Marriage on the Rocks/Rock Bottom

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.

Marriage on the Rocks/Rock Bottom
Studio album by The Amboy Dukes
Released	March 1970
Genre	Blues rock, hard rock, psychedelic rock
Length	45:26
Label	Polydor
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)

Production

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

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
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

All tracks composed by Ted Nugent, except where indicated.

Side A

No.	Title	Length
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.	Title	Writer(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

• Ted Nugent – guitar, lead vocals on A4
• Andy Solomon – keyboards, lead vocals, saxophone
• Greg Arama – bass
• Dave Palmer – drums