Of course, full album artwork for both vinyl and CD is included along with some EPIC label scans. LOL

Track-listing:

01 - Wango Tango – 4:50 *

02 - Scream Dream – 3:18

03 - Hard as Nails – 3:39

04 - I Gotta Move – 2:18

05 - Violent Love – 2:54

06 - Flesh and Blood – 4:44

07 - Spit It Out – 3:53

08 - Come and Get It – 3:18

09 - Terminus El Dorado – 4:13

10 - Don't Cry (I'll Be Back Before You Know It Baby) – 2:21

The Band:

Ted Nugent - Axe and Vocals

Dave Kiswiney - Bass and Vocals

Cliff Davies - Drums and Vocals

Charlie Hun - Rhythm Guitar and Vocals

* Immaculate Wangettes - Backing Vocals

Scream Dream Link (153Mb)

Ted Nugent - Free For All (1976) + Bonus Live Tracks

 (U.S 1964 - Present)

Ted Nugent's decision to go solo proved wise. By the time of his August '79 cover story, nearly all oi his Epic albums had gone platinum. 1979 alone produced two million-sellers: Weekend Warriors and Double Live Gonzo, one of the most successful concert albums in CBS history. Nugent released four more albums on Epic before signing with Atlantic in 1982 tor Nugent.

Ted Nugent tours a city the way Godzilla toured Tokyo. He plays very fast, very loud. people come to my concerts just to lose weight," he huffs. I tell 'em to sit up real close - makes their ears bleed; it's good for them. One time a pigeon - and this is true - a pigeon flew in front of my speakers and just literally disintegrated - man, it just melted! "

Nugent, a native of Detroit, was born in 1949. For ten years he led his bands - various incarnations of the Amboy Dukes - on legendary marathon concert campaigns, mostly through the Midwest and South. He pushed himself and his musicians to the limit, blitzing town after town and leaving behind him a wake strewn with ransacked auditoriums, shell-shocked audiences, wasted groupies, cackling critics, and disfigured vehicle codes.

Ted's attire for these occasions included loincloths, animal pelts, teeth necklaces, war paint, and feathers. Regular features of the concerts included death-defying leaps from amp stacks, lectures against the hazards of drugs, the exploding of glass globes with his instrument's feedback, and open invitations to local hotshot guitar players to bring their axes up onstage and get slaughtered. Ted is a showman, and his fierce guitar duke-outs with Wayne Kramer (of the MCs), Mike Pinera (lron Butterfly, Blues lmage), and Frank Marino (Mahogany Rush) scored big with concert fans.

Ted is tall, and his lean, muscular physique and wild lion's mane of hair make for an imposing presence, to say the least, even without the snakeskin cowboy boots, the chipped-tooth grin, or the crazed stare. He is an outdoorsman who loves to hunt, and when he's in a wilderness area he often tracks, shoots, guts, and cooks his food. He favours the bow and arrow and decorates his home with the heads and antlers of his kills. He's also a collector of shotguns and a long-time member of the National Rifle Association: "l support everything they stand for," he affirms. He is especially proud of his efforts to help a group of hunters that successfully established new breeding grounds for the now plentiful wood duck, once an endangered species.

Nugent owns several souped-up, off-road vehicles, and he likes to go crashing over war-zone terrain, fusing together the vertebrae of hapless passengers. One four-wheel hot rod has an engine and suspension engineered to his own specs. It's equipped with a two-and-a-half-million candlepower light beam array on top. If I signal to someone to dim their lights," Ted says, 'the son of a bitch better dim them - otherwise l'll fire up those suckers on top and run him off the road. you can't look at those lights; it's like looking at the sun."

Looking at the sun is what Ted Nugent's image is all about. He is not one of the more self-effacing people you'll ever meet, and his descriptions of himself are reminiscent of Mike Fink, a mangy, likeable Disney river rat who once bragged to Davy Crockett that he could outeat, outdrink, outshoot, outfight, outcuss, outrun, and outtalk any man alive. "It is amazing, ain't it?" says Ted groping for undepleted superlative! and referring to his dazzling speed on the guitar. Concerning his phrasing, he beats around no bushes: "l would say I've got the best phrasing of any fucking guitarist in America." And commenting on his songwriting skills, he says, Sometimes I ask myself - have I the right to be this good?"

Nugent stokes himself up with so much hot gas that he threatens at any moment to inflate like a Macy's thanksgiving Day Parade balloon. But like the Cassius Clay of old, he has more than enough talent, savvy, and guts to back up the talk, and enough tongue-in-cheek humour and flair to avoid self-parody.

The weapons, Indian getup, guitar shootouts, howling feedback, dead varmints, and kick-butt concerts all add up to what Nugent describes as a lifestyle that has attracted as much press coverage as his relentless blues-rock boogie music, maybe more. But on more than one occasion Ted has complained that editors often extract all comments from his interviews except those  that heighten his image as a mad-dog guitar savage. "They only want the crazy stuff,', he said in a 'Creem' magazine article. "I'm human. I'm intelligent. I know what's going on."

