Journey to the Center of the Mind (song)

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"Journey to the Center of the Mind"
Journey to the Center of the Mind.png
Single by the Amboy Dukes
from the album Journey to the Center of the Mind
B-side "Mississippi Murderer"
ReleasedJune 1968 (1968-06) [1]
Recorded1967
Genre
Length3:11
Label Mainstream
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Bob Shad
The Amboy Dukes singles chronology
"Baby, Please Don't Go"
(1968)		"Journey to the Center of the Mind"
(1968)		"You Talk Sunshine, I Breathe Fire"
(1968)

"Journey to the Center of the Mind" is a song released by the Amboy Dukes in June 1968. [1] It reached number 16 on the Billboard charts in 1968 [2] and number 19 in Canada. [3]

Contents

Original recording

"Journey to the Center of the Mind" featured a psychedelic rock, [4] garage rock, [5] hard rock [6] and acid rock sound. [7] The song features lyrics written by the Dukes' second guitarist Steve Farmer, [8] and melody written by Ted Nugent. [9] [10] The song was recorded with a higher budget than their past recordings. During the recording of the song there was a lot of tension amongst the band members, and a few of the members quit after the album was released. Released in the summer of 1968, the single helped define the psychedelic era as it peaked at # 16 on the Billboard charts. [11] [12]

Other versions

The song "Journey to the Center of the Mind" was covered by Slade (as "Ambrose Slade") in 1969 on the album Beginnings , by The Ramones in 1994 on Acid Eaters [13] and by Sun City Girls in 2001 on Libyan Dream. "Journey to the Center of the Mind" was included in the influential compilation album Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968 , on the 1998 CD reissue, as a bonus track.

Nugent remade the song on his 2007 album Love Grenade .

The lyrics of the song are generally thought to have references to drug use. [14] [15] [16] [17]

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The Amboy Dukes were an American rock band formed in 1964 in Chicago, Illinois, and later based in Detroit, Michigan. They are best known for their only hit single, "Journey to the Center of the Mind". The band's name comes from the title of a novel by Irving Shulman. In the UK, the group's records were released under the name of the American Amboy Dukes, because of the existence of a British group with the same name. The band went through a number of personnel changes during its active years, the only constant being lead guitarist and composer Ted Nugent. The band transitioned to being Nugent's backing band before he discontinued the name in 1975.

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References

  1. 1 2 Dean, Maury (2003). Rock and Roll. Algora. p. 337. ISBN   0875862071.
  2. ↑ A collective effort of many writers (29 April 2014). The World's Largest Collection of What You've Never Read, Thought, Heard, Imagined, Considered or Dreamed: How to Think in Your Right Brain OR Yes! Something for Everyone. AuthorHouse. pp. 36–. ISBN   978-1-4969-0462-1.
  3. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Singles - August 26, 1968" (PDF).
  4. ↑ Maury Dean (2003). Rock and Roll. Algora Publishing. p. 337. ISBN   978-0-87586-207-1.
  5. ↑ Mike McPadden (1 May 2012). If You Like Metallica...: Here Are Over 200 Bands, CDs, Movies, and Other Oddities That You Will Love. Backbeat Books. p. 31. ISBN   978-1-4768-1357-8.
  6. ↑ Swanson, Dave (30 April 2015). "How the Amboy Dukes Bridged Psychedelia and Hard Rock on 'Journey to the Center of the Mind'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  7. ↑ Ankeny, Jason. "The Amboy Dukes | Biography & History". AllMusic . Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  8. ↑ David A. Carson (2006). Grit, Noise, and Revolution: The Birth of Detroit Rock 'n' Roll. University of Michigan Press. pp. 144–. ISBN   0-472-03190-2.
  9. ↑ Maury Dean (2003). Rock and Roll. Algora Publishing. pp. 662–. ISBN   978-0-87586-207-1.
  10. ↑ Department of Music Theory The University of Michigan Walter Everett Associate Professor of Music and Chair (7 November 2008). The Foundations of Rock : From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes": From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". Oxford University Press. pp. 274–. ISBN   978-0-19-971870-2.
  11. ↑ MRRL Hall of Fame, "Amboy Dukes"
  12. ↑ Ken Goffman; Dan Joy (18 December 2007). Counterculture Through the Ages: From Abraham to Acid House. Random House Publishing Group. pp. 1271–. ISBN   978-0-307-41483-0.
  13. ↑ Everett True (17 May 2010). Hey Ho Let's Go: The Story Of The Ramones: The Story of The Ramones. Omnibus Press. pp. 468–. ISBN   978-0-85712-060-1.
  14. ↑ James Franklin Harris (January 1993). Philosophy at 33 1/3 Rpm: Themes of Classic Rock Music. Open Court Publishing. pp. 133–. ISBN   978-0-8126-9241-9.
  15. ↑ R. Serge Denisoff (1 January 1975). Solid Gold: The Popular Record Industry. Transaction Publishers. pp. 14–. ISBN   978-1-4128-3479-7.
  16. ↑ Nils I. Bateman; David M. Petersen (1971). Targets for Change: Perspectives on an Active Sociology . Xerox College Pub.
  17. ↑ CD Review. WGE Pub. 1993.
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