Sunday, August 31, 2008
Well, the whirlygig tornado of dust, human debris and body parts is dissipating and settling back to earth. The old guitar player is limping off into the soul-cleansing spirit of his mystical, sacred swamp with his very happy Labrador retrievers.
The world gulps a sigh of relief that Uncle Ted has left the building.
Finally.
Again. Dear God in heaven, what a glorious, bone crunching, spirit-slamming rockout Operation Rolling Thunder 2008 has been.
I am the luckiest guitar player in the history of soul music, no doubt. God bless real American rock 'n' roll and all its disciples.
Wrapping up my 50th year of touring, celebrating the ferocious energized performance of my 6,000th outrageous concert, I genuflect on humble knees in deep appreciation for the gift of this gravity-defying career. I also give thanks for the incredible virtuosos in my band, the world's greatest touring crew and management, the undying support of my amazing family.
And to the millions of die-hard music lovers around the world who continue to show up each night to push me to the limit and beyond:
Your powerful positive energy and glowing spirit and attitude are the hurricane beneath my wings.
I think back to the early years of jamming to Bo Diddly and Chuck Berry songs, my first combo playing our music for the neighborhood kids at Walt's Malt Shop in Detroit, the local community center, at pool parties and sock hops, honing our love for the music, putting everything we had into making it better and better all the time.
Dues paid
I roll my eyes and smile, remembering the 300-plus concerts a year for all those years after graduating from high school, almost blindly caterwauling across America willing to play anywhere, anytime under any and all conditions for any reason whatsoever.
We honed our chops, paid our dues and learned the do-or-die lessons of life's physical and spiritual personal quality control responsibilities. Or at least I did.
Those who did not are either dead or nowhere to be found.
Clean and sober, baby!
Even though I tour only during the summer in between hunting seasons, I nonetheless continue to attract the music industry's finest talent each year.
Driven to be the very best that they can be, there are certainly no clowns, whiners or weirdos to be found anywhere near me.
Not a day goes by that I am not reminded how great my guys are by everybody we work with. Excellence remains the battle cry of the American Dream everywhere around me. As it must. God bless them all.
All demographics
And as I prepare to celebrate my 60th birthday, I am further moved by the fact that our record-breaking audiences across America are made up of every imaginable demographic.
It is very inspiring to see all those families with young children coming to rock out with Uncle Ted. PG-13 concerts are becoming a regular thing for me. Improvise, adapt and overcome I always say.
So now it is the spirit season. My brutally abused guitars and bones are getting a well-deserved rest while I grab my bow and arrows and firearms as the natural protein shopping season comes on strong.
America, Canada, Europe and Great Britain: Your unbridled enthusiasm made this old Motor City Madman very happy in 2008.
As soon as the freezers are full and there is no one hungry at the soup kitchens, I will see you our there in Rock 'n' Roll Land as soon as possible.
God bless you all.
Ted Nugent is a Waco-based musician and television show host. Contact him directly at tednugent.com.