When Ted travels he takes the time to catch the chauffeur's name, to compliment the waitress, to thank the bellboy. A polite Ted Nugent may appear to be a contradiction in terms, but he is quite capable of transcending his image. He knows all about his reputation - he's been refining it and living it for 15 years. Sometimes he reveals his human side, perhaps articulating newly acquired appreciations of home and kids; other times he chucks huge globs of gonzo-speak at the rock music press, playing the bad hombre role to the hilt and relishing the outrage he causes among "serious" critics. In either situation he chooses his words carefully.

The up-yours cockiness that endears him to his millions of fans also causes some people to assume that he is insensitive, a bore, or unkind. In much the same way, his brain-damage volume levels and let's-boogie stage raps make it easy for critics to overlook his musical talents, which are considerable, or his approach to the onstage manipulation of feedback, which is almost scientific. Besides, he's right about the speed - it is amazing. Though it sometimes sounds like he foregoes a guitar pick in favour of a ball peen hammer, he actually employs a number of innovative techniques, such as bending a string up to one pitch and then sounding a second note by slamming his pick into the string at a certain fret. He constantly and skilfully manipulates the controls on his guitar to increase the dynamic contrasts between volume levels and various tones, or to approximate bowed effects. And aside from the suicide speed runs, he can also play provocative melodies, drawing from influences far more diverse than his usual concert barrages would suggest.

Ted suffers almost total deafness in one ear, a self-inflicted casualty of too many concerts at too-loud volumes ("but it's well worth it, man"). But again, there is more to him than destructo decibelmania. Consider his guitar. Ted's Gibson Byrdrand - a jazz model, of all things - was invented over 20 years ago. It has long been his trademark and is essential not only to his tone, but to his technique as well. Its construction differs substantially from the guitars used by almost every other high-volume rocker. For one thing it has a hollow body, which necessitates a trapeze tailpiece that hinges at the bottom rim, rather than the bolt-on stop tailpiece.

The hollow body helps encourage the feedback for which Ted is famous. And the several inches of string length between the bridge and tailpiece allow him to manipulate the strings behind the bridge, changing the pitches of various notes for the air-raid siren efiects usually associated with the Fender Stratocasters of Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, and Ritchie Blackmore. The same technique permits him to embellish arpeggiated chord progressions with melodic note-bendings similar to those of a pedal steel (e.g., the intro to "Alone," on the Stafe Of Shock LP). Ted has demonstrated the Byrdland's suitability for rock, adapting it to things its inventors wouldn't understand and probably wouldn't like. He gets strat-like vibrato effects with no vibrato, and without the tuning difficulties that so many vibrato users seem to complain about. All in all, it's an inspired example of mechanical improvisation.

The Motor City Madman (Photo: Tom Hill)

The Motor City Madman goes way back to the Lourdes, a Detroit group he played with at age 14. He went to Chicago and formed the Amboy Dukes shortly after acquiring his first Byrdland in 1964, returning to his home base in Detroit. From there the Dukes hit the road, slugging it out for 150 or 200 concerts each year for much of the next decade, and recording nearly a dozen LPs, including 'Survival Of The Fittest', 'Call Of The Wild' and 'Tooth, Fang, And Claw' (an album that I'd like to post in the near future).

An indefatigable performer and road stormtrooper, Ted has been playing essentially the same style for 15 years. He was a pioneer of feedback, equipment destruction, playing with his teeth, and other hallmarks of late '60s rock guitar, and it is ironic that worldwide acclaim came relatively late. His early career was marked by assorted ripoffs, financial mismanagement, and little notoriety outside the Midwest and South. His "Journey To The Centre Of Your Mind" made it to #8 on the national charts in 1968 (though Ted earned no money from it), and some of the Amboy Dukes albums crept up toward midpoint on the national Top 100. In 1971 Ted began to make money and bought a farm.

In 1975, Nugent dumped the Dukes, went with new managers and a new record company (Epic), released the selftitled Ted Nugent LP (see previous post), and turned his career around. 'Free-For-All' was released in '76, followed by 'Cat Scratch Fever', which hit it big the following year. 'Double Live Gonzo' came out in 1977, and it was followed last year by 'Weekend Warriors'. All five Epic albums have turned platinum - a million units sold or more. From these LPs came several hits, including "Stranglehold," "Dog Eat Dog," and the huge "Cat Scratch Fever."

Ted increased his touring coverage, performing successful gonzolectomies on Japanese and Hawaiian audiences in '78.  'State Of Shock', released in May 1979, and Scream Dream, 1980 didn't chart as well but were still on the mark.  [Extract from Masters Of Heavy Metal, by Jas Obrecht. Quill Books 1984. p 92-95]

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my pristine vinyl and comes with full album artwork for LP and CD plus label scans.  This is another favourite Nugent album of mine (every track packs a punch) and is a must for any fan. The late 70's was definitely a prolific period in Nugent's career and everything he produced turned to gold. As a bonus I have included live versions of "Free For All" and "Dog Eat Dog", which provide an insight into just how good Nugent was on stage.

