''Call of the Wild'' is the fifth studio album by

The Amboy Dukes The Amboy Dukes were an American rock band formed in 1964 in Chicago, Illinois, and later based in Detroit, Michigan. They are best known for their only hit single, " Journey to the Center of the Mind". The band's name comes from the title of ...

, credited as "

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American rock musician and activist. He initially gained fame as the lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist of The Amboy Dukes, a band formed in 1963 that played psychedelic rock ...

& The Amboy Dukes", released in 1973.

Composition

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

'' says that the composition of the ''Call of the Wild'' album was influenced by AM and FM radio hits of the period in which the album was recorded. The publication says that the album's title track, which opens the album, is "not as blistering as

Cat Scratch Fever ''Cat Scratch Fever'' is the third studio album by American rock musician Ted Nugent. It was released on May 13, 1977, by Epic Records. Vocalist Derek St. Holmes, who had left the band during the recording of the album ''Free-for-All'', had com ...

"], but more metallic than the psychedelic music, psychedelia/blues of the original the Amboy Dukes (band), Amboy Dukes", calling the song "more Jeff Beck gone rock than the quasi-Ozzy Osbourne, Ozzie persona Nugent gleefully would embrace" in his subsequent albums under his own name, comparing the composition to the music of Spirit (band), Spirit and

Jo Jo Gunne Jo Jo Gunne was an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1971 by Jay Ferguson and Mark Andes after they had left Spirit. The band was named after a Chuck Berry song, "Jo Jo Gunne". They released their eponymou ...

. ''AllMusic'' also said that "Sweet Revenge" lifted it's melody from

the Grass Roots The Grass Roots are an American rock band that charted frequently between 1965 and 1975. The band was originally the creation of Lou Adler and songwriting duo P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri. In their career, they achieved two gold albums, two go ...

' song "Things I Should Have Said". The website called the song "Pony Express" "a strange amalgam of '60s out-of-the-garage/heading-toward-stadiums riff rock", saying that it borrowed it's melody from Deep Purple's " Highway Star", and said that "Ain't It the Truth" was a piano

boogie Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm,Burrows, Terry (1995). ''Play Country Guitar'', p.42. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. . "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie mus ...

, comparing it to "

Jumpin' Jack Flash "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as a non-album single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, the song was perceived by some as t ...

". The album's second side is sequenced to sound like a single continuous jam session. ''AllMusic'' says that "Rot Gut" sounds like " Joe Perry emulating Jeff Beck". "Below the Belt" contains keyboard and flute instrumentation played by Gabe Magno; ''AllMusic'' compared the song to

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

' "

2000 Light Years from Home "2000 Light Years from Home" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on their 1967 album ''Their Satanic Majesties Request''. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it also appeared as the B-side to the American sing ...

", and called "Cannon Balls" a "heavy vocal

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

er".

Reception

''AllMusic'' described the ''Call of the Wild'' album as "Ted Nugent going through another mutation, but shows him as more diverse and adventurous than he sometimes gets credit for".

Track listing

Personnel

* Andy Jezowski -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

- guitars, vocals,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

* Gabriel Magno - keyboards, flute *

Rob Grange Rob Grange (born 1950) is an American bassist, best known for his work with psychedelic rock band The Amboy Dukes and with Ted Nugent, as well as his unique phase bass lines in the song " Stranglehold". Career Sonny Hugg Grange was a memb ...

- bass, vocals * Vic Mastrianni - drums, vocals * John Childs, engineer *

Lew Futterman Lewis Futterman is an American record producer and manager, who was most active in the 1960s to the early 1980s. Commencing as of 1977, he has increasingly been involved in real estate development, primarily in New York City. History Following g ...

, producer

References

{{Authority control 1973 albums The Amboy Dukes albums DiscReet Records albums Ted Nugent albums