Ted Nugent On His Roots And Love For R&R's Pioneers

By External Source

The following is part of an interview conducted by Robert Cavuoto with Ted Nugent that appears on the website MyGlobalMind.com. A full read of the interview featuring Ted pumping his new album (The Music Made Me Do It) can be found here and we thoughtfully acknowledge Celebrity Access Encore for bringing this to our attention.

Robert Cavuoto: I have been a fan of yours since I was a kid and I love that fact that you never followed musical trends. You have always stuck to your guns. Tell about that unflinching decision not to waiver from your musical roots.

Ted Nugent: Again I reference the title of this CD; The Music Made Me Do It. If you interview Billy Joel or Steven Tyler or Sammy Hagar, they would all reference what Elvis brought to us on the Ed Sullivan show which was a pivotal moment. It wasn’t a standalone moment; it was a representation of those black artists who created the blues of slavery and the heartbreak of oppression. The simple tragedy of a man controlling another man and the emotion they sang about that horror. When you witness it, you immediately understand it unless you are a spoiled brat which we are surrounded by these days.

What we witnessed was Elvis bringing that black emotion with the explosion of freedom and the ending of slavery. Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard showed that they can take that pure emotion of heartbreak and angst to turn it into a defiant irreverence celebration that only they could do. When that hit me in the opening volleys in the late 40s, early 50s a keeping that believable authority of black influences, that it touched us. Thank God there was an Elvis Presley to convey to us so that we could understand it. It remains an unmovable core of our musical vision.

All these years later from 1962/1963 when I started beating on the guitar emulating what those black heroes and the blackness of what Elvis was trying to convey. Nobody says “Let’s go Country this weekend.” They say, “Let’s go Rock Out!” or “It’s time to Rock & Roll!”

Any time someone has something exciting to do they use the term Rock & Roll. That music defines the individuality and deceleration of individual’s independence.

Has there ever been anyone as more defiant that Little Richard to walk the planet? We can’t forget that. Bands like the Foo Fighter, Kid Rock, Jack White, and Greta Von Fleet are doing their version of that. If you go back to your first question about my origins in Detroit, that pulsation is inescapable, especially in the Detroit club scene with Bob Segar, Grand Funk Railroad, Kid Rock, and Eminem in his own metamorphoses. It’s not mysterious if you look at the panorama of those origins and I will not be tainted by trends or cookie cutter formulas music.

I am an independent son of a bitch. I believe in what I believe in so thoroughly for 70 years. When you are clean and sober for 70 years, you tend to believe in the things you believe in. You don’t have any ulterior motives or anyone else to make you happy except fellow music lovers. That is why I’m so damn proud of this record because it is so real rhythm and blues Rock & Roll and I think people are going to love it!