Tracklist

01 Free For All 3:21
02 Dog Eat Dog 4:04
03 Writing On The Wall 7:10
04 Turn It Up 3:36
05 Street Rats 3:36
06 Together 5:53
07 Light My Way 3:01
08 Hammerdown 4:08
09 I Love You So I Told You A Lie 3:49
10 Free For All (Bonus Live) 5:14
11 Dog Eat Dog (Bonus Live) 6:20

The Band:

Bass, Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar, Vocals – Ted Nugent

Bass – Rob Grange
Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals – Cliff Davies
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Steve McRay
Percussion – Tom Werman
Rhythm Guitar, Vocals – Derek St. Holmes

Ted Nugent Link (331Mb)  New Post  01/06/21

Ted Nugent - Selftitled (1975) + Bonus Track

 (U.S 1964 - Present)

The Motor City Madman was self-styled. when a career with Detroit garage band the Amboy Dukes started to stutter in the early 1970s, Ted Nugent invented a cartoon personality for himself as a wild outdoorsman with guitar chops. He challenged other axe heroes - Wayne Kramer of MC5, Frank Marino of Mahogany - to go mano a mano in electric sparring contests. The caricature, though a gimmick to boost his profile, masked a man of sincerely held beliefs. Most of the rest of the music industry might not have shared them. 

Nugent was a member of the National Rifle Association, he hunted, and disdained drugs and drink - but he wavered not in his convictions: his autobiography was titled God, Guns & Rock 'n' Roll. The music that he captured and skinned was pure bred heavy metal; he was a proponent of the "If it's too loud, you're too old" philosophy. At 50 years and then some, Nugent is still cranking up the volume. [Extract from The Book Of Rock by Philip Dodd, 2001. p322]

Nugent's Guitar

THE SELF-PROCLAIMED "loudest guitarist in history," Ted Nugent plays guitars that would seem totally unfit for high-decibel rock: hollow-bodied Gibson Byrdland archtop electrics.

The model was co-designed by two first-call '50s session players, Billy Byrd and Hank Garland, and was aimed primarily at jazz, country, and dance-band guitarists of the day. In addition to being fully hollow rather than semi-hollow like an ES-335, the Byrdland is also a short-scale design at 23.5 inches, which takes a significant chunk out of the standard Gibson 24.75 inches (or 25.5 inches for many full-sized jazz guitars of the day); it also has a slimmer, narrower neck than usual.

Despite the seeming incongruities in the guitar's design, Nugent applied his '60s Byrdlands to an unholy maelstrom of metalesque exploits. In the late '60s and early '70s the Detroit rocker ramped up the fury with the Amboy Dukes and launched his solo career proper with the Ted Nugent album of 1975. His first real commercial hit single was "Stormtroopin" from this self-titled album, while his best-known hit, "Cat Scratch Fever," appeared on the 1977 album of the same name.

Although Nugent used a little early-'60s tan Tolex Fender Deluxe amp, cranked to the max, to record the single, as Aspen Pittman notes in his The Tube Amp Book, he is known for playing through massive stacks on the live stage, piling up Twin Reverbs in the early days, then Marshalls, and, most recently, Peavey 5150s.

Except for a dalliance with PRS, the Gibson Byrdland has remained a constant with Nugent-and

if we can't find any documentation for the claim of "loudest guitarist on earth," we can probably concede the Motor City Madman the title of "loudest guitarist on a hollow-body archtop" with few reservations. [extract from Star Guitars, 101 Guitars That Rocked the World by Dave Hunter]

This post is very special to me as is my vinyl copy of his debut self-titled album as a sole artist. Side-A is definitely the better side although the B-Side kicks off with "Snakeskin Cowboy" and the popular "Motor City Madhouse" which have been almost signature tracks for Nugent's charisma.  Of course full album artwork is also included with the FLAC audio files. As a bonus I've taken the liberty of including a live rendition of "Stormtroppin' which was recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour in St. Antonio,Texas in 1977.

Hope ya enjoy Ted's ripper debut and if your patient, there's plenty more of his albums still to come - a Free For All so to speak  LOL

Tracklist

01 Stranglehold 8:22
02 Stormtroopin' 3:07
03 Hey Baby 3:59
04 Just What The Doctor Ordered 3:39
05 Snakeskin Cowboys 4:30
06 Motor City Madhouse 4:28
07 Where Have You Been All My Life 4:03
08 You Make Me Feel Right At Home 2:51
09 Queen Of The Forest 3:34

[Bonus Track]
10 Stormtroopin' (King Biscuit Flower Hour - St Antonio - TX 1977)

Guitar, Vocals, Percussion – Ted Nugent

Bass – Rob Grange
Drums, Vibraphone [Vibes], Vocals – Cliff Davies
Keyboards – Steve McRay
Percussion – Brian Staffeld, Tom Werman
Rhythm Guitar, Vocals – Derek St. Holmes

Ted Nugent Link  New Link 01/06/2021