Mystery Track No. 4: Dr. Slingshot by the Amboy Dukes
A Q & A With Keyboardist Andy Solomon.
I’m very pleased to chat with Andy Solomon, longtime keyboardist and vocalist for the Amboy Dukes. Andy is onboard to solve our vinyl mystery, the track Dr. Slingshot from the Journey to the Center of the Mind LP. And he’s here to tell us about the making of one of my favorite Amboy Dukes albums, Marriage on the Rocks – Rock Bottom. But first, a quick shout out to phenomenal keyboardist, vocalist, songwriter and daughter of Andy, Rachel Solomon. Rachel kindly got me in touch with her dad for this Q&A. Check out Rachel’s site: https://rachelplaysmusic.com/. She’s definitely one of us, both a music and Baltimore fan. Have a listen to the achingly beautiful She’s So Lonely and, of course, Baltimore.
Now, about the Marriage on the Rocks LP: I stumbled across the LP at my local library as a teen. It’s hard to believe that a psych fan like myself had never really heard of the Amboy Dukes at that point, but such was the case. (At the time I was still in my Chicago and BS&T horn rock phase). But I recalled a review that described it as a record that would move the rear wall of your listening room backwards eight inches every time you played it. Sold!
Marriage on the Rocks is a truly difficult LP to describe and that’s what makes it so great. The album does not fit comfortably in any given box. At its core, it’s progressive rock, but traditional prog fans may not enjoy its hard funk, primal lyrics and wicked sense of humor. It surprises constantly. Tracks like Marriage are extremely melodic and feature Ted Nugent’s playing at its best. But Brain Games of Yesteryear could be described as something like borderline atonal, Webern funk rock. And I mean that in a good way. It’s fantastic and one of my favorite tracks. And there’s jazz, too, hard bop organ improvisations throughout with a little soundtrack jazz spoofing thrown in. And of course, gospel and true classical make their appearances. Yes, a gospel exhortation sits comfortably with excerpts from Bartok’s 2nd String Quartet in The Inexhaustible Quest for the Cosmic Cabbage, my favorite album track. But I digress - back to the mystery.
The Amboy Duke’s track, Dr. Slingshot, has been a psychedelic puzzler since its inclusion on the Journey to the Center of the Mind album in 1968. Why? Well, it’s an excellent, psychedelic blues-pop song featuring plenty of Ted Nugent’s soaring guitar work. But the song has two separate sets of lyrics and vocal melodies, sung by two different singers in the band. That’s the mystery. Okay, there are certainly precedents for such in musical theater where multiple vocal melodies and lyrics are sung harmoniously within the same musical structure, as in Phantom of the Opera or West Side Story and tons of others. But Dr. Slingshot features two very different sets of lyrics, each with different melodies that don’t really mesh together. Instead, the separate sets of lyrics/melodies face off in a psychedelic boxing ring. In one corner of the stereo spectrum, we find guitarist and lyricist, Steve Farmer. He’s singing about the joys of pop music. In the other we have Andy Solomon, keyboardist and vocalist, singing an anti-drug song. Other than reflecting the 1968 zeitgeist, the two sets of lyrics have absolutely nothing in common. You can listen to Dr. Slingshot in stereo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UB_Kyy2N6w
Here's my guestimate of the lyrics sung by Steve Farmer. The lyrics applaud the pop bands of the day.
Seems that the Cream will never sour,
No other than Big Brother is still in power.
Pop music, is into your life, don’t let it out of your mind
You know the Who will keep you guessing,
Morrison of the Doors will keep undressing.
Yonder sits young Donovan our new preacher,
But the Hendrix Experience is the best teacher.
Pop music gets into your life, don’t let it out of your mind.
Hear the Blue Cheer as they sing their blues,
The King cut bait when they made front page news.
The Mothers sure aren’t lovers, but they’re fantastic,
And the Electric Flag’s got their own bag and it ain’t plastic.
Pop music is into your life, don’t let it out of your mind.
The comical line about Morrison was perhaps inspired by Morrison’s onstage arrest the year before. The mention of the King having to cut bait is possibly a reference to Elvis’ ‘68 comeback. There’s also a reference to the Jefferson Airplane’s Plastic Fantastic Lover in the lyrics about the Mothers and Electric Flag. I’ve created a Steve Farmer only version, so have a listen.
