There'll be more of an update later, but since today is officially Bob Seger day in Michigan, and that our man will be inducted to the rock and roll hall of fame,
Growing up around Detroit (the city proper, and Redford and then Livonia) that Seger WAS the definition of rock and roll. He played everywhere he could; including several high school graduation parties of my father's friends. He played dances my mom and dad attended and I'd be willing to bet that almost anyone my parents age has similar Seger anecdotes to share. Never pretenious, always humble and always rocking no less than 100%, Seger is the blueprint which few rockers are made by anymore.
I'd like to post this little tribute to one of Detroit's all time greatest rockers, courtesy of The Seger Files; which is the most comprehensive source of Seger stuff on the web.
He was born in Detroit.
His father was a bandleader and musician who worked in an auto plant to support his wife and two children.
He was the younger of two sons, and got less attention from his father.
When he was ten, his father abandoned the family completely, leaving for California, in search of success that he never achieved. The family moved to a one-room apartment.
The burden of supporting the family fell more heavily on the older son. The younger son stayed up late listening to a faraway radio station. On a transistor radio and an earplug, he heard James Brown, Garnett Mimms, Little Richard, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and others.
He liked James Brown more than the Beatles. His favorite album was James Brown Live at the Apollo, Volume 1.
He was a good student in high school and could run a 5:05 mile -- until he discovered rock and roll.
He began staying out all night with his friends, cars circled in a farmer's field, listening to music on the car radios.
He formed a band. The applause at the Junior Prom changed his life.
In 11th grade he was playing bars three nights a week.
The first song he wrote was titled, "The Lonely One."
In 1996 he played for nearly a million fans across the country.
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For ten years, he was a regional phenomenon.
By 1968, he had five Top Ten singles in the Detroit market. He was unheard of outside Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and a few other Midwest markets -- but in Detroit, his records outsold the Beatles.
He was on the verge of breaking the national charts in 1967 when the record company promoting his single went bankrupt.
The first major label to offer him a contract was Motown.
He broke the Top Forty with a single in 1968, then survived seven years without a successful record.
His work ethic became a local legend. He played 260 dates in 1975.
In the early '70s, he and his band drove 25 hours to Florida, played three straight nights, and then drove 25 hours back, because they couldn't afford motel rooms. He considered himself more a driver than a singer at the time.
His mother taught him never to go into debt.
In June 1976, he played in front 50 people in a Chicago bar. Three days later, he played in front of 76,000 devoted fans in the Pontiac Silverdome outside Detroit.
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For those of us under his spell, he posed the two greatest questions in rock 'n' roll: Doncha ever listen to the radio? and Do ya do ya wanna rock?
He wrote the first anti-war rock song of the Vietnam era.
He wrote about Lucy Blue, Chicago Green, Already Eddie and other characters long before Springsteen created Crazy Janey and her mission man.
His songs, he thinks, reflect a certain morality... "what happens when you do it wrong and when you do it right."
The characters in many of his songs don't find the satisfaction or fulfillment that they thought their dreams would hold. They end up "stuck in heaven," listening to the sound of something far away -- a bird on the wing, the sound of thunder. They think back on the promise of younger years, surprised at the passage of time. Only occasionally do they find renewal. More often, they try to make some moment last; they watch it slipping past. The light fades from the screen. They wake up alone. Next time, perhaps, they'll get it right.
Somehow, at the same time, his music manages to be incredibly life-affirming, celebratory and uplifting. Presto! Payday!
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He's recorded 19 albums spanning nearly 40 years.
He was greatly influenced by early advice from Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon, who said, "Do your best, 'cause it's only gonna last two or three years."
He's a perfectionist who spends months in the studio fixing problems no one else can hear. He's a Taurus and "you can't move him with a crane." Or, he lets people walk all over him.
He's had one Number 1 single and one Number 1 album.
He admires Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits and Joni Mitchell.
He believes his rock and roll savagery was tempered for many years by the need to produce mainstream records.
He has sold nearly 50 million albums.
One of his most heartfelt songs became the basis of one of the most successful ad campaigns in recent history.
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He has "a voice that inspires trust."
He "exudes the brawny vocal friendliness of an American Everyman, but with a deep and special connection to soul music."
He "has all the requisites of greatness: the voice, the songwriting, the performance onstage, the vision and the ambition."
He recorded ten consecutive million-selling albums between 1975 and 1995.
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He's been called the nicest rock star. Sometimes he feels like knocking you down, but he could never pull that scene.
In live performances, he displays "an embracing friendliness that transcends the normal barriers between rock performer and audience."
He played in front of 923,829 fans in 1996, making him the fourth most popular touring act of the year.
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He still lives in Michigan.
Brian McCollum actually gets it right (for once) with this article.
Rob's selected suggested listening:
Back in 72
Seven
Night Moves
Stranger in Town
Greatest Hits Volume 1