Bob Seger: A Retrospective, 1968-2011

Bob Seger A Retrospective: 1968-2011

Overview: Rock singer/songwriter born Robert Clark Seger on 5/6/1945 in Detroit, Michigan. Has sold more than 51 million records worldwide. Songs have been covered by Brooks & Dunn, Cher, Waylon Jennings, Keb’ Mo’, Kid Rock, Barry Manilow, Martina McBride, Metallica, Bette Midler, The Pointer Sisters, Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Conway Twitty, and Dottie West. His 1994 Greatest Hits album has been a continuous presence on either the Billboard Top 200 Albums or Catalog Albums charts since its release and was named the #1 Catalog Album of the Decade (2000-2010). On the Web: BobSeger.com (official site) Facebook Wikipedia

Awards:

Compilations: G1 Greatest Hits (1976-1994, released 1994) G2 Greatest Hits 2 (1975-2003, released 2003) U Ultimate Hits: Rock and Roll Never Forgets (1968-2011, released 2011) Under each album snapshot, songs featured on the anthologies are noted. If the song charted, the date of the song’s release or first chart appearance and its chart peaks are noted in parentheses. Click for codes to charts.

Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man (aka “The Bob Seger System”) (1968): Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man (9/68, 17 US, 22 CB, 10 GR, 16 HR, 7 CL, 18 CN, 13 DF U

Beautiful Loser (1975): Beautiful Loser (5/24/75, 7 CL, 9 DF) G2, U * Katmandu (8/8/75, 43 US, 45 CB, 34 GR, 48 HR, 7 CL, 57 CN, 20 DF) G2, U Travelin’ Man (7 CL, 14 DF) U * * The versions of “Beautiful Loser” and “Travelin’ Man” on Ultimate Hits are actually live versions from the Live Bullet album.

Live Bullet (live, 1976): Turn the Page (live) (11/77, 1 CL, 1 DF) G1, U

Night Moves (1976): Night Moves (12/4/76, 4 US, 6 CB, 7 GR, 5 HR, 4 RR, 1 CL, 45 UK, 5 CN, 25 AU, 4 DF) G1, U Mainstreet (4/23/77, 24 US, 19 CB, 18 GR, 32 HR, 23 RR, 5 CL, 1 CN, 11 DF) G1, U Rock and Roll Never Forgets (7/9/77, 41 US, 50 CB, 57 HR, 5 CL, 13 DF) G2, U The Fire Down Below (6 CL, 25 DF) G2, U Sunspot Baby (13 CL, 28 DF) G2 Click for DMDB album page.

Stranger in Town (1978): Still the Same (5/12/78, 4 US, 4 CB, 1 GR, 5 HR, 2 RR, 27 AC, 2 CL, 4 CN, 23 AU, 9 DF) G1, U Hollywood Nights (8/12/78, 12 US, 13 CB, 10 GR, 15 HR, 10 RR, 3 CL, 42 UK, 12 CN, 52 AU, 13 DF) G1, U We’ve Got Tonight (10/28/78, 13 US, 11 CB, 12 GR, 11 HR, 9 RR, 29 AC, 5 CL, 22 UK, 9 CN, 31 AU, 8 DF) G1, U Old Time Rock and Roll (4/7/79, 28 US, 34 CB, 33 GR, 40 HR, 1 CL, 31 CN, 3 AU, 1 DF) G1, U Click for DMDB album page.

Against the Wind (1980): Fire Lake (2/22/80, 6 US, 6 CB, 2 GR, 5 HR, 31 AC, 2 CL, 3 CN, 13 DF) G2, U Against the Wind (4/25/80, 5 US, 8 CB, 3 GR, 9 HR, 3 RR, 8 AC, 3 CL, 6 CN, 92 AU, 4 DF) G1, U You’ll Accomp’ny Me (7/25/80, 14 US, 20 CB, 13 GR, 19 HR, 8 RR, 17 AC, 6 CL, 8 CN, 9 DF) G1, U Her Strut (4 CL, 13 DF) G2, U Click for DMDB album page.

