Bob Seger releases Night Moves

Night Moves Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band

Released: October 22, 1976 Charted: November 13, 1976 Peak: 8 US, -- UK, 12 CN, 13 AU, 13 DF Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, -- UK, 7.5 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Rock and Roll Never Forgets [3:52] (7/9/77, 41 US, 5 CL) Night Moves [5:25] (12/11/76, 4 US, 1 CL, 45 UK) The Fire Down Below [4:28] (6 CL) Sunburst [5:13] (47 CL) Sunspot Baby [4:38] (13 CL) Mainstreet [3:43] (4/23/77, 24 US, 5 CL) Come to Poppa (Earl Randle, Willie Mitchell) [3:11] (12 CL) Ship of Fools [3:24] Mary Lou (Young Jessie, Sam Ling) [2:56] All songs written by Bob Seger unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 36:50 The Silver Bullet Band: Bob Seger (vocals, guitar, production) Drew Abbott (guitar, backing vocals) Robyn Robbins (keyboards) Alto Reed (saxophone, flute) Chris Campbell (bass, backing vocals) Charles Allen Martin (drums, percussion, backing vocals) Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section: Pete Carr (guitar, production) Jimmy Johnson (rhythm guitar, production) Barry Beckett (keyboards, production) David Hood (bass, production) Roger Hawkins (drums, percussion, production)

Rating: 4.272 out of 5.00 (average of 22 ratings) Quotable: “One of the universally acknowledged high points of late-‘70s rock & roll” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Bob Seger recorded the bulk of Night Moves before Live Bullet brought him his first genuine success, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it’s similar in spirit to the introspective Beautiful Loser, even if it rocks harder and longer. Throughout much of the album, he’s coming to grips with being on the other side of 30 and still rocking.” AMG Critic Robert Cristgau said the album is for those no longer in their teens, but that it is still comprised of classic rock and roll riffs in the vein of Chuck Berry or The Rolling Stones. WK Seger “floats back in time, turning in high-school memories, remembering when wandering down Mainstreet was the highlight of an evening, covering a rockabilly favorite in Mary Lou.” AMG “Stylistically, there’s not much change since Beautiful Loser, but the difference is that Seger and his Silver Bullet Band – who turn in their first studio album here – sound intense and ferocious, and the songs are subtly varied. Yes, this is all hard rock, but the acoustic ballads reveal the influence of Dylan and Van Morrison, filtered through a Midwestern sensibility, and the rockers reveal more of Seger’s personality than ever.” AMG Rolling Stone reviewer Kit Rachlis said that Seger sounded like Rod Stewart and wrote like Bruce Springsteen. WK In addition, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section lends a hand on 4 of the album’s songs. WK “Seger may have been this consistent before (on Seven, for example), but the mood had never been as successfully varied, nor had his songwriting been as consistent, intimate, and personal.” AMG “Thankfully, this was delivered to a mass audience eager for Seger, and it not only became a hit, but one of the universally acknowledged high points of late-‘70s rock & roll. And, because of his passion and craft, it remains a thoroughly terrific record years later.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 9/30/2011; last updated 9/30/2023.