The other lyrics, sung by Andy, extol the virtues of love as the better choice over drugs. The listener is encouraged to find their own way in life and reject outside influences. Have a listen to the original mono mix featuring Andy, solely. Here are the lyrics sung by Andy:
I know, love is man’s best friend.
I know, I’ll prove it in the end.
Gotta... I’ve got to prove my point,
I don’t need this joint
Leave home, do as you please.
Say what you like, live more at ease.
Everyone has to search for themselves.
Reject the rest and put them on a shelf.
Gotta... I’ve got to prove my point,
I don’t need this joint.
You’ll see, it’s just a matter of time.
Before you find, more peace of mind.
All along, you knew you were right.
Today’s the day, you’ll see your love tonight.
Yes, I guess I made my point, without the help of no joint.
Doctor Slingshot shoots only stones!
Q. So, Andy, which was the “correct” set? Why are there two sets of lyrics?
A. I just listened to Dr. Slingshot for the first time in years and I don't remember much about the lyrics except that the song was a result of disagreement between Ted Nugent and Steve Farmer, of which there were many. Generally, Ted wrote his own songs, words and music, and Farmer did the same. Only occasionally did they collaborate like they did on Journey to the Center of the Mind (Ted's music, Farmer's lyrics). Ted wrote the riffs for Slingshot and Steve wrote some words for it but Ted didn't like them and wrote his own. It was after a long argument that the compromise was just to use both at the same time. When we did it live, we only did Ted's version which I sang. I don't remember anything about Farmer's motives for the song. Ted's version of course was simple anti-drugs which he is still to this day.
Q. Thanks Andy. That makes sense and likely explains why only your set of vocals is heard on the mono mix of the LP. (It would have been impossible to mix both sets to mono without complete chaos). Now that we’ve solved that mystery, let’s talk about that other track from that LP that everyone’s heard of, Why is a Carrot More Orange Than an Orange. (Okay, a little blog humor, there). I mean, Journey to the Center of the Mind. It must have been a thrill witnessing the record move up the charts. You both play piano and sing on the track. Was this the first time you heard yourself on the radio? What was that like?
A. Yes. I had recorded before with “The Apostles” in Ann Arbor but it never got air play. It was pretty exciting, especially as it climbed the charts.
Q. The Journey to the Center of the Mind LP remains popular after all these years. Sundazed just reissued the LP on blue vinyl. An alternate stereo mix was found and used. Jay Millar of Sundazed told me that “the original stereo is a bit more pronounced as it had really hard panning left and right and was sort of hollow sounding in the center. For the most part we believe it's the same recordings just mixed better.” Were you guys involved in the mixdown process for the Journey LP or was that left to the producer and engineer?
A. That album was mixed by the Mainstream producer. I don’t remember having much input. The producer was a veteran of the business but was new to “new” rock bands with guitars that sounded like Ted’s. He had spent years producing big names in jazz (Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington), blues (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee) and early rock (The Platters), among many others. We weren’t real happy with the production as I recall and insisted on doing it ourselves on the next album, “Migration”. He wasn’t real happy with that but he gave us permission anyway. For my part, you can hear the piano a lot better on “Migration” than on “Journey”.
Q. Let me move forward in time a year or two and discuss the Amboy Dukes fourth album, Marriage on the Rocks – Rock Bottom, released on Polydor in 1970. As I mentioned, this one’s a personal favorite. Many of the songs are quite complex. The LP seems like a real progression forward following Migration (also an outstanding album). Jazz and classical references abound side by side with hard funk rock. There are a lot of fun musical prizes throughout. (I put together a 3-minute collage taken from several tracks to give folks an idea.) Your keyboard work is prominent and excellent, throughout. Tell us about your musical background. Were you classically trained?
A. I learned to play saxophone from my father when I was 3 but gravitated to piano when in high school. I took lessons briefly but because it was my senior year of high school, I didn’t take it or anything else very seriously. It’s a shame in hindsight since my teacher was Bernard Peiffer. If you’re not familiar with him, look him up on YouTube. He was a phenomenon! When it was time for college, I went to U. of Michigan and majored in Music Composition. Academic music got pretty weird in the 1960s and that resulted pretty directly in “The Inexhaustible Quest for the Cosmic Cabbage”, a piece I wouldn’t do now but a pretty big undertaking at the time.
Q. Your organ playing has been compared to Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff and Joey De Francesco. Was jazz a big influence on your playing?
A. Jimmy Smith definitely.
Q. Did the band create and rehearse the Marriage on the Rocks songs prior to the recording sessions or did you create songs in the studio?
