Jump to content

Bob Seger

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 71.138.143.220 (talk) at 20:22, 18 October 2007 (→Regional favorite: 1966-1976). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Bob Seger

Robert Clark Seger (born May 5, 1945) is a Rock and Roll singer, songwriter, and musician from Michigan.

After years of local Detroit-area success, recording and performing in the mid-1960s, Seger achieved superstar status by the mid-1970s and continuing through the 1980s with the Silver Bullet Band. A roots rocker with a classic raspy, shouting voice, Seger was first inspired by Little Richard and Elvis Presley. He wrote and recorded songs that dealt with blue-collar themes. Seger has recorded many rock and roll hits, including "Night Moves", "We've Got Tonight", "Like a Rock", and his iconic signature song "Old Time Rock and Roll", named one of the Songs of the Century in 2001. He also co-wrote the Eagles number one hit "Heartache Tonight." Though his last top 40 hit charted in 1991, Seger continues to perform and record today.

Seger was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

Biography

Early years

Bob Seger was born at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. He was raised in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn until age 6, when his family moved to the college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan. When Seger was 10 years old, his father left the family and moved to California. Seger attended Tappan Middle School and Ann Arbor High School (now Pioneer High School) in Ann Arbor, graduating in 1963.

Regional favorite: 1966-1976

Seger started his musical career in 1961 in Detroit as a member of The Decibels and there met his future manager and record producer, Punch Andrews. Seger returned to Ann Arbor where he played with The Town Cryers and then Doug Brown and the Omens. With them he released his first single in 1965, for the local Hideout Records label. In 1966 Seger sang on Doug Brown and the Omens' parody of Barry Sadler's song "Ballad of the Green Berets", titled "Ballad of the Yellow Beret", which mocked draft dodgers. Soon after its release Sadler and his record label threatened Brown and his band with a lawsuit and the recording was withdrawn from the market.

In 1966 Seger left Brown's group but retained him as a producer. As Bob Seger and the Last Heard, Seger had his first big Detroit hit with "East Side Story", which sold 50,000 copies, almost all in Detroit and leading to a deal with Cameo-Parkway Records. Another of Seger's biggest early hit singles in the Detroit area was "Heavy Music" in 1967, which sold even more copies and had potential to break out nationally except that Cameo-Parkway folded. Nevertheless, "Heavy Music" would stay in his live act for many years to come.

During these early Detroit years, Seger also acted as producer for the local band The Mushrooms. He became (and remained) friendly with the band's leader Glenn Frey, who would later become one of the founding members of the Eagles.

In 1968, Bob Seger signed with major label Capitol Records and formed The Bob Seger System. This group was essentially a Michigan proto-punk band not unlike the SRC or The Frost. Their first single was the anti-war message song "2+2=?", which reflected a marked change in Seger's political attitudes from "The Ballad of the Yellow Beret". The single was again a hit in Detroit, but went unnoticed almost everywhere else.

The second single from The Bob Seger System was "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man". Predictably it was a smash hit in Detroit, but it also became Seger's first nationally charted hit, peaking at #17. The song's success led to the release of an album in 1969, and the Ramblin' Gamblin' Man album reached #62 on the Billboard pop albums chart.

Seger was unable to follow up this early moderate success; the Seger System's follow-up album Noah failed to chart at all, leading Seger to briefly quit the music industry and attend college. Seger returned the following year, however, with the System's final album, 1970's Mongrel. In 1971, Seger released his first solo album, the all-acoustic Brand New Morning. This was done in order to fullfill his Capitol contract.

Seger's next few albums, released on Punch Andrews' Palladium label and distributed by Reprise Records, were stylistically erratic and appeared in the low 100s on the Billboard albums chart, if at all. These albums included Smokin' O.P.'s (1972), which featured a minor hit (#76 US) with a cover of Tim Hardin's "If I Were A Carpenter", and Back in '72 (1973) which featured a long list of known session musicians and work from J. J. Cale. It also has the studio version of Seger's live classic "Turn the Page" (later covered by Metallica). Seger maintained his regional appeal in Detroit, and had built a modest following in Florida (necessitating many drives back and forth), but to the general music world was regarded as a one-hit wonder.

