After ten years spent poised to be the next big thing, in 1976 Bob Seger suddenly became an overnight sensation.
The dynamic live set ‘Live Bullet‘ (his road band known as ‘the Silver Bullet Band’) and stellar studio follow up ‘Night Moves‘ enjoyed huge commercial success and were greeted warmly by the critics, Seger finally attaining the widespread popularity that had often seemed destined to elude him.
His mid-60s debut single ‘Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man, (a hit in his native Detroit, but hardly anywhere else) was a fabulous slice of power-packed R&B that sounded like Creedence Clearwater Revival a few months before they did.
With a run of fine but ignored albums, Seger, through his powerful voice, presented mostly self-written Rolling Stones/Van Morrison styled material in an attractive manner. Operating in a high esteem/low sales vacuum, he was considered by many the foremost rock talent in the wilderness.
But by the end of 1976 all that had changed. ‘Live Bullet‘ contained memorable renditions of excellent songs from the previously overlooked stage of his career, while ‘Night Moves‘ was a mature, hard to dislike collection – the superb title-track built around a wistful, contemplative lyric perfectly capturing that moment when innocence succumbs to experience.
His status as a purveyor of intelligent, engaging and now successful mainstream rock, enabled Seger to take a breath before delivering his next album, although recording plans for what would eventually become ‘STRANGER IN TOWN‘ (May 1978) suffered a set-back when Silver Bullet drummer Charlie Martin was seriously injured in a 1977 road accident – his powerhouse drumming a notable feature of ‘Live Bullet.’
Martin sadly was left unable to walk due to injuries he sustained and Seger, forced to recruit a replacement, turned to Dave Teegarden with whom he was acquainted from sessions that yielded his 1972 ‘Smokin’ O.P.’s‘ album.
In keeping with his two previous studio offerings Seger recorded with both the Silver Bullet Band and The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, the latter winning out five to four over the nine-track piece. He called upon old friend Glenn Frey for the guitar solos on ‘Till It Shines‘ – their friendship stretching back to 60s Detroit when Frey played and sang on ‘Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man‘. The Eagles founder-member also brought along guitarist Don Felder, who can be heard to good effect on ‘Ain’t Got No Money.’
The guest roster also included Little Feat keyboard-virtuoso Bill Payne and making their, by now, usual appearance on a Seger album were female backing vocalists Venetta Fields, Clydie King and Shirley Matthews, who flesh out ‘Still The Same’ and ‘We’ve Got Tonight,’ while Waters siblings, Julia, Maxine, Luther and Oren do likewise on ‘Hollywood Nights,’ ‘Still The Same‘ and ‘Brave Strangers.’
The flamboyant piano pounding of Payne and propulsive drumming by Teegarden are immediately to the fore when ‘Hollywood Nights‘ kicks off this generally impressive LP. Some have likened it to Rod Stewart singing a Bruce Springsteen song, but this does Seger, an accomplished writer and excellent singer in his own right, a huge disservice.
Infusing his compositions with credible characters in believable scenarios – this one centred on a ‘Midwestern boy on his own‘ struggling beneath the lights of LA – such are the narratives in Seger’s finest songs, of which ‘Hollywood Nights‘ is one, it does not require a great leap in imagination to see actor Jeff Bridges in the leading role.
Over the blend of piano and acoustic guitar he was beginning to trademark, on ‘Still The Same‘ Seger watches a friend living a life based on risk and chance – the observations, made through the prism of a card game, with references to ‘bets‘, ‘cards,’ bluff‘ and ‘a gambler’s share.’ At just over three minutes it refuses to outstay its welcome and boasting a catchy chorus enhanced by strident background vocals, the suitability of this mid-tempo ballad as a single was underlined when it rose to number four on the US charts.
The first of two cover versions is ‘Old Time Rock & Roll‘ a song evoking where popular music in its current form had come from. Seger apparently wrote some unaccredited lines to a track composed by George Jackson and Thomas Earl Jones, reluctance to have his name added to the credits reportedly costing him a fortune down the years as it frequently turned up in films – most notably the 1983 Tom Cruise vehicle ‘Risky Business.’
While it would be easy to dismiss the song as harmless Stones-like bluster, the line ‘Don’t try to take me to a disco, you’ll never even get me out on the floor,’ had present day overtones given the success of songs from the ‘Saturday Night Fever‘ soundtrack that were filling dance floors across the world – Seger creating a radio-friendly rock song that even now, despite its familiarity, would not prompt a change of channel.
