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Marriage on the Rocks/Rock Bottom

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Marriage on the Rocks/Rock Bottom
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 1970
Length45:26
LabelPolydor
Producer
  • Edwin H. Kramer
  • Amboy Dukes
The Amboy Dukes chronology
Migration
(1969)
Marriage on the Rocks/Rock Bottom
(1970)
Survival of the Fittest Live
(1971)

Marriage on the Rocks/Rock Bottom is the fourth album by American rock band The Amboy Dukes, released in 1970. It is the first of two albums released on the Polydor label, which saw the band experiencing creative differences in regards to their musical direction, resulting in a more experimental album than their previous releases.

Production

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During the recording of the Amboy Dukes' albums for Polydor Records, the band experienced creative differences in regards to their musical direction.[1] During this album's recording sessions, drummer Dave Palmer left the group to become a recording engineer.[2]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]

AllMusic wrote, "Amboy Dukes' Marriage on the Rocks/Rock Bottom is a very musical record, more experimental than their releases on Mainstream Records".[3] The website compared the band's recordings on Polydor to the band Ten Years After[3] and said that "Marriage/Part 1: Man/Part 2: Woman/Part 3: Music" sounded like the band Jethro Tull, calling it a progressive blues song.[3] The album's songs are longer and more reliant on improvisation, with AllMusic noting that "Breast Fed Gator (Bait)" is one of the only songs that could have been released as a single, due to its shorter length compared to the rest of the album.[3] AllMusic called "Children of the Woods" "workable British pop".[3] AllMusic compared "The Inexhaustible Quest for Cosmic Cabbage", which quotes Béla Bartók's "String quartet no. 2",[4] to the Beach Boys, Spirit and Ten Wheel Drive, and said that it sounded like the Amboy Dukes hoped "to be the Mothers of Invention".[3]

Track listing

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All tracks composed by Ted Nugent, except where indicated.

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Marriage (Part 1: Man. Part 2: Woman. Part 3: Music)"9:02
2."Breast-Fed 'Gator (Bait)"2:52
3."Get Yer Guns"4:23
4."Non-Conformist Wilderbeastman"1:25
5."Today's Lesson (Ladies & Gentlemen)"5:30
Total length:24:04
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Children of the Woods" 8:27
7."Brain Games of Yesteryear" 3:42
8."The Inexhaustible Quest for the Cosmic Cabbage" (Includes excerpts from Bartók's "String quartet no. 2"[4])
  • Andy Solomon
  • Robert C. Solomon
10:05
Total length:23:12

Personnel

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  • Ted Nugent – guitar, vocals
  • Andy Solomon – keyboards, vocals, saxophone
  • Greg Arama – bass
  • Dave Palmer – drums

References

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  1. ^ Hoffman, Frank (May 23, 2016). Chronology of American Popular Music, 1900-2000. Taylor & Francis. p. 375. ISBN 978-1135868864.
  2. ^ Matheu, Robert; Bowe, Brian J. (November 2007). CREEM: America's Only Rock 'N' Roll Magazine. HarperCollins. p. 31. ISBN 978-0061374562.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Viglione, Joe. "Marriage on the Rocks/Rock Bottom Review". AllMusic. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Duxbury, Janell R. (February 5, 2001). Rockin' the Classics and Classicizin' the Rock: A Selectively Annotated Discography: Second Supplement. Xlibris. p. 28. ISBN 1462807364.