The Amboy Dukes was made up of some interesting talents. Ted Nugent was head and shoulders above the other guitar players in the Detroit area. His virtuoso talent made him stand out in a big way. Many Detroiters instantly have the name of Ted's song "Scottish Tea" on the tip of their tongue, after hearing just a few notes of the tune. Ted made an indelibly big impression on Detroit Rock and Roll fans that has not gone away.

Ted was the only guy I knew, in 1967- 68, with a black Cadillac car and a brief case radio telephone. Ted was a great guy to work with and even helped to testify at the Detroit Musicians Union when Mike Quatro was double booking some of the local bands. Ted picked me up at my home and we went to the hearing on Second Street in Detroit at the Musicians Union. He cared about the other bands in the scene.

After the gig, I would take the tape recording to Dave Palmer's parents house near Northland Shopping Center in Detroit about a block off of 8 Mile Road. There we would listen to the performance. We called that "wood shucking". It was the only way for them to hear what their performance was like at that point in time. There were no portable cassette recorders for a long while to come. On top of being the Amboy Dukes drummer, Dave was a science fiction nut.  He had made a space ship control center set up in his parents home's basement so he could make science fiction movies.

Also, It is notable that Dave was one of the very first recording engineers at Jimmy Hendrix's "Electric Lady" Recording Studio in New York City. He worked on Hendrix's last album and also on 4 Led Zeppelin albums.  His name is on still some of the gold records on the wall there at this date, according to the Electric Lady staff. He and legendary recording engineer Eddie Kramer - who was the recording engineer for Hendrix Electric Lady Land album - and Dave were instrumental in some of the early recordings out of Electric Lady Studio.

When you listen to Ted's performance you will note what a great feel he has for the guitar and his ability to entertain. You might not be able to see his showmanship - his playing behind his back or with his teeth or even the lighter fluid on the guitar stuff... but his performance is absolutely outstanding and a real historical world class concert that i am privileged to share with you.

The recording i made of Ted and the Amboy Dukes, at Detroit's Cobo Hall with the Young Rascals, is missing at this point, but I am hoping i can find that recording to share with you down stream. I hope you enjoy this concert as much as I do. It has been worth the effort to carry it across about 50 years of time to get it to you.

So: Here's to Detroit Rock and Roll and one of the best bands in the world!.

Cheers!

-A.L.

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