In 1974 Seger formed the Silver Bullet Band and put out the album Seven, which contained the Detroit-area hard-rock hit "Get Out of Denver", a track that also charted at #80 nationally.

1975 brought forth the album Beautiful Loser, Seger's return to Capitol Records. The album's single "Katmandu" (in addition to being another substantial Detroit-area hit) was Seger's first real national break-out track since "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man". Although it just missed the US top 40, peaking at #43, the song received strong airplay in a number of markets nationwide, not just Detroit.

In April 1976 Seger and the Silver Bullet Band had an even bigger commercial breakthrough with the album Live Bullet, recorded over two nights in Detroit's Cobo Hall in September 1975. The album stayed on the Billboard charts for 168 weeks, peaking at #34, easily Seger's highest charting album to that time. It also contained Seger's hit rendition of Tina Turner's "Nutbush City Limits" (#69 US) as well as Seger's own classic take on life on the road, "Turn the Page", from Back in '72. It also harkened back to his late 1960's successes with both "Heavy Music" and "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" making appearances.

Critic Dave Marsh later wrote that "Live Bullet is one of the best live albums ever made ... In spots, particularly during the medley of 'Travelin' Man'/'Beautiful Loser', Seger sounds like a man with one last shot at the top." An instant best-seller in Detroit, Live Bullet quickly began to get attention in other parts of the country -- although perhaps not as quickly as Seger would have liked. In June 1976 he was a featured performer at the Pontiac Silverdome outside Detroit in front of nearly 80,000 fans. Yet three nights before in Chicago, Seger had played before 50 people in a bar.

National success: 1976-1987

Seger finally achieved his indisputable commercial breakthrough with his October 1976 album Night Moves. The title song "Night Moves" was a highly evocative, nostalgic, time-spanning tale that was not only critically praised, but became a #4 hit single on the Billboard pop singles chart as well as a heavy album-oriented rock airplay mainstay. The album also contained "Mainstreet", a #24 hit ballad that emphasized Seger's heartland rock credentials, as well as the AOR anthem "Rock and Roll Never Forgets". Night Moves was Seger's first Top 10 album in the Billboard 200, and through late 2006 had sold over 6 million copies in the U.S. Furthermore it activated sales of Seger's recent back catalog, so that Beautiful Loser would eventually sell 2 million and Live Bullet 5 million copies in the U.S.

Seger followed this up strongly with 1978's Stranger in Town. The first single, "Still the Same", emphasized Seger's talent for mid-tempo numbers that revealed a sense of purpose, and made the Top 5 on the pop singles chart. "Hollywood Nights" was an up-tempo rocker Top 15 hit, while "We've Got Tonight" was a slow us-against-the-world ballad that not only was a Top 15 hit on its own, but would become an adult contemporary mainstay in years to come for both Seger and other artists. The final single, 1979's "Old Time Rock & Roll", was the least successful single from the album, reaching only the Top 30, but achieved substantial AOR airplay. Moreover, it would later became one of Seger's most recognizable songs following its memorable Tom Cruise-dancing-in-his-underwear use in the 1983 film Risky Business. Album tracks from Stranger in Town were equally strong, with "Feel Like a Number" being especially memorable for its raging powerless fury. Around this time Seger also co-wrote the Eagles' #1 hit song "Heartache Tonight" from their 1979 album The Long Run, their collaboration resulting from Seger and Glenn Frey's early days together in Detroit.

In 1980 Seger released Against the Wind; it became his first and only #1 album on the Billboard 200. First single "Fire Lake" featured Eagles Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit, and Frey on backing vocals and reached #6 on the singles chart, while title song "Against the Wind" reached #5 as a single. "You'll Accomp'ny Me" became the third hit single from the record. Against the Wind would also win two Grammy Awards. Through late 2006 both Stranger in Town and Against the Wind had sold over 5 million copies in the U.S., and were followed by the 1981 live album Nine Tonight which encapsulated this three-album peak of Seger's commercial career. Seger's take on Eugene Williams' "Tryin' to Live My Life Without You" became a Top 5 hit from Nine Tonight, which would go on to sell 4 million copies.

