Bob Seger

Bob Seger’s huge 1976 hit, “Night Moves,” a heartfelt, moving, rock ballad was my first exposure to his music. I might have read about him before, perhaps in Hit Parader  magazine, but knew very little of him before his purple patch of late Seventies hits, establishing him as a gruff, ‘authentic’ rocker with a sentimental streak. Later, I read bits of his history as Detroit rocker, struggling and hustling as a local legend, until he formed the Silver Bullet Band, released a live album and made his breakthrough with  chart topping tunes like “Night Moves.” 

 

It was the typical American success story of an artist who remains true to himself and his vision of his art, struggling all the time and never giving up, making only the most minor of compromises, initially out on his own, despite a local following, out of step with the mainstream until the mainstream comes into step with him, after which he reaps the rich rewards.

 

At the time, I wasn’t interested in buying any of the contemporary releases because the radio hits suggested to me that I wouldn’t actually appreciate his brand of heartland rock because I thought he’d mellowed out and that the ballad was his strong suit now that he was older. In terms of heartland rock and roll, I preferred John Mellencamp.

Somewhere along the way, in the Eighties, I found, Smokin’ OP’s, his 1972 collection of cover versions (except for a re-recording of a Detroit hit “Heavy Music”) in a bargain bin somewhere. I’d read enough of his history by then to suspect that this record would be filed under his pre-“Night Moves” rock oeuvre, and that it might be worth investigating. The price was right, too.

 

Smokin’ OP’s is a delightful mix of up-tempo rocker and slow, reflective songs – the archetypical tough guy with a sweet, tender side – and hugely enjoyable to listen to. It’s what the Americans like to call rock and roll, as opposed to, say, heavy metal, or pop rock, with a band of professionals that have been around the block a few times and whose musical DNA contains strands of blues, funk, soul, pop, rock, country, and whatever other strains of indigenous popular music there is in the USA.

 

The rockers were familiar to me and only the slower songs like “If I Were a Carpenter.” “Hummin’ Bird” and “Someday” were previously unknown, so it’s a bit like the proverbial bar band being the human jukebox.

 

During the Nineties, I found a bargain bin copy of Live Bullet (1976), recorded in Detroit  with the Silver Bullet Band and  a neat summary of Seger’s best songs prior to the breakout success of “Night Moves” and its eponymous album. I’d read about it before and saw it hailed as allegedly one of the best live rock albums of all times.

 

Live Bullet is an excellent record of a high energy home town gig before adoring fans, with the can’t fail mix of slow songs and fast rockers.

 

“Bo Diddley,” “Heavy Music” and “Let It Rock” are reprised from Smokin’ OP’s and the other tunes represent the various stages of Seger’s recording career before his commercial breakthrough and is a insightful picture into music made by an artist who aspires to greater things than local success but who could achieve that larger success only by smoothing out his edges and adding superior production values to the recordings.

 

I’ve never added to this small collection of Seger music and, other than the albums preceding Night Moves, I never will. The later, more sophisticated chart rock sounds are not 100% my taste although I’ve always liked the radio hits, and with this kind of musician my interest will always be piqued far more by the earlier work, when he was still finding his way and commercial pressures, or imperative, did not inform his music. I prefer raw over smooth; rough over sophisticated; loud, fast, over mellow and reflective.