Call of the Wild is the sixth and penultimate album by The Amboy Dukes, credited as "Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes". Recorded in the summer of 1973, it is the first of two albums released on Frank Zappa's DiscReet Records, followed by Tooth Fang & Claw, the band's final album, in 1974. In 1977, both albums were reissued by Warner Bros as the compilation Two Originals of... Ted Nugent.

Call of the Wild
Studio album by Ted Nugent and The Amboy Dukes
Released	September 1973
Recorded	June–July, 1973, Sleepy Hollow Studios in Ithaca, NY
Genre	Hard rock
Length	38:01
Label	DiscReet LP Enigma Retro CD
Producer	Lew Futterman
Ted Nugent and The Amboy Dukes chronology
Survival of the Fittest Live (1971) Call of the Wild (1973) Tooth Fang & Claw (1974)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Music

The album's music featured elements of boogie, heavy metal and progressive rock.[1]

Nugent's new, solid rhythm section included Rob Grange on bass and Vic Mastrianni on drums, adding a hard-driving rock beat to Nugent's music. The compositions, developed and gradually improved on stage since 1972 (with an Amboy Dukes' line-up changing frequently), were now sharpened and extended during months of intense touring, in the US and also in Canada. Nugent found new inspiration and energy in a more outdoor-oriented life (on his ranch in Michigan), hence an album title inspired by novelist Jack London. Most of the second side consisted of instrumental and self-speaking music. In addition to the rhythm section, Andy Jezowski (brother of Ted's then-wife Sandra Jezowski) performed most vocal parts on the record, and Gabriel Magno added keyboards and flute (on "Below the Belt").

Jezowski performed with the group as a part-time guest vocalist along the year. Gabe Magno occasionally gigged on stage with the Amboy Dukes, until he joined the band If by late 1973, and again later on with Nugent in April 1979.

A final Dukes single was released by the new record company, "Sweet Revenge" b/w "Ain't It the Truth".

Track listing

All songs written by Ted Nugent, except where indicated:

1. "Call of the Wild" – 4:51
2. "Sweet Revenge" – 4:06
3. "Pony Express" – 5:21
4. "Ain't It the Truth" (Rob Grange, Ted Nugent) – 4:57
5. "Renegade" (Rob Grange) – 3:33
6. "Rot Gut" (Rob Grange, Ted Nugent, Gabriel Magno, Vic Mastrianni) – 2:45
7. "Below the Belt" – 7:03
8. "Cannon Balls" – 5:43

Personnel

• Andy Jezowski - vocals
• Ted Nugent - guitars, vocals, percussion
• Gabriel Magno - keyboards, flute
• Rob Grange - bass, vocals
• Vic Mastrianni - drums, vocals
• John Childs, engineer
• Lew Futterman, producer
• Bill Inglot, digital remastering
• Ken Perry, digital remastering

References