The Bob Seger Album By Album Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by JamieC, Jul 13, 2011.

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  1. Hey Vinyl Man

    Hey Vinyl Man Another bloody Yank down under...

    There are many albums to which I would unhesitatingly give a five-star rating, but which have at least one song I could take or leave. (Or, in the case of several otherwise-perfect Dylan and Beatles albums, one song I don’t like at all!) There are very, very few albums on which I consider every song a five-star song, where I never skip a song when listening to them, where if I have to get up to answer the phone or go to the bathroom or whatever, I’ll pause the CD player or lift the needle off the record. We’re probably talking fewer than a dozen albums. Even with my all-time favorite album, Earth Song/Ocean Song by Mary Hopkin, I had to stop here and think twice about whether I really listen to every song, every time. I do, as it turns out; but I had to think about it. Most of the other members of that elite club are famous enough that I don’t need to mention the artist: Abbey Road, Days of Future Passed, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Blue…and Mongrel.

    Mongrel? In that lofty company?!

    Well, yes. Straight up, shot-and-a-beer blues rock may not be your thing, but give it this: it’s consistent, it rocks hard, and it’s the work of a talented songwriter who obviously loves his job.

    Tellingly, I did not care much for Mongrel when I got my first copy in high school. I suffered from misplaced expectations, I suppose. I was a huge fan of Seger’s late ‘70s classics by then, and I was vaguely aware that he had put out several flop albums before those hits, but I didn’t know anything about those early albums. So when I saw this mysterious album I’d never heard of before, I guessed correctly that it was one of them, and I rushed home with it probably expecting at least one “Night Moves” or “Against the Wind”…and of course found nothing of the sort. Like a lot of fans, I did love “Lucifer” on my very first listen, well enough to put it on a mix tape I took with me to college; but the rest left me cold and I forgot all about it for several years. Then one day shortly after college, I found an original copy at a yard sale, and bought it because of the terrific gatefold (which my earlier copy did not have). Although I remembered I hadn’t much liked it before, I figured I might as well give my new record one listen – and this time, what had gone over my head before now got to me immediately. I have ever since considered it Seger’s finest hour.

    “Song to Rufus” may not be Seger’s best-ever album opener (“Get Out of Denver” is, IMO), but it’s definitely his most fitting. Right from that first drumbeat, the stage is set for an unrelenting hard and loud set. It’s also a clue as to why Seger has been so willing to leave his early work buried in recent years: I understand he’s been staunchly opposed to any kind of drug use for quite some time now, so how to explain away having opened his third album with a song about being a drug-runner? Nothing I admire, but it does tell a succinct story in remarkably efficient fashion. By the way, is this the only twelve-bar blues of Seger’s career? I keep thinking there must be others, but I can’t think of any.

    “Evil Edna” – one of the very few moments on Mongrel that sound dated now rears its head here, with that distorted “we should be just so” refrain, and I suppose the subject matter itself is rather a creature of the late sixties. I’ve heard theories to the effect that it’s a tribute to Janis Joplin, but it came out about two months too early for that to be true. Which makes the ending all the more eerie in a way!

    “Highway Child” – Second only to “2+2=?” as his best political song. That guitar riff is a bit derivative of Led Zeppelin, but it fits the album perfectly in any case.

    “Big River” – And here we have an archetypical example of what will eventually make Seger a superstar: mid-tempo melodies and wounded tough-guy lyrics like the ones that the Eagles would soon rise to fame on. The closest this album comes to being mellow, but it stays just on the other side of that line, if only thanks to context.

    “Mongrel” – Every great rock album has one song whose lyrics are barely intelligible behind the sonic assault, but it doesn’t matter. I admit that I have no idea what it might be about - “Child of green candles in the wishing well” is an interesting image, but what on earth does it mean? Is that who the little girl on the album cover is? But like I said, it doesn’t matter.

    “Lucifer” – Yes, it sounds like a CCR ripoff. But sounding like somebody else is perfectly okay when you do it this well. Absolutely one of his best songs ever, definitely in my top five. This was supposed to be the album’s hit single, but it only got to #84. Why? I have no idea. One theory I’ve heard is that the title probably scared a lot of program directors, but I don’t buy that. I think radio just wasn’t ready for anything quite like it.

