Bob Seger Bob Seger is living the life depicted in his biggest hit, "Old Time Rock & Roll." Though the face of rock music has changed throughout the years, Seger and his music haven't; He is still in tune with the blues and soul he's been playing for forty years. People who have grown up listening to his music might assume it was always easy for him, but he's actually worked quite hard, not always succeeding, similar to many of the subjects of his songs.
Born May 6, 1945, in Detroit, Michigan, Seger is the son of a musician who spent his days in an automobile plant in order to support his family. But when his children were still young, he left the family, heading for California. Seger's mother moved herself and her two children into a one room apartment. Seger was a good student and athlete at that time, and while he was just a junior in high school, he was already in his first band playing three gigs a week.
After playing with a few different bands in Detroit and Ann Arbor, Seger recorded a single, a draft dodger parody called "Ballad of the Yellow Berets," with Doug Brown and the Omens. He then formed a new band, Bob Seger and the Last Heard, and he had his first two hits in Detroit, "East Side Story" and "Heavy Music." Just when it seemed his success could take him national, his record company folded. As an up-and-coming rock-and-roller, he formed a friendship with another, Glenn Frey.
Seger formed another band in 1968 called Bob Seger and the System, and they had a hit with the song "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man," which made it to #17 on the Billboard charts. Another of their songs was one of the first anti-war tunes out, "2+2=?." After this quick success, the band failed to go anywhere and Seger left the music business, enrolling in college for one year. Having a go at the music business again, he released an album, Back in '72, and while he had some success, it didn't equal his previous attempts.
Forming yet another band, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, he finally found the success he had worked so long for, with the album Beautiful Loser, and the hit "Katmandu," a song about escaping life. The band followed this with Live Bullet, which included a remake of Tina Turner's classic "Nutbush City Limits." Critics said it was possibly the best live album ever made. As a show of the disparateness in his career, one night he played for a group of fifty people in a bar, and three nights later for a crowd in the Pontiac Silverdome.
Continuing the success, Seger and his band released the album Night Moves, with a title track about reminiscing of teenage years and fumbling romantically. The album was the first to hit the top ten for Seger and also included the song "Rock & Roll Never Forgets," somewhat ironic for a man who left music for a short time out of frustration, but was welcomed back. In 1978, the band's next album had several hits, among them "Hollywood Nights;" "We've Got Tonight," which was later covered by Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton; and "Old Time Rock & Roll." The latter is more known as the theme song for teenagers seeking freedom from their parents, after Tom Cruise danced to it in his underwear in Risky Business.
A talented writer in his own right, penning many of his own songs, Seger co-wrote "Heartache Tonight" for his old buddy, Glenn Frey, and his band The Eagles. Frey repaid the favor by bringing along fellow Eagle Don Henley, and providing backup for Seger on "Fire Lake" from the album Against the Wind. The album, which also included a hit in the title track and "You'll Accomp'ny Me" won two Grammy awards. Throughout the early 80s, the success continued, with hits "Tryin' to Live My Life Without You" and "Shame on the Moon," but after this, he faltered and failed to come up with top ten hits for quite awhile.
One of Seger's later attempts, "Like a Rock," became such a huge hit, that the car company, Chevrolet, approached him about using it for their advertising. He allowed it, bringing his music back to where it all started, helping out the families of auto workers who were struggling in Detroit. Another song from that era, "Shakedown," became a hit when it was used in the soundtrack of Beverly Hills Cop II, starring Eddie Murphy.
After the only album that did well in the early 90s was a greatest hits album, Seger took another sabbatical from the world of music. This time he took a ten year break to spend time with his second wife, Juanita Dorricott, and their two children. During this period, his music was honored as he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with a speech delivered by another Detroit musician, Kid Rock. Seger then came out of his early retirement, releasing his first album besides his greatest hits album, in eleven years, Face the Promise.
No matter what success Seger has from this point forward, he will always remain an icon, playing rock and roll that we can connect to, as he sings about working hard and never quite finding all there is to find. YUDDY |
