“Who doesn't want to hear the recording of Ted Nugent and Eddie Van Halen jamming?” Ted Nugent's colossal archive includes sessions with EVH, Billy Gibbons and the Mothers of Invention

Left- Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen performs on stage at Concord Pavilion on July 9, 2015 in Concord, California; Center-Ted Nugent performs at DTE Energy Music Theater on August 31, 2019 in Clarkston, Michigan; Right-Billy Gibbons of Billy F. Gibbons and the BFG's performs at Blue Note Hawaii on January 17, 2025 in Honolulu, Hawaii
(Image credit: (L-R): C Flanigan/WireImage; Scott Legato/Getty Images; Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

Ted Nugent's decades-spanning career has now been encapsulated in his latest project: an archive (or, as he dubbed it, the “Nuge Vault”) which includes some pretty historic material from Nugent and his rock ‘n’ roll contemporaries.

The newly-available Nuge Vault promises to offer members access to “never-before-seen or heard concert footage, archival audio, and much more.” As Nugent shared with Sirius XM's Eddie Trunk, recovering this material was no mean feat considering the guitarist has been active since the ’60s – or, as he succinctly puts it, “a pain in the ass.”

“When Jason [Hartless, Nugent’s drummer] and I were rehearsing for the Adios Mofo tour with Johnny [Schoen, bassist], we were in my big barn in Michigan and there's just walls and acres – literally acres – of boxes and crates and big giant piles of tapes and videos and CDs and cassettes and stacks of photos and, and rehearsals and jam sessions,” he explains.

“And I had kind of walked past it every day as I do in my daily life, but Jason stopped and looked at it and started digging into these boxes.”

It was thanks to Hartless that Nugent decided to take on such a colossal project, with the two working together to go through each and every recording – a process that ended up unearthing a lot of memories for the guitarist.

“When Jason started digging into these boxes, his eyes bugged out,” he continues. “Because who doesn't want to hear the recording of Ted Nugent and Eddie Van Halen backstage in California jamming? Or with Billy Gibbons and so many amazing things that have taken place?”

Another hidden gem? A “jam session with the Mothers of Invention at the Fifth Dimension in Ann Arbor in 1967.”

“When he shows me this stuff, I get teary-eyed,” Nugent confesses, as he reiterates his gratitude for Hartless' dedication to the project. “I go, God, I remember that. Hanging out with these guys backstage. What a lucky, lucky life. And it's all chronicled.”

Last year, Nugent gave his hot take on top guitarists lists, sharing that he thinks Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck are overrated – and who he believes deserves more recognition.

Janelle Borg

Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology, and how this is shaping the future of the music industry. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Dream Wife, K.Flay, Yīn Yīn, and Black Honey, among others. When she's not writing, you'll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her art-rock/psych-punk band ĠENN.

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