Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold” almost found itself choked out by the record label before fans ever would get a chance to hear it. That’s the story that the legendarily outspoken guitarist and hunter is telling as one of his most classic songs hits the 50-year mark.
He begins to tell the tale by sharing some “Stranglehold” lyrics with us. “Here I come now, baby/ Like a dog in heat/ You tell it’s me by the clamor now, baby/ I like to tear up the streets/ Now, I’ve been smoking for so long/ You know I’m here to stay/ Got you in a stranglehold, baby/ Get the f–k out of the way!“
As one would expect, the original words are punched up a bit, punctuated with an F-bomb and with good reason, as Nugent shares. “Those lyrics were so pertinent because the record company didn’t think I should record it because it didn’t have a chorus,” he says now. “I went, ‘Really, you don’t think I should record the song that every night the people go the most crazy about? Does f–k you ring any bells? That defiant element is what [makes the song]. Even when I play it to this day, even as an old man, you feel it. [Nugent grabs his guitar and plays the “Stranglehold” riff to demonstrate] Get the f–k out of here!”
Listen to Ted Nugent Perform ‘Stranglehold’
The seeds of “Stranglehold” were initially sown long before Nugent got a chance to record it for his 1975 self-titled solo debut, beginning musical life as a jam. The moment, which happened in the twilight hours following an Amboy Dukes gig in 1968, stayed with the guitarist. “To turn just a spontaneous jam with no guidance — which is what a jam should be — to have it end up being a composition with arrangements and the F sharp / minor seventh bass solo, was an amazing moment,” he recalls. “[They told me] nobody wants a bass solo, Well, I want a bass solo! Give me one! Well, people don’t like bass solos. I think they do! I’m going with my hunches here.” [Nugent laughs maniacally]
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The people, with Nugent as their advocate, got what they wanted. “That f–king bass solo is mystical. It’s lyrical, outrageous, bombastically soulful, its inescapable groove and grind [stays with you when you hear it],” he says. “I broke all of the rules, but that’s one of the planets that aligned. I have the evidence from every night on stage, people going nuts for this thing, this moment, this lick. It’s only two chords and 11 minutes long. What? You can’t just play two chords for 11 minutes. Yeah? Shut the f–k up! Since you said that, watch me do it. Don’t tell me I can’t do something, because the audience goes berserk and that’s all that matters.”
Nugent Steps Inside the Vault
While he’s done with touring on a lengthy scale, the guitar legend continues to play select concerts, including a series of dates in Texas and Michigan this summer to celebrate the 50th anniversary of “Stranglehold.” Fans can tune up for the upcoming dates by revisiting decades of history inside Nuge Vault, the new online archive spearheaded by Nugent’s own drummer, Jason Hartless, who has spent an extensive amount of time going through a voluminous amount of materials.
Among the concert highlights so far are previously unavailable gigs recorded in 1976 and 1980 and the 1987 edition of Nugent’s annual Whiplash Bash New Year’s Eve celebration. The video section of the Vault includes things like an ’84 jam with Sammy Hagar and a ’94 gig recorded at the Indiana-area Deer Creek Music Center. Additional audio treasures feature a pair of long out-of-print EPs, rough mixes for 1976’s Free-for-All and demos for Nugent’s last two albums, 2018’s The Music Made Me Do It and 2022’s Detroit Muscle.
“He did a swan dive into these eternal vats of memorabilia,” Nugent shares. “Inside my barn, there’s 100-feet walls stacked up 20 feet in the air with boxes from the Amboy Dukes, reel-to-reel tapes, photos, cassette jam sessions and every series of Ted Nugent band eras, including Damn Yankees. It’s fascinating. He whipped out a reel-to-reel of the rehearsal for the Free-for-All album and I was like, “Oh man, I remember that!”
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This is not a business for the faint of heart.
Gallery Credit: Allison Rapp