Of the two other fast-paced tracks, side two contains a fiery cover of ‘Ain’t Got No Money,’ a Frankie Miller composition almost interchangeable with Seger’s own ‘Fire Down Below‘ from ‘Night Moves.‘ Felder leads the Muscle Shoals session stalwarts through a rousing take, the Silver Bullet Band having already shown they can dish it out with the best on side one closer ‘Feel Like A Number.’
Boasting a sharp lyric describing the struggle to retain individuality in the face of bureaucracy, Seger makes his stand over a surging melody encompassing frenetic piano, taut guitar lines and rolling drums.
By omitting Silver Bullet sax player Tommy Cartmell (aka Alto Reed), from the mix, the song is prevented from becoming a Springsteen pastiche, Seger sounding utterly convincing in the role of ordinary, put-upon Joe – the album title taken from the ‘feel like a stranger‘ line contained therein.
Between the high energy workouts and more restrained performances fall ‘Till It Shines,’ the Muscle Shoals once more in redoubtable form as Seger considers the vagaries of life, (‘take the chip off my shoulder, smooth out all the lines)‘ in between some excellent guitar work from Frey – while ‘Brave Strangers‘ is a piano-based variation on themes explored in ‘Night Moves‘ although with slightly less depth, the Silver Bullet Band nevertheless acquitting themselves well.
The Muscle Shoals also do Seger proud on the second side ballads ‘We’ve Got Tonight‘ and ‘The Famous Final Scene.’
The former is a superb exercise in piano balladry that depicts a fleeting liaison, based not on convenience but staving off mutual loneliness. The words are sincere and hugely moving, Seger delivering a superbly pitched vocal that finds just the right mix of assurance and hesitancy.
‘I’ve longed for love like everyone else does, I know I’ll keep searching even after today.’
Such is the emotional gravitas of ‘We’ve Got Tonight‘ it has developed a life beyond Seger in attracting scores of cover versions, remaining a prime example of the simple, yet affecting honesty he was infusing his songs with at this time.
Of only slightly less resonance ‘The Famous Final Scene‘ is a somewhat downbeat note on which to close, both parties in the drama realising their love affair (‘Now the lines have all been read and you knew them all by heart‘) is doomed to failure – the sad ambience reflected in the expressive guitar breaks of Muscle Shoal maestro Pete Carr.
Given the agreeable balance of earthy rockers and poignant ballads, from which ‘Hollywood Nights,’ ‘Still The Same‘ and ‘We’ve Got Tonight‘ emerge as truly superb songs, ‘Stranger in Town‘ could not fail to enhance Seger’s reputation as both composer and performer. The immediacy of ‘Hollywood Nights‘ as it became a worldwide hit single brought on board another legion of Seger converts, reflected in gargantuan US sales of the album and overdue UK breakthrough.
Indeed, ‘Stranger in Town‘ was the perfect record for Bob Seger at this stage of his career – consolidating gains made on ‘Night Moves‘ and developing further his own brand of palatable, heartland rock that would soon spawn a host of imitators. He stayed ahead of the competition by virtue of being a first-rate vocalist and knack of creating songs empathizing with those embroiled in everyday highs and lows, Seger never sounding detached or condescending.
Following in similar vein to ‘Night Moves‘ and to an extent ‘Beautiful Loser‘ (1975), the high-points of ‘Stranger in Town‘ showed his late hour arrival at the top table was no fluke – ensured primarily by the consistency of his last three albums (four including ‘Live Bullet‘) and to date a careers’ worth of honest, well-crafted music.
His final release of the decade, while ‘Stranger in Town‘ was acknowledged as the latest in a welcome sequence of recordings, hindsight has come to regard it as the last of the series.
Appearing in March 1980 ‘Against the Wind‘ came up short against his established standards. Identical in structure and content to its predecessors, Seger drew a selection of formulaic songs (musically and lyrically) from a well that appeared to have run dry.
By way of irony ‘Against the Wind‘ became the biggest selling (non-compilation) LP of his career, but the triumph was bittersweet – Seger finally succeeding in having a number one album only to see it mauled by the critics for a lack of originality.
There was, however, no such imbalance with ‘Stranger in Town‘ – like the gambler in ‘Still The Same‘ this accomplished album showed Seger was adept at ‘turning on the charm, long enough to get you by.’
STRANGER IN TOWN (released May 5 1978):
Hollywood Nights/Still The Same/Old Time Rock & Roll/Till It Shines/Feel Like A Number/Ain’t Got No Money/We’ve Got Tonight/Brave Strangers/The Famous Final Scene;
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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.