    “Teachin’ Blues” – Kicking off Side 2 in style, back in the days when everybody understood there had to be a Side 2.

    “Leanin’ On My Dream” – Like a lot of his generation, Seger had gone from unquestioning support of the war in Vietnam to staunch opposition, only he’d done so in song (from “Ballad of the Yellow Berets” to “2+2=?”). Here we get a recap of the previous four years in one song. Can’t say I’m crazy about the “down with democracy” bit, but I choose to interpret that as what the “hawks” of the era saw when the peaceniks first appeared, rather than what the latter were really saying.

    “Mongrel Too” – If this album does have a weak spot, this is it. If ever there were an album that did not call for a slow song…but I suspect, like “Doctor Fine” on the first album, it’s just there to let off steam after the intensity that has come before, just before the big sendoff…

    “River Deep, Mountain High” – I could do without the fake audience sound effects (no conclusive cite handy on whether or not it really is a live recording, but the consensus is that it isn’t). But even with that cheesy and unnecessary addition, it has all the intensity and sparkle of a great live performance. One of my all-time favorite covers, and by far my favorite Seger cover. A brilliant ending to a brilliant album, it leaves you wanting a lot more.
     
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  2. mrmaloof

    mrmaloof Active Member

    Location:
    California
    Great overview of Mongrel - thanks!

    One little nit - Song to Rufus, can't be Seger's only twelve-bar blues, because it isn't a 12-bar blues itself. It's an 18-bar blues instead! Bars 3-4, 7-8, and 11-12 of a twelve bar blues form are repeated in this song so that it's 3 lines of 6 bars vs. 3 lines of 4 bars. I guess he always had to do something different with the blues.

    - Joe
     
  3. music4life

    music4life Senior Member

    Location:
    South Elgin, IL
    Like the "Ramblin Gamblin Man" album, I find it hard to like much here with the exception being "Leanin On My Dream". I've tried to like it, but I just dont care for it at all.
     
  4. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    Mongrel is one that I discovered late. What I find is a crossroads. On the one hand you have tunes like Lucifer and Leaning on My Dream that are the Nemeless System at its best. Then theres Big River and Mongrel Too which points Bob's future direction. He seemed to still be writing in the same keys as he always had, and his voice was changing. In my opinion he was straining on a lot of the Systems later tracks. When he drops it an octave the Seger we know emerged.

    Lucifer is classic, Teachin Blues is classic System, and Mongrel Too is the one that I play over and over. Bob can do slow and bluesy like nobodies business.
    In any case, once again no one was paying any attention outside Michigan and Florida. Mongrels failure to break made Seger want to quit again and get out of his contract with Capitol, as he blamed the label for lack of promotion.

    3/5
     
  5. Baron Von Talbot

    Baron Von Talbot Well-Known Member

    Seems I have to play that twofer one more time...already placed them near the 701.
    I cannot remember anything from MONGREL or Ramblin Gamblin Man, although I played the albums a few times after I found them in a second hand shop. In great shape even.. Special Edition for the 77 Europe Tour says the sticker.
    I dig Smokin OP's and esp. 7 a lot more; but later...
     
  6. Scott in DC

    Scott in DC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Mongrel

    I like this album a great deal. It is a more rockin' Bob Seger than his more commercial, polished Silver Bullet Band records but at the same time you can hear the SBB elements this early. It is a short but effective album that doesn't aim for the stars but it suceeds well at what it tries to be.

    My favorites are Lucifer, Highway Star and Evil Edna. River Deep, Mountain High is done well here and the rest of the songs are good.

    Here is my original gatefold vinyl copy.

    Scott
     

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  7. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    Thus endeth the Bob Seger System, but do not despair for next week its A Brand New Morning.
     
  8. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    Bob Seger, both with the Herd or the System, was a product of the Detroit teen clubs, and whether due to Punch or whoever, He got his records on the radio. His music is mostly raucous, recorded and mixed badly. The band is what it is, but it is limited by Bob being the lead guitar. And again his voice was dropping and he was writing in too high a key, although that worked with the System. If Bob had quit at this point he would have been absolutely forgotten outside of Detroit, or one of the artists on a Nuggets comp( and why wasn't Bob on Nuggets anyway? Heavy Music, RGM, or Noah would have worked). But its easy to forget how young Bob and his band were. Teenagers most of these years. Sophisticated? No, but they had a blast playing on stage. And their records were damned good and deserved better than they got nationally.
     
