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Ted Nugent Provides An Invaluable Lesson


Shnate McDuanus

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If I wanted to hear him play (and I do, very frequently, in fact. His first five albums have been on constant rotation for the past few days,) I would go ahead and listen to him play.

 

I've always thought he had a great sense of humor. I have great respect for Mr. Nugent--even if I don't agree with him politically.

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Yep. I always thought Ted was a bit crazy - how else could you come up with Wang Dang Sweet Poontang?

 

I found him so entertaining when I was younger - in fact Ted always makes me laugh.

 

But thats why I love him, even if I dont agree with his politics.

 

If you put a Byrdland into the hands of Wild Bill Hickock and plugged him into a Marshall stack, then you would have Ted.

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I met Nugent doing a story on him as a bow hunter as opposed to guitar picker.

 

Lots of self confidence in a very relaxed sorta way - perhaps the "wild man" exterior allows the sort of relaxation that allows excellent technique. It's something I wonder about.

 

I just got thinking, too, of watching an old Segovia vid of him teaching a master class. In a sense, I see the same sort of relaxation where he's not really playing the the guitar, he's just touching it in a relaxed way and gorgeous music comes out of it.

 

I know it may sound silly to some folks to compare Nugent and Segovia, but... <grin> it's something I noticed.

 

Actually Hickock wasn't all that wild in ways. After plugging his friend and deputy he kinda got out of the law enforcement business and was kinda introverted, it seems. My idea is that he likely was introverted regardless. The fight with Dave Tut is kinda enlightening too. He relaxed and took his time with a long shot for a .36 cal. ball. Tut Shot and missed. Hickock took his time and didn't.

 

m

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Spent three days together in Thunder Bay. I've done pics for a few of his shows and my wife and I were planning a trip there this past summer so we went while he was there.

 

It was definitely an interesting trip. Learned lots more about guitar and music in general and heard lots of stories. Taking him shopping in Wal-Mart was an adventure!

 

He really is a nice guy though. Treat him (and others) with respect and courtesy and he'll do the same to you. He couldn't have treated my wife and I any better. I've rec'd quick backstage lessons from him in the past but nothing compares the time he spent showing me stuff in August.

 

It was kinda sureal though. About 15 guys are watching us do Stranglehold, Cat Scratch Fever and Free For All (during this particular jam session that was recorded) and I'm looking at them thinking to myself "Am I really doing this?"

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Wow... I love that PRS he's playing. 25th Anniversay Singlecut Hollowbody? Beautiful :-

 

Always loved The Nuge!

 

AFAIK, it's just a regular PRS hollowbody not a 25th anniversary model.

 

I didn't even check the headstock to see if it was a 10-top but judging by other pics I have, it appears that it is.

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In ways, guys like hickock get a bad rap because they were men of their time - and behaved in ways appropriate perhaps for the time but not necessarily according to current sensibilities.

 

Bill appears almost certainly to have been going blind at the time he was killed by McCall in Deadwood. I've got some personal theories on that one, but...

 

There's little question that he was, at his peak, an incredible marksman with a sidearm and for all intents, rather fearless on the plains as a guide or in circumstances of serious social disputes.

 

But... I think also as his legend was built in legend during his life, Hickock was increasingly introverted. These guys, Bill Hickock, Bill Cody, etc., were folks who came from some pretty mean backgrounds and were working to build a half-decent life. Hickock lacked some of Cody's skills, but then, a look a Cody's life indicates he wasn't entirely successful at gaining and maintaining wealth - even as some of today's "stars."

 

Frankly in ways I see both as having some modern near parallels with some of our sports and rock stars. The difference is that in the late 1800s, music and sports were a far distant second place to shooting skills and "western legend" status that tended to include some violent experiences.

 

m

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