Ted Nugent recently shared on Roc Doc’s Podcast the story of how ‘Stranglehold’ almost missed its spot on his solo album.
“I could go on and on about this, but Epic Records and my production team, they all said, ‘We don’t think we need to record ‘Stranglehold’ for your solo album, because it’s just a jam session and it doesn’t have a chorus,'” Nugent recalled. “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”
“I had a bumper crop of middle fingers that year, so I whipped out a basket full of ’em, and I said, ‘You guys have gotta be kidding me. We play this song every night in various forms as an ongoing, developing, adventurous jam session and the people love this groove, this grind. They, the people, including my people, my band, we love this. It doesn’t need a chorus. It doesn’t need the rules of music. In fact, I like it better ’cause it breaks the rules of pop music,'” he continued.
“So they kind of shrugged their shoulders, and we went in and jammed it,” Nugent explained. “And it was a take one, with Cliff and Rob nailing the groove. And that guitar solo that’s on there was only supposed to be a guide to show where the dynamics went up and down and development built into the Bolero… I don’t know where that came from, but it’s musical history.”
“And then when Derek did the vocal on it, I said, ‘Who cares that it doesn’t have a chorus? Listen to this son of a b*tch. This is a monster, fun song.’ And so that’s the history of ‘Stranglehold,'” he concluded.
Nugent’s decision to defy conventional music structure became a turning point in his career. The song achieved remarkable success.
Ultimate Classic Rock documents that ‘Stranglehold’ made its debut in September 1975. The track opened Ted Nugent’s first solo album.
The song’s unique structure proved no obstacle to its commercial success. Data from Wikipedia shows the album reached the Top 30. Sales exceeded two million copies, earning double platinum status.
The recording session produced an unexpected masterpiece. The guitar solo was completed in just one take. Guitar World magazine later recognized this achievement by ranking it as the 31st greatest guitar solo of all time.
The song transcended its musical origins to become a cultural phenomenon. It has served as entrance music for various sports teams and professional wrestlers throughout rock history.
