This month Martin Cooper checks out the style of a Chicago-raised hard rock guitarist who defies convention by playing a Gibson archtop guitar!
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Ted Nugent was born in Michigan, USA in 1948 and is still playing today after enjoying a career that has spanned more then 50 years. Nugent formed The Amboy Dukes in 1965 and released several albums under that moniker before dropping the name and using his own to front the band on both tours and recordings. Along with guitarist and vocalist Derek St Holmes, bass player Rob Grange and drummer Clifford Davies, Nugent signed to Epic Records and proceeded to write and record some of the most classic hard rock riffs of the coming decade.
A good amount of commercial success followed subsequent tours and record releases, and Nugent himself became known as one of the ‘guitar heroes’ of the 1970s. However, there was internal arguing among the band over royalties and how they were split, which caused tensions.
As the 1970s moved into the 80s, Nugent continued to record and tour but with a decline in success, until he joined the rock supergroup Damn Yankees in 1989 alongside bass player Jack Blades of Night Ranger, guitarist Tommy Shaw of Styx and drummer Michael Cartellone. Their eponymous debut album went double platinum in the US and saw a resurgence in Nugent’s career. Other notable names that Nugent has performed alongside include Meatloaf, ex-Whitesnake bass player Marco Mendoza and Mick Brown from Dokken.
One of Nugent’s biggest influences is ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, and this influence can be heard in many of Ted’s rhythm guitar parts. He also grew up listening to Mike Bloomfield, Jimi Hendrix and Chuck Berry, and like most rock guitar players was heavily influenced by Eddie Van Halen in the late 1970s and early 80s.
The track this month is in the key of A Minor (A-B-C-D-E-F-G) but like a lot of classic rock songs, it blends an A Major chord into the mix (A-C#-E) and also utilises the A Dorian mode (A-B-C-D-E-F#-G) which is why in the solo section we find a D Major chord (D-F#-A).
A typical A powerchord and double-stop type riff part forms the bulk of the rhythm track. The solo’ phrasing begins by utilising A Minor blues scale (A-C-D-Eb-E-G) and then moves into the aforementioned A Dorian mode to target the 6th
