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 “Turn the Page” live version released

Turn the Page Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band

Writer(s): Bob Seger (see lyrics here) Released (studio version): January 1973 (album cut) Released (live version): April 12, 1976 (album cut) Released (live version): November 1977 (single) First Charted: -- Peak: 1 CL, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 148.0 video, -- streaming

Turn the Page Metallica

Released: November 16, 1998 First Charted: November 21, 1998 Peak: 111 AR, 39 MR, 15 CN, 11 AU, 11 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 99.5 video, -- streaming

Awards (Bob Seger): Click on award for more details. Awards (Metallica): Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Bob Seger released his first single with the Decibals in 1961, but didn’t put out an album until 1969’s Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man. That album’s title cut reached #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it looked like his career might finally be underway. Over the next six years, he charted seven more hits, but none reached the top 40. As he struggled to find success during the early ‘70s “he was all too familiar with the trials and tribulations of being a musician on tour.” UCR He poured those experiences into “Turn the Page,” a track from his 1973 album Back in ‘72. “Few other ‘life on the road’ songs can rival…[its] intensity and passion.” UCR The song “does a remarkable job summing up the grueling and lonely realities of the day-to-day life of a musician on the road in the early ‘70s.” UCR He references personal experiences such as suffering from tinnitus and having truck drivers mock him and his bandmates for their long hair. BC “The song starts with a saxophone which set a somewhat ominous tone for the remainder of the proceedings. Seger’s vocals come across as rather hushed: You can almost picture the rock and roll legend quietly singing to himself as to not disturb the other members of his band as they try to get some sleep on the bus.” UCR The song didn’t really find an audience until a live version from 1976’s Live Bullet hit the radio and became an album rock classic. That album became his highest charting to date (#34) and went five times platinum. Even bigger things were to come for Seger: his next seven albums were top-10, multi-platinum hits. “It should be little surprise that Seger’s words would resonate…well with his peers.” UCR Waylon Jennings, Staind, and Kid Rock have all performed the song live and Bon Jovi has acknowledged the song as an inspiration behind their hit “Wanted Dead or Alive.” UCR Garth Brooks wrote “The Thunder Rolls” as a tribute to the song. BC Metallica recorded the song in 1998 for their Garage Inc. cover album. It spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard album rock chart. Resources: AMG All Music Guide BC Brad Carl (2015). 50 Songs from the 70s and 80s That Still Hold Up. Pages 7-8. SF Songfacts UCR UltimateClassicRock.com (6/20/2013). “Top 100 Classic Rock Songs” WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 8/1/2022.