Get The Word Out - Ted Nugent's Craveman to be reissued

Bio
Born in 1948, Nugent began his adventure with music when he was sixteen years old, taking first steps on the rock scene as a guitarist for The Amboy Dukes. Their first three albums – “The Amboy Dukes (1967), Journey to the Center of the Mind (1968) and Migration (1969) sold moderately well, slowly building up a loyal fan base. In 1974 the band signed on to Frank Zappa’s DiscReet Records and launched their fourth album – the critically acclaimed “Call of the Wild”. Another album followed in 1975, bearing the title “Tooth Fang & Claw”. Even more successful than the previous offering, the LP included the cult classic song “Great White Buffalo”, which ultimately brought The Amboy Dukes the recognition they deserved. At that point Ted Nugent was unquestionably the most popular member of the group, which resulted in several line-up rotations and changing the name to Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes.
Nugent eventually dropped the Amboy Dukes moniker in 1975, after signing to Epic Records. With Derek St. Holmes (guitar/vocals), Rob Grange (bass) and Clifford Davies (drums) he recorded his first three solo albums, all of which became multi-platinum bestsellers: “Ted Nugent” (1975), “Free-for-All” (1976) and “Cat Scratch Fever” (1977). The LPs spawned a number of classic radio hits such as “Strangehold”, “Cat Scratch Fever”, “Dog Eat Dog” and “Hey Baby”. Nugent and his band went on an extensive tour, afterwards releasing the multi-platinum live album “Double Live Gonzo!”. In 1978 St. Holmes and Grange left Nugent’s group and were replaced by Charlie Huhn and Dave Kiswiney. With this line-up Nugent recorded three successful albums: “Weekend Warriors” (1978), “State of Shock” (1979) and “Scream Dream” (1980). During that period Ted was widely known for his strong anti-drug and alcohol approach and frequent critical declarations on that matter. This was a rather surprising attitude for a popular rock star and Nugent was being considered one of the first “good guys” of rock’n’roll, as well as an early influence on the straight edge movement, which also is critical towards alcohol and drug use.
Dating from 1982 onwards, Nugent released a number of albums, mostly different from his previous hard rock style: “Nugent” (1982), “Penetrator” (1984), “Little Miss Dangerous” (1986), “If You Can’t Lick ‘Em… Lick ‘Em” (1988). Near the end of the 1980’s he decided to rest from his solo career and form a super-group with bassist Jack Blades (ex-Night Range), guitarist Tommy Sha (ex-Styx) and drummer Michael Cartellon, called Damn Yankees. The band’s debut self-titled album was released in 1990 and became an international hit, selling over 5 million copies (mostly thanks to the power-ballad “High Enough”). Damn Yankees recorded one more album in 1992 – “Don’t Tread” – until finally splitting up.
Nugent returned to writing solo material and in 1995 released one of his most acclaimed works – “Spirit of The Wild”. The fans had to wait seven whole years for his next album. But it was all worth it – “Craveman”, released on September 22nd, 2002, proved to be the heaviest piece of rock The Nuge has ever recorded! While the first track of the record – “Klstrphnky” – delivers a sound more suitable for Kid Rock or some other alternative metal act, the rest of the material is a clear nod to the artist’s hard rock past. “Rawdogs & Warhogs” (a praise anthem for the American way of life) and “Going Down Hard” resemble the classic “early Meat Loaf” rock approach, while “At Home There” and “I Won’t Go Away” both take a lot from such classic Nugent songs as “Strangehold” or “Just What The Doctor Ordered”. Another reference to the older albums comes with “Wang Dang Doodle”, a loose interpretation of “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang” from Ted’s hit 1977 LP “Cat Scratch Fever”. “Craveman” featured a lot of elements from the older days, but at the same time introduced a heavy, modern guitar sound (by some compared to Megadeth, Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society or Metallica!) and songwriting fit for the new millennium. It also included a brief reunion with Nugent’s former bandmates Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades in “Damned If Ya Do!”. One of the significant features of this album is a strong sexual overtone, with song names such as: “Sexpot”, “My Baby Likes Butter On Her Gritz” and “Cum N Gitya Some Of This”. “Craveman” ends with the instrumental track “Earthtones”, once again reaching back to ideas from the glorious 1970’s.
Apart from writing music, Ted Nugent has been very active in all sorts of activities throughout his career. After his anti-drug and alcohol involvement in the 1990’s he became a national spokesman for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program. Due to his conservative political views he was often a guest on such programs as “Politically Incorrect”, “The Howard Stern Show” and “Larry King Live”. In the late 1990’s Nugent began his writing career, contributing to various magazines. He is the author of such successful books as “Gods, Guns and Rock ’n’ Roll” (2001; a highly acclaimed New York Times Bestseller), “Kill It and Grill It” (2002; co-authored by Nugent’s wife, Shemane), “BloodTrails II: The Truth About Bowhunting” (2004) and “Ted, White, and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto” (2008). In 1996 he had his own radio audition at WWBR-FM in Detroit, called “The Ted Nugent Morning show” (with co-host Steve Black). He also did some acting, appearing in such productions as the hit television show “Miami Vice” (1986), a Canadian film “Heavy Metal Summer” (1990), an episode of the comedy series “That 70’s Show” (2001), the music video for Nickelback’s song “Rockstar” (2007) and the film “Beer For My Horses” (2008). He was the host of the reality television programs “Surviving Nugent” (2003/2004) and “Wanted: Ted Or Alive” (2005), and appeared as a guest on “Forever Wild” (2004), “SuperGroup” (2006) and “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations”.
Nugent is well known for his support of hunting and gun-ownership rights and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association (NRA). He had created a summer non-profit program called Ted Nugent’s Kamp For Kids, where he teaches the basics of survival, archery and hunting, at the same time presenting a strong anti-drug message. Over the years Nugent has become a spokesman for such organizations as the National Field Archery Association, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. As a strong supporter of the military, Nugent performed for the US troops in Iraq in 2004.