Stranglehold

Ted Nugent, 1975. Solo by Ted Nugent.

Eight minutes of Nugent's hollow-body swagger.

Nugent played this long solo in one take on a Gibson Byrdland, a thin hollowbody jazz guitar, through a Fender Twin. It was originally meant as a guide to show how the dynamics should rise and fall, but the take stuck and became the centrepiece. It unfolds slowly over Rob Grange's phased bass and the stalking riff, moving from sparse phrases to screaming bends and flurries as the band builds. Producer Tom Werman fed pieces of the playing back in time so the guitar seems to answer itself. Listen for the echoed phrases that answer the main lead; they create a duet out of one performance.

Stranglehold by Ted Nugent is ranked #68 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Ted Nugent and the song was released in 1975. It appears on 10 lists, placing as high as #1 (Top 40 Weekly).

The story of Stranglehold

The riff behind Stranglehold dates back to 1968. After an Amboy Dukes show at Detroit's Grande Ballroom, Ted Nugent went to a late-night jam in a church with drummer Steve 'Muruga' Booker and bassist John Sauter, and the lurching groove emerged there. Nugent has called it a mangled Bo Diddley lick with extra grind. He kept it alive over the following years as an encore jam with the Amboy Dukes.

When Nugent launched his solo career on Epic in 1975, he assembled a new band with singer and guitarist Derek St. Holmes, bassist Rob Grange and drummer Cliff Davies, and cut his self-titled debut at The Sound Pit in Atlanta with producers Tom Werman and Lew Futterman. Stranglehold was chosen as the album's opening track, even though it ran well over eight minutes. Nugent later conceded that Grange helped write it but never shared in the credit.

Epic was not convinced at first. Executives saw a long jam without a proper chorus rather than a song, and Nugent had to argue for it, pointing to how audiences responded when the band played it live. He later described the song as an angry salute to industry doubters. The band recorded it in a single take, and Werman added studio touches, echoing Nugent's lines back in time to create call-and-response duets and sweeping backwards cymbals across the stereo field.

Released in September 1975, the Ted Nugent album reached No. 28 on the Billboard 200 and eventually went double platinum in the US. Stranglehold was never issued as a single, yet it became the track most associated with Nugent. St. Holmes sang lead on the recording, which later became a sore point; Nugent eventually took over the vocals himself in concert.

The solo

The long solo was played in one take on Nugent's Gibson Byrdland, a thin hollowbody jazz guitar, plugged into a Fender Twin amplifier that he has called the holy grail of his tone. Nugent has said the solo was originally meant only as a guide to show how the dynamics should rise and fall, but the take stuck and became the song's centerpiece. It unfolds slowly over Grange's phased bass and the stalking riff, moving from sparse phrases to screaming bends and flurries as the band builds. Tom Werman's contribution was to capture pieces of Nugent's playing and feed them back in time, so the guitar seems to answer itself in duet and echo, an approach that initially made Nugent wary. Guitar World ranked it No. 31 among the greatest guitar solos.

Legacy

Stranglehold is widely regarded as Nugent's signature song despite never being a single. Loudwire called it exactly that, and Ultimate Classic Rock ranked it his best song and No. 24 among all classic rock songs, praising its stuttering, funky riff. Guitar World placed its solo at No. 31 of all time. It became a sports anthem, used as the Chicago Blackhawks' entrance music and by many baseball players, and it has turned up in films including Dazed and Confused and Superbad.

Top 10 facts about Stranglehold

The riff first emerged in a 1968 church jam after an Amboy Dukes show at Detroit's Grande Ballroom.
Blabbermouth
Nugent has described the main riff as a roughed-up take on a Bo Diddley lick.
Wikipedia
Epic Records initially balked because the track had no traditional chorus and sounded like a jam.
Wikipedia
The solo was played on Nugent's Gibson Byrdland through a Fender Twin and was recorded in one take.
Blabbermouth
Producer Tom Werman used tape-slap echoes to create duets with Nugent's guitar and added backwards cymbals panned across the mix.
Songfacts
Nugent later admitted that bassist Rob Grange co-wrote the song but received no share of the credit or royalties.
Wikipedia
Derek St. Holmes sang lead on the studio recording, though Nugent later took over the vocals himself.
Songfacts
The debut album was recorded at The Sound Pit in Atlanta and went double platinum in the US.
Wikipedia
Nugent has said he cannot bear to listen to the Double Live Gonzo! version, which he considers too slow and out of tune.
Wikipedia
Pearl Jam covered the song in Baltimore in September 2024 with altered lyrics, drawing public criticism from Nugent.
Wikipedia

Live versions

Encore jams with The Amboy Dukes Before the studio version existed, Nugent developed the song as an encore with his earlier band.
Double Live Gonzo! (Springfield Civic Center) (1978) An 11-minute version recorded June 10, 1977; the album reached No. 13, though Nugent dislikes it.
Live at Hammersmith '79 (1997) Recorded at a sold-out 1979 Hammersmith Odeon show, paired with Smokescreen in a ten-minute medley.

Notable covers

Marq Torien / BulletBoys (2001) Recorded for a Ted Nugent tribute album.
Cross Canadian Ragweed (2004) Studio version on the band's album Soul Gravy.
Ministry (2010) Industrial metal version included on the compilation Every Day Is Halloween.
Pearl Jam (2024) Live cover in Baltimore with anti-gun lyric changes.

In our lists

Deep Cuts — #33
One and Only — #7
The 25 Greatest Hard Rock Guitar Solos — #12
Epic-Length Solos — #15

Sources

Who played the guitar solo on Stranglehold?

Ted Nugent played the solo on Ted Nugent's Stranglehold (1975).

What guitar was used on the Stranglehold solo?

A gibson byrdland through a Fender Twin amp, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Stranglehold rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#68 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 10 of them.

Who sings Stranglehold by Ted Nugent?

Derek St. Holmes sang lead vocals on the 1975 studio recording; Nugent later sang it himself live.

Who wrote Stranglehold?

It is credited to Ted Nugent, though he has acknowledged that bassist Rob Grange co-wrote it without receiving credit.

What guitar did Ted Nugent use on Stranglehold?

He played a Gibson Byrdland hollowbody through a Fender Twin amplifier.

Was Stranglehold a single?

No. It was never released as a single, yet it became Nugent's best-known song.

How long is Stranglehold?

The album version runs about eight and a half minutes, and it opens Nugent's 1975 debut album.