Music
Steve Farmer
1948–2020 · guitarist, songwriter, lyricist
Detroit-born guitarist of the Amboy Dukes who wrote the lyrics of the 1968 psychedelic hit “Journey to the Center of the Mind” with Ted Nugent.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
aged 71- Birth name
- Steven Orville Farmer
- Detroit years
- 1948–1970s
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Steve Farmer grew up in Detroit and became rhythm guitarist and chief lyricist of the Amboy Dukes, the band Ted Nugent led through the city's teen clubs and ballrooms in the late 1960s. Farmer wrote the words to “Journey to the Center of the Mind,” co-written with Nugent, which reached No. 16 nationally in 1968 and became a signature song of American psychedelia. He co-wrote with Nugent or wrote alone 22 songs on the Amboy Dukes' first three albums, which mixed garage rock, blues and psychedelic experiment. After leaving the band he continued to write and record on his own. In April 2009 the original Amboy Dukes lineup reunited on stage for the first time in thirty years at the Detroit Music Awards at the Fillmore Detroit, with Farmer alongside Nugent.
Highlights
- Wrote the lyrics of “Journey to the Center of the Mind” (No. 16, 1968)
- 22 songs on the first three Amboy Dukes albums
- Amboy Dukes reunion at the 2009 Detroit Music Awards
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 2009
The Fillmore Detroit
The original Amboy Dukes reunited here at the 18th Detroit Music Awards on April 17, 2009.