  9. mrmaloof

    mrmaloof Active Member

    Location:
    California
    I've been listening again to the System albums thanks to this thread. Before leaving the System I'd like to put in a plug for Dan Honaker's bass playing. I really enjoy some of the more melodic and counter-melodic things he's playing on all three of these albums, Mongrel perhaps most of all.

    I've heard that Honaker broke his arm when Seger was forming the Silver Bullet Band, and that's when Chris Campbell got the gig. I wonder how the music would have changed if Honaker had been with the Silver Bullet Band instead?

    - Joe
     
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  10. Baron Von Talbot

    Baron Von Talbot Well-Known Member

    I been playing Mongrel twice this past week and still cannot remember any song or good hook from that LP, it just sounds bland, muddy and boring, there are 2 songs, that remind me of later Springsteen without reaching a level that is anywhere remotely connected with the fantastic stuff on seven. I don't get it, maybe if i would understand what he is singing about ?
    Will give it one more try, just because it is Bob Seger . Then i play the other LP in that twofer, maybe that one does more for me ?
     
  11. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    Brand New Morning

    Brand New Morning
    October 1971.
    Acoustic, recorded by Seger in his home.

    All songs written and composed by Bob Seger.

    No. Title Length
    1. "Brand New Morning" 3:23
    2. "Maybe Today" 3:16
    3. "Sometimes" 5:16
    4. "You Know Who You Are" 3:20
    5. "Railroad Days" 6:58
    6. "Louise" 2:52
    7. "Song for Him" 4:39
    8. "Something Like" 3:34

    Personnel Bob Seger - guitar, piano, vocals


    Brand New Morning is an album by American rock singer/songwriter Bob Seger, released in 1971 (see 1971 in music). The album is an acoustic album, somewhat in the vein of Bruce Springsteen's decade-later Nebraska. This album has never been reissued on a legitimate U.S. CD release by Capitol.

    Despite being a fan favorite due to the different atmosphere it has compared to other Seger records, Seger claims it will never be reissued again. Fans try to get their hands on this gem to hear Seger singing solo and acoustic without a band. However, the album, even on its original vinyl format, is extremely rare. However, the song "Railroad Days" is considered a fan favorite and has received some airplay later in Seger's career on classic rock radio despite the fact that the album released no singles on air at the time the record was released. Seger often jokes about the album saying he has his only copy "buried in his backyard."
    *****************************************************
    Seger on Brand New Morning: "...Nobody bought it and as a result it got me out of my initial Capitol deal in the early '70s." Timothy White, 1983, Musician. "The Roads Not Taken."

    Zangrilli: "The recordings were intended as demos, but Capitol released it to satisfy Seger's contract. The album sold poorly. Seger has no desire to see it reissued. 'I've got that one buried in my backyard,' he once quipped." Joanne Zangrilli, Goldmine, November 1990.

    Hey, it's a quip, okay? He doesn't really have it buried in his backyard. Beside's he's moved since then. Amazing how many times I hear about this "buried" thing.

    Seger may not be fond of the material now, but at the time of its release, he played it with spirit, energy and affection. The first time I ever saw Seger, he played one set with the System, one set alone, doing much of the Brand New Morning material, and a third set with Teegarden and Van Winkle. Later, as the System fully disbanded, he would open a show with an acoustic set, and then bring out Teegarden and Van Winkle for the second set. Clearly, these Brand New Morning songs were more than cast-off demos slapped onto an album by Capitol.

    Standout cuts
    The title cut is a clear standout: almost 30 years later, it's energy and optimism are still strong. I never get tired of it.

    All of Side Two, to my thinking, is standout material; had some of this been recorded with a band, it could have had commerical appeal, potentially.

    And without a doubt, Brand New Morning contains one of Seger's best songs ever: "Railroad Days." In subject matter and form, it is a near-perfect precursor to "Night Moves." Both are a look back at a younger, more innocent time of life. (One looks back on "Days" the other on "Nights.")

