Bob Seger, The #30 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Two

 

(Continued from Part One)

  

In 1976, Seger and the Silver Bullet Band released the incredible album Night Moves.  After recording songs at the famous Muscle Shoals Studio in Alabama and Pampa Studio on Detroit, Bob felt he needed one more song for the album. 

He had been working hard on one particular song that producer Jack Richardson brought guitarist Joe Miquelon and organist Doug Riley to play on.  Laurel Ward, Rhonda Silver and Sharon Dee Williams, a trio from Montreal who was in town at the time, provided the memorable backing vocals.

"Night Moves" is somewhat autobiographical, though Bob took some artistic license with it.  It was the song which finally allowed him to break through after 15 years of trying, rising to #4.

 

The street Seger was singing about here is Ann Street, just off Main Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan where Bob grew up.   There was a pool hall in the club with girls dancing in the window and R&B bands playing on weekends.  Seger told Gary Graff of the Detroit Free Press:

     Again, that's going back to the "Night Moves" 

     situation where I was writing about my high school 

     years in Ann Arbor and what it was like--the 

     discovery, the total naivete and fresh-faced 

     openness that I went through.  It was sort of an 

     entire awakening of my life; before that I was kind

     of a quiet, lonesome kid. 

"Mainstreet" topped the Canadian chart, but when it peaked at #24 in the United States, came one of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.  Seger has many in that category.

 

Bob wrote this song after hearing that many of his friends were going to high school reunions.  Bob himself was 31 at the time, hence the line "Now sweet 16's turned 31."  He wanted to write a song that middle-aged people could relate to that would help them remember the good times of their youth.  "Rock And Roll Never Forgets" peaked at #41, but did much better than that at most radio stations.

 

As music fans bought the album, they discovered great tracks in addition to the singles, a common theme in Seger albums.  In "The Fire Down Below", Bob dealt with sex in his lyrics, something uncommon for him.  The narrator notes how people from all walks of life are looking for the same sense of satisfaction.

Bob achieved the effect he wanted in the song by drawing on inspiration from Frankie Miller and the original incarnation of Fleetwood Mac.  "I was a big fan of Frankie Miller," Seger told the website Ultimate Classic Rock.  "Vocally, I was probably inspired by Frankie; but band-wise I think it was inspired by 'Rattlesnake Shake' by Fleetwood Mac.  I always loved that song."

 

Bob wrote "Sunburst" after opening for KISS on tour.  Like nearly all the songs on Night Moves, it is Classic Rock at its finest.

 "Sunspot Baby" is another solid song.

 "Come To Poppa" is one of two songs on the album not written by Seger.  Willie Mitchell and Earl Randle combined to write the song, first recorded by Ann Peebles in 1975.

Bob included old time Rock & Roll (for which he'd later write about) in spades on Night Moves.  Here is another example of his exemplary work on the album--"Mary Lou".

 

"Ship Of Fools" is a great example of the masterful poet that Bob is.  Throw in the mystique and melody and you have another outstanding track.

Night Moves has now sold over six million copies in the United States alone.  This also generated interest in Seger's catalog, propelling Beautiful Loser to Double Platinum and Live Bullet to sales of five million copies.

Join us for Part Three of Bob Seger!