The Amboy Dukes: Journey To The Center Of The Mind

I wanted to do a something a little different for today and feature an original version of a song along side of a remake by the same artist. I think I’ll call this feature “Then . . . and Later.”

Then

In this case, The Amboy Dukes recorded “Journey to the Center of the Mind” in 1968. The song was the title cut of their second album and it was the band’s only charting single. It peaked at #16 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Oh yeah, the madman on the Gibson Byrdland guitar is none other than a young Ted Nugent. I know this song had become a classic when I heard a Muzak version of it a Ponderosa restaurant in the late 1980s.

Later

Here’s a version from 2009 of a reconstituted version of The Amboy Dukes for the Detroit Music Awards. It shows that even after 41 years, Ted and his buddies still can rock and roll. Although not as tight as the original, it is still worth a listen.