Nine Tonight (live, 1981): Tryin’ to Live My Life Without You (live) (9/11/81, 5 US, 8 CB, 4 GR, 7 HR, 5 RR, 2 AR, 11 CN, 15 DF) G2, U

The Distance (1982): Shame on the Moon (12/17/82, 2 US, 5 CB, 1 GR, 1 RR, 1 AC, 8 CN, 11 DF) G2, U Roll Me Away (1/15/83, 27 US, 28 CB, 18 GR, 19 RR, 13 AR, 13 DF) G1, U

Like a Rock (1986): Like a Rock (4/19/86, 12 US, 15 CB, 18 GR, 17 RR, 21 AC, 1 AR, 33 CN, 74 AU, 7 DF) G1, U

The Fire Inside (1991): The Fire Inside (9/21/91, 45 AC, 35 CN, 37 DF) G1 New Coat of Paint G2

Greatest Hits Bob Seger

Released: October 25, 1994 Recorded: 1976-1994 Peak: 8 US, 6 UK, 5 CN, 5 AU, 8 DF Sales (in millions): 10.0 US, 0.1 UK, 12.1 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock Rating: 4.155 out of 5.00 (average of 9 ratings)

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Tracks: (1) Roll Me Away (2) Night Moves (3) Turn the Page (live) (4) You’ll Accompn’y Me (5) Hollywood Nights (6) Still the Same (7) Old Time Rock and Roll (8) We’ve Got Tonite (9) Against the Wind (10) Mainstreet (11) The Fire Inside (12) Like a Rock (13) C’est La Vie (14) In Your Time Total Running Time: 61:54 Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: C’est La Vie (29 DF) G1 In Your Time (25 CN) G1

It’s a Mystery (1995): Manhattan G2

Greatest Hits 2 Bob Seger

Released: November 4, 2003 Recorded: 1975-2003 Peak: 23 US Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Genre: classic rock Rating: 3.032 out of 5.00 (average of 6 ratings)

Tracks: (1) Understanding (2) The Fire Down Below (3) Her Strut (4) Beautiful Loser (5) Sunspot Baby (6) Katmandu (7) Shame on the Moon (8) Fire Lake (9) Tryin’ to Live My Life Without You (live) (10) Shakedown (11) Manhattan (12) New Coat of Paint (13) Chances Are (14) Rock and Roll Never Forgets (15) Satisfied (16) Tomorrow Total Running Time: 67:09 Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: Understanding (from Teachers soundtrack) (10/13/84, 17 US, 20 CB, 19 GR, 20 RR, 7 AC, 5 AR, 38 CN, 18 DF) G2 Shakedown (from Beverly Hills Cop II soundtrack) (5/22/87, 1 US, 1 CB, 2 GR, 1 RR, 1 AR, 88 UK, 1 CN, 12 DF) G2, U Chances Are (with Martina McBride from Hope Floats soundtrack) (6/27/98, 23 AC, 40 CN, 36 DF) G2 Satisfied G2 Tomorrow G2

Face the Promise (2006): Wait for Me (7/22/06, 16 AC, 52 CW) U

Ultimate Hits: Rock and Roll Never Forgets Bob Seger

Released: November 21, 2011 Recorded: 1968-2011 Peak: 19 US, -- UK, -- CN, 5 AU Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Genre: classic rock Rating: 3.435 out of 5.00 (average of 7 ratings)

Tracks, Disc 1: (1) Old Time Rock and Roll (2) Hollywood Nights (3) Night Moves (4) Mainstreet (5) Roll Me Away (6) Turn the Page (live) (7) Her Strut (8) Still the Same (9) You’ll Accomp’ny Me (10) We’ve Got Tonight (11) Like a Rock (12) Fire Lake (13) Tryin’ to Live My Life Without You (live) Tracks, Disc 2: (1) Rock and Roll Never Forgets (2) Against the Wind (3) Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man (4) The Fire Down Below (5) Travelin’ Man (live) (6) Beautiful Loser (live) (7) Shakedown (8) Shame on the Moon (9) Katmandu (10) The Little Drummer Boy (11) Wait for Me (12) Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey (Going Back to Birmingham) (13) Downtown Train Total Running Time: 108:06 Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: The Little Drummer Boy (from the various artists’ compilation A Very Special Christmas) (11/14/87, 17 DF) U Downtown Train (2/28/11, 17 AC, 34 DF) U Hey Hey Hey Hey (Going Back to Birmingham) (9/29/11, --) U

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Bob Seger Dave’s Music Database: Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists Wikipedia page for Greatest Hits Wikipedia page for Greatest Hits 2 Wikipedia page for Ultimate Hits: Rock and Roll Never Forgets First posted 2/11/2023; last updated 2/12/2023.

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.