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In Part 1 of this interview series with Ted Nugent, we discussed his hit with The Amboy Dukes “Journey To The Center Of The Mind,” his strict life-long abstinence from drugs and alcohol and his peculiar omission from the Rock & Roll Hall Fame. Here, in Part 2, Nugent explains how he came up with the guitar riffs and lyrics in the hits “Stranglehold” and “Cat Scratch Fever,” and who he thinks the best rock guitarists are. Following are edited excerpts from a longer phone conversation.

Jim Clash: The guitar riff and lyrics to “Stranglehold” is the stuff of legend. How did that tune come to be?

Ted Nugent: I had already been bastardizing traditional Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley lines. Bo’s are the first songs every guitar player learns, the chica-chica between the actual chords. My right hand goes a million miles an hour when I play those licks.

So I got with [drummer] Steve [Booker] and plugged in my amplifier. The Byrdland is a hollow-body, hand-carved spruce jazz guitar. With just minimal volume, and if you stand in the right position in front of the amp, you can control how much feedback you get. Talk about musical adventure. So I just played a riff and saw Steve’s and John’s [Sauter’s] eyes light up. John then came in with a really unique open pedal-tone A-string to my guitar line.