Seger released The Distance in 1982. Critically praised for representing a tougher sound than some of his recent material, the album spawned hits with Rodney Crowell's "Shame on the Moon" (which also did moderately well as a country music song), "Even Now", and "Roll Me Away". But perhaps because Seger and his band were ill-equipped to exploit the new MTV era, Seger's album sales dropped noticeably, with The Distance only selling at the 1 million copies level. The following year country music superstar Kenny Rogers would team up with pop singer Sheena Easton to cover "We've Got Tonight". This version was a world wide hit and was so successful Rogers used it as the title cut to one of his own albums.

Seger was no longer as prolific and four years elapsed before his next studio album,1986's Like a Rock emerged. The fast-paced "American Storm" garnered both pop and rock airplay, and "Like a Rock" became yet another successful Seger ballad, later most familiar to many Americans through its association with a long-running Chevrolet ad campaign (something Seger explicitly chose to do to support struggling American automobile workers in Detroit). Seger's 1986-1987 American Storm Tour was his self-stated last major tour, playing 105 shows over 9 months and selling almost 1.5 million tickets. Like a Rock sold over a million copies and went platinum. The following year Seger's "Shakedown", a somewhat uncharacteristic song off the 1987 film Beverly Hills Cop II's soundtrack, became his first and only #1 hit on the pop singles chart.

Later years: 1988-present

Bob Seger on the cover of his first Greatest Hits album

Bob Seger's next record was 1991's The Fire Inside, at a time when glam metal, grunge and alternative rock were all taking the forefront. His new music found little visibility on radio or elsewhere. The same was true of 1995's It's a Mystery, however the album was certified Gold (500,000 copies sold). In between, however, his Greatest Hits compilation was a major success, achieving sales of over 8 million units through late 2006. Seger did go back on the road again for a 1996 tour, which was successful and sold the fourth-largest number of tickets of any North American tour that year.

In June 1997 Seger drove his automobile off the Trans-Canada Highway in Nipigon, Ontario. He was charged by Ontario police with drunk driving after crashing his car. [1]

Seger took a sabbatical from the music business for about ten years to spend time with his wife and two young children. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 2004; fellow Detroiter Kid Rock gave the induction speech, and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm proclaimed that date Bob Seger Day in his honor.[2]

Seger's first new album in 11 years, titled Face the Promise, was released on September 12, 2006. In its first 45 days, the album sold more than 400,000 copies, according to Soundscan. The album has sold over 1 million copies to date and stayed on the Billboard chart for months. His supporting tour has also been eagerly anticipated, with many shows selling out within minutes. Showing that Seger's legendary appeal in Michigan had not diminished, all 15,000 tickets available for his first show at Grand Rapids' Van Andel Arena sold out in under five minutes; three additional shows were subsequently added, each of which also sold out.[3]

In 2005 Seger was featured singing with 3 Doors Down on the song "Landing in London" from their Seventeen Days Album.

On October 21, 2006 Seger performed "America the Beautiful" at the first game of the 2006 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers.

Events in late March of 2007 suggested that Seger may move on from Capitol Records because those who had worked with him to this point are now gone from the label. The same press release also confirmed Seger's intention to release a live CD/DVD package chronicling his Face the Promise tour at some point in the fall. ).[citation needed]

Silver Bullet Band

The Silver Bullet Band was formed in 1974. Its original members were:

Seger himself does all lead vocals and plays guitar and piano.

In 1982 Abbott was replaced by Dawayne Bailey on guitar. Around 1977 Martin was replaced by Dave Teegarden on drums, who in 1983 was replaced by Don Brewer. In 1975 Mannassa was replaced by Robyn Robbins on keyboards, who in 1980 was replaced by Craig Frost.

Seger has almost always used session musicians, most notably The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, on his albums as well.

Discography

Main article: Bob Seger discography

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ [1] KOOL Week in Rock
  2. ^ [2] Michigan.gov
  3. ^ [3] mLive.com
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Bob_Seger&oldid=165482549"