    "Railroad Days" goes back further into childhood, however. The lyrics touch on playing baseball and "singing songs to the darkness of the night. We even sang the parts the instruments were playing / We were young, and dreams were really quite all right."

    Near the end of the song, we shift to present time. The music stops except for a few slow guitar chords. Seger sings: "Yesterday, I heard they shut the trains down." Slowly the song builds back up into its previous rhythm. The format is quite like "Night Moves" but "Railroad Days" is very much its own song. The vocals are chillingl, superb and pure Seger.

    Other standout cuts are "Louise" (" she was an outlaw in the year of '71") and "Something Like" ("...something like loving / everything about a woman / all the bad things too / she can't change for you..."). Hopefully these will turn up on a boxed set someday...probably the same day the sea turns to lemonade and world hunger ends.

    "Song for Him" is one of the only Seger song I'm aware of with a prominent religious theme. Seger, the self-described "lonely one" sings:

    I've been lonely
    But not lonelier than Him

    When I'm lonely, still I know

    He'll forgive me, yes it's so.

    What's most beautiful about this song is the way Seger absolutely yet sincerely wails these lyrics -- it's head-back, heartfelt, full-on emotion. The vocals tap straight and true into Seger's genius. Thinking about how many people haven't heard this song, I remember how lucky I am.
     

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  12. Scott in DC

    Scott in DC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Brand New Morning

    I have never heard this album and wish I could. I have looked at the copies that come up on eBay but those can be pricey. Unfortunately an old copy from eBay is about the only option.

    Scott
     
  13. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
  14. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
  15. Hey Vinyl Man

    Hey Vinyl Man Another bloody Yank down under...

    Looks like it could be from South America to me, but that's just an educated guess.
     
  16. music4life

    music4life Senior Member

    Location:
    South Elgin, IL
    This is the beginning of the Seger I would come to know and love. I finally got a chance to hear this album a few years ago when someone sent me a copy of the album on a CD.
    While I didnt care much for the previous three albums, I can say I enjoy every song on this one. It's great hearing him in an acoustic setting, I wish he would seriously reconsider rereleasing this one, there's nothing to be embarrased about here.
     
  17. mrmaloof

    mrmaloof Active Member

    Location:
    California
    I agree. I very rarely play the first three albums - I did so for this thread - but I love Brand New Morning. Railroad Days is my favorite, but there's so much else that's good here. I also have a special fondness for Maybe Today, even though the musical transition back to the start of the verse is pretty clumsy. But I like everything on the album, and Railroad Days (at the very least) can stand with anything Seger ever wrote.

    I thought that maybe this would have gotten reissued when Springsteen released Nebraska, or when the whole "unplugged" craze was going on, but no...

    - Joe
     
  18. Hey Vinyl Man

    Hey Vinyl Man Another bloody Yank down under...

    Brand New Morning was (still is, I suppose) the first super-rare album I added to my collection. I found it at the inimitable Wax Trax back when it was still in Pennsylvania. The guy didn't take credit cards back then, and I had enough cash for either BNM or a cutout, but still sealed copy of Jimmy Buffett's first album, Down to Earth. I know Buffett isn't very popular on these boards, but I'm a huge fan, so it was a tough choice. I went with Brand New Morning because I guessed - correctly, as it turned out - that it would be easier to find another copy of Down to Earth. Fifteen years later, my copy of Brand New Morning is still the only one I've ever even seen in person.

    Now, whenever I listen to a rare record for the first time, I wonder, is it really such a wonderful album, or am I just overjoyed to finally be hearing Brand New Morning (or Back in '72 or Time Fades Away or whatever)? In this case, though, I was pretty sure from the very beginning that it really was a terrific album. I still think so.

    What kills me about Seger's rare early albums is the excuse he always offers up for keeping them buried: he doesn't like the way his voice sounds on them. To me, his vocals are amazing here. To make such a spare album work, the vocals pretty much have to be top notch - and Seger delivers. The title track, for example, belongs to a topical genre I don't really like very much. Optimism for its own sake is a nice idea, but it tends to come across as treacly and insincere. Besides, it's not Seger's strong point (I don't care much for "Rock and Roll Never Forgets" either, for example). But his singing is so expressive and sincere, you've just got to believe whether you want to or not. "Maybe Today", as a more pensive take on a similar topic, is even better.

