THE AMBOY DUKES / MIGRATION

Digitized from the original vinyl, released in 1969 on Mainstream records.
(played quite frequently in it's day, hence the Rice Krispies effect in places)
Format: Mp3
Bit Rate:320 kbps
ALBUM INFO:

I guess Mainstream records didn't think in 1969 that the people buying Amboy Dukes records needed to know much about where the band was making their magic. I would assume the album was recorded somewhere in the Detroit area but that's about the extent of my assumptions.

NOTICE:
The only other version I've seen of this album available is a jap CD import that inexplictably has shaved off about 4 minutes worth of the running time of the tune Prodigal Man. The original track (included here) is almost 9 minutes long and contains awesome drum, bass, and keyboard solos. Don't have a clue why they cut that out, it's not like you couldn't put the whole album on a CD. Some suit with a short attention span probably made an executive decision, it's not like you can dance to that part, ya know?

TRACK LISTING:
Migration
Prodigal Man
For His Namesake
I'm Not A Juvenile Delinquent
Good Natured Emma
Inside The Outside
Shades Of Green And Grey
Curb Your Elephant
Loaded For Bear
BAND LINEUP:
Rusty Day - Vocals, Harmonica
Ted Nugent - Lead Guitar, Vocals
Steve Farmer - Guitar, Vocals
Andy Solomon - Keyboard, Sax, Vocals
Greg Arama - Bass
Dave Palmer - Drums
WEBSITE:
http://www.classicbands.com/amboy.html

REVIEW:

By yours truly

Without a doubt in my mind, the best album that Ted Nugent ever put out. It fustrates me to this day that he didn't follow this album up with another effort in the same mindset. Instead he ended up becoming Terrible Ted and putting out crap like Wango Tango. Effectively (to me at least) turning his talent into a musical circus act like Alice Cooper & Kiss. Don't get me wrong....I can't stand Cooper or Kiss, even though I'll grudginly admit that there is a place in Rock n Roll for those bands better at marketing than Pentatonic scales but Ted had talent, a boat load of it and on Migration it shines thru brightly.

We were at the high end of our teens in those days and the Dukes would come to Kalamazoo frequently to play a little club called the Crazy Horse. I can remember buyin' a couple cokes and sitting at a table right smack in from of Ted and the band and watching him just rip up on everybody that was already out there being famous. In those days he played a Gibson Byrdland, a thick bodied jazz style guitar and when he got going the two became one.

I was so impressed with his talent in those days that even though I couldn't afford a Byrdland I actually had Guild guitars make me a left handed version of their blonde jazz model which looked about 90% like Ted's Byrdland. I played that guitar every day until one day I came home to my apartment in downtown Kazoo and found the door swinging open and most everything I owned, including my fake Byrdland, long gone. I miss that guitar to this day, it was a one of a kind and if I ever got my hands on the schmucks who stole her I'd rip off their arms and stuff 'em up their.........awww, it was a long time ago and not much chance she ain't firewood by now.

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Allaan Vorda: Discuss the Migration album in general.
Ted Nugent: That album was a joy for me and the song "Migration" to this day is one of my favorites even though it is an instrumental. A big part of our show at that time was my instrumental work because I was a real creative son-of-a-bitch on guitar. The album remains my favorite Amboy Dukes' album by far. There was some great stuff on it, it was a lot of fun recording, and we were progressing as a band. That album was probably indicative of where the band could have gone from the Journey LP to the Migration LP. The progress of the band was short- stopped by drugs.

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The most prominent feature of Migration (the Amboy Dukes' third recording, originally released on Mainstream records) is the lack of a spaced-out follow-up to the group's biggest hit, "Journey to the Center of Your Mind." Perhaps "terrible" Ted Nugent was starting to win the drug war that was beginning to wage within the band, a war that would ultimately claim more than a few key lineup casualties. No matter the reason, Migration -- with it's less opaque drug references and general grooviness -- was given a cool reception at record stores as listeners perhaps became slightly confused about the Michigan band's intentions while pondering Nugent's relatively eclectic musical approach. Case in point: the spot-on version of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers' "I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent." Besides this bizarre but affective cover, other highlights include the instrumental opener "Migration" and one of Nugent's all-time favorite songs, "Good Natured Emma." More ambitious than the group's huge-selling effort from the year before, "Migration" might be the better of the two discs, if not the best of the Amboy Dukes' career.
Vincent Jeffries, All Music Guide
CONTACT:

READ THIS for more information on this album.

Tom