When the “Free For All” album was released, it instantly became one of my favorites, and in an era when most everyone was making mix tapes of their favorite rock and roll tunes, I remember that I roamed around town blasting the entire album from beginning to end on the boom box (with stereo sound!) my future father in law had picked up for me somewhere in Manhattan.
The first time I saw Ted Nugent live he performed with Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Nassau Coliseum. If memory serves me correctly, I was supposed to see the two bands appear together again, but the Skynyrd plane crash tragedy happened first and Nugent headlined the Madison Square Garden concert himself with , I believe, AC/DC opening.
This August, 1995 show is memorable primarily because Bad Company opened, but without Paul Rodgers on vocals. Rodgers had left the band sometime before this tour happened, but BadCo continued on with a new vocalist and album to promote. They were still good, but Paul Rodgers is a special front man with an iconic voice so it was not nearly the same band. Ted Nugent will play the Paramount in Huntington this coming August, with the great Greg Smith on bass; Ted does not tour during hunting season so the animal kingdom will be safe for a time while Nugent provides yet another rock and roll sonic assault on our ear drums this summer.
Dog Eat Dog
Rock on!
GQ