    "Sometimes" is, I believe, the only recycled title of Seger's career. On my first listen, I seem to recall wondering if it was an earlier version of the song on Like a Rock. Turns out they couldn't be more different musically, but the topics are fairly similar. It's an interesting study in how his approach to his favorite subject matter changed over the years, actually.

    "You Know Who You Are" - If there's one song on here that I'd have loved to hear with a full band, it's this one. But then I wouldn't want to miss out on that wonderfully sad piano. I guess this is also an early sign of what was coming with his big hits later on, too. In any case, I consider this one of the two best songs on the album ("Railroad Days" is the other), and quite possibly one of his top ten ever.

    "Railroad Days" - If you haven't heard it, it's the greatest Seger you've never heard. Amazing that he was only 26 on that last verse, with the "I'll be obsolete someday" line. It gave me goosebumps on my first listen, and sometimes it still does.

    "Louise" - Here's another one that would have sounded great with a full arrangement. I have to admit that the surprise ending (her age) was indeed a surprise for me. But my favorite part about this one is that it literally dates the album ("in the year of '71"), yet both the song and the album still sound remarkably fresh.

    "Song for Him" - A religious song on a Bob Seger album? If it had to happen, totally appropriate that it would turn up on this most obscure of his albums. As with the title track, not a topic I'm terribly fond of, but the absolute sincerity of his performance saves it.

    "Something Like" - I love how this one stands the "laundry list of things I hate about you but I love you anyway" trope perfectly on its head. A true warts-and-all lovesong - we could certainly use more of those!

    I don't think it's possible to separate the musical merits of Brand New Morning entirely from the thrill of owning a copy. But if I were to try, I would most likely give it four stars out of five.
     
  19. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, US
    "Maybe Today" has some very bizarre chord changes for a Seger song.
     
  20. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    Brand New Morning is my favorite Sunday Morning accoustic LP. No real clinkers and nothing truly earth shaking but just sooo pleasant. By writing on piano he was able to take himself to a comfortable key most of the time. here he found his real voice.

    3/5
     
  21. xyyyy

    xyyyy Forum Resident

    The only Seger album that is still on my wanted list.
     
  22. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    Lookin' Back

    A month before Bob released Brand New Morning he released this one off single, without the System. The record has been a regular on Detroit radio ever since, and was so popular in town that it was inevitably in the set list for Live Bullet four years later. Between classic rock stations and juke boxes this one never left the music conciousness of Detroit fans. Backed with Highway Child from Mongrel.

    From The Seger Files

    Lookin' Back

    Released in September 1971, "Lookin' Back" is a classic Seger cut that has never been included on an album. (The live version on Live Bullet has all the energy of the original...but not all of the crackling crispness of this rare single.) "Lookin' Back" reached #2 in Detroit.

    "'Lookin' Back' is a strange record. At that time there was a lot of political upheaval happening in the area. I felt that in '2+2,' and I felt it in 'Lookin Back.' And 'Looking Back' was basically written about all the people who wanted to retain the conservative ideas, as opposed to trying anything liberal or new. Plus it had a double meaning about the band, too, and the music that had gone down." 1975 radio interview


    From Wiki

    "Lookin' Back" is a song written by Bob Seger, originally released as a non-album single in 1971. As with previous single "2 + 2 = ?", "Lookin' Back" was a criticism of political conservatism. The single was a moderate success, reaching #84 on the US charts and #2 on the Detroit charts. A live version of the song was released on Seger's live album, Live Bullet.

    Lookin' Back single version
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VA1YCQK04Q
     

    Attached Files:

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  23. Hey Vinyl Man

    Hey Vinyl Man Another bloody Yank down under...

    I love "Lookin' Back," but somebody really needs to put out a decent sounding copy of it somewhere. I have it on my Hideout Records compilation, but it's a poor needledrop (and doesn't even really belong on that CD, since it wasn't on Hideout!).
     
  24. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    Zoom in on the photo above under the record number it says a Hideout production.
     
  25. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    Next we will light up Smokin' OP's
     
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