A. There may have been a few last minute calls but I don’t recall any. Generally everything was rehearsed until perfect – Ted was a task master that way. That was a good thing since it resulted in some pretty good stuff.
Q. The LP was produced by the band and Eddie Kramer of Hendrix and Led Leppelin fame. What was it like recording with him?
A. Eddie was great. A real expert. Even a gifted pianist and photographer as well as engineer and producer. “Cosmic Cabbage” wouldn’t have been possible without his expertise putting together multiple pieces of a complicated puzzle. And we got to work with an expert in how to record the “new” rock/guitar sounds. It was interesting to see Eddie and Ted work together. They had lots of respect for each other but you can’t have two egos like that in the same room without friction.
Q. Did you record at New York’s Record Plant? How long did it take to finish the LP?
A. I don’t even remember The Record Plant. I only remember the sessions at Electric Lady and they took about a month, I guess.
Q. By then, you had become the sole vocalist. Did you feel a lot of pressure from that? Did you take any particular steps to keep your voice in shape?
A. Not that I recall. I had been a lead singer in my previous band. I just sang and that’s what came out.
Q. There’s some excellent sax playing on the LP. Did you enjoy that opportunity?
A. Sure but one of the advantages of playing only Hammond organ on tour is that there was always somebody else responsible for moving my gear. I never liked having to carry a sax case around.
Q. Did you play many of the songs live following release of the LP? I would think that some, like the 3-part Marriage suite could be managed, but perhaps not the Inexhaustible Quest?
A. Most of Ted’s songs were on the regular play list. Certainly NOT “Cabbage”.
Q. And speaking of The Inexhaustible Quest for the Cosmic Cabbage, the song is credited to you and (I believe) your brother Robert Solomon. Did you enjoy writing with your brother?
A. I really didn’t write WITH Bob. Along with being a rather well-known academic (his philosophy books are used in Universities all over the world), he dabbled in poetry. I was never very good with lyrics so I just grabbed one of his poems and put it to music. I just wanted a musical composition that was new and unusual.
Q. The Inexhaustible Quest music is phenomenal throughout and truly unique. Some have compared it to Lumpy Gravy era Zappa, but there’s a lot more going on. In many ways it prefigures some of the later approaches of ELP and King Crimson. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua1N3oKRUAU
Was the track difficult to record?
A. Very. Rehearsed and recorded in pieces. And thanks for the Zappa and ELP references. Zappa was an early role model for me and probably not coincidentally, he became less and less weird over time just as I did. He started focusing more on his guitar playing as I recall and that’s what I did. Just play. As for ELP, Emerson was a much better technical keyboardist than I ever was.
Q. Are there any other Amboy Duke tracks from Marriage or from any of the LPs that you particularly enjoyed recording or playing live?
A. “Prodigal Man” was always the highlight of every show for me. That’s the song we all got to have extended solos. I was happy with the live album version.
Q. Do you have any funny or interesting anecdotes about any past recording sessions you’d like to share?
A. There’s probably a photo somewhere on the internet of the day Ted was unhappy after multiple takes for one of his solos so he stripped naked and recorded without clothes. Eddie Kramer always had a camera ready and took the picture. There was also the day when we were playing so hard that I pounded even more than usual on the studio Hammond B-3 and actually broke a key. I still have the broken piece.
Q. Post Amboy Dukes, did you continue to perform or record? Do you still play now?
A. I toured (very briefly) with Bob Seger before he became super famous and I played in various bar bands for several years. In Florida and Nashville, mainly, but it never was as satisfying so I stopped to have a family. One of the results of that is my daughter Rachel who’s a better player than I ever was. I’m real proud of that. Likewise, I'm equally proud of my younger daughter, Carrie, who is also an incredibly talented musician and songwriter.
Q. Do you listen to much music these days? What are a few of your favorite records from the past?
A. I don't listen to very much anymore; I absolutely never listen to music radio. Some favorite records: "Soul Man" (Sam & Dave), "Soul Vaccination" (Tower of Power), "Drown in My Own Tears" (Aretha Franklin). Non rock: "Kind of Blue" (Miles Davis and the best ensemble ever assembled) and "Rite of Spring" (Igor Stravinsky).
Q. Any final words to your fans?
A. Thanks to anyone who remembers me.
And thank you, Andy, for solving our psychedelic, vinyl mystery!
Andy circa 1970
Andy circa 2009
