Bob Seger - The Albums and the career, song by song thread

That sounds pretty good to me mate

 

New Coat Of Paint.

Let's put a New Coat of Paint
On this lonesome old town
Set 'em up, set 'em up we'll be knockin' 'em down
You wear a dress babe, I'll wear a tie
We'll laugh at that old bloodshot moon
In that burgundy sky

All our scribbled love dreams
Lost or thrown away
Never miss the shuffle on an overflowin' day
When love needs a transfusion
Shoot it full of wine
Fishin' for a good time
Starts with throwin' in your line

Let's put a New Coat of Paint
On this lonesome old town
Set 'em up, set 'em up we'll be knockin' 'em down
You wear a dress babe, I'll wear a tie
We'll laugh at that old bloodshot moon
In that burgundy sky

Songwriters: Tom Waits
New Coat Of Paint lyrics © BMG Rights Management

So far this is my favourite track here. It has a sort of New Orleans jazz/blues feel, and it feels like it is coming from the ghost of Cab Calloway or something.
Another thing that strikes me with this one is that the drums sound a little less in your face, and a little more natural.
Also that piano track is killer.

I have been a Tom Waits fan for a lot of years now, and this song originally appeared as the opening track for The Heart Of Saturday Night in 1974.
Bob does an excellent version of the song here, and it has a natural flow and feel, and for me it is the highlight of the album so far.

 

New Coat of Paint - Another one I liked. I wasn't quite ready for Tom Waits when this came out, but this was an early hint that I might like him too. This is shaping up to be a much better album than I gave it credit for at the time.

 

New Coat of Paint: Heartattack and Vine was the first Tom Waits album I bought. Of course, I knew about him a few years before that, still recalling his appearance on Fernwood Tonight. That appearance perfectly captures the befuddlement I and many other 70s kids felt towards this wayward refugee from a Kerouac novel. I would later realize how great his songwriting was, and the stunning transformation he started on the Swordfishtrombones album into a berserk interpreter of all forms of music, always with sharp, well-written lyrics.

The main thing I notice about this track: the crappy production is gone! The instruments sound clear, no effects added to his vocals. Not sure why this song merited that level of clarity, but it's good to hear. I'm not nuts about the song choice, but it's not bad either. The other Waits song (two covers of songs by the same artist!) works much better, but it came as a bit of a surprise to know Seger was such a huge fan of Waits. Of course, now I'm remembering "Ol' 55" by The Eagles.

 

New Coat of Paint
Nice tune and very well done. This feel is a departure for Seger and I enjoy hearing him stretch out.
Rating 8/10

 

"New Coat of Paint" starts with a Big Drum Kick but then thankfully (mercifully) the percussion subsides to allow the piano to truly shine! At the time I thought Seger should record a true country album based on how well he handled this Waits song. Now I think Seger should've recorded a Waits cover album because his voice suits Waits lyrics well. Didn't he also record "Downtown Train" many years later unless I'm misremembering - ?

 

I

I am aware of 4 Tom Waits covers by Seger... New Coat of Paint and Blind Love, both on The Fire Inside, Downtown Train, which was eventually released on the Ultimate Hits set but recorded several years earlier, and also 16 Shells From a 30-6, on It's a Mystery...

Any others I've missed?

 

At about this time. He was doing his usual mix/remix/repeat bit when he allegedly played the rough mix for Rod Stewart. Who loved it, recorded it himself, and still managed to beat Bob releasing it as a single. So Bob set it aside for some years.

 

New Coat of Paint is another of my top tracks on this album. I like Waits' songwriting much more than his singing (especially on later albums), so the Seger covers Waits combination is the best of both worlds. It's fun to hear Seger stretch a bit stylistically and find another feel that still fits his voice like a glove.

 

New Coat Of Paint (Tom Waits cover)

Nice rollicky piano, and it gives off the same vibe of New Orleans I got from "Sightseeing" earlier on the album. This is a nice album track.

 

Which Way.

Here we have a sort of blues track, and most of it has a pretty straight blues rock kind of sound. Interestingly the lead guitar riff has a sound that seems slightly at odds with the rest of the song ... it isn't a deal breaker at all, it just isn't the guitar sound you would first imagine for this kind of song.... to me at least.

Which way you gonna go
To the left or to the right
Gonna go up gonna go down
I ain't got no clue tonight

Which way you gonna run
To the east or to the west
To the north to the south
Which way you like the best

You only do things Your Way
Baby Your Way
You only like things Your Way
Baby Your Way

Which Way You Gonna Turn
When you find it's all wrong
Which way you gonna turn
When it all comes out wrong

When you find you're not that strong
Oh baby baby
I hope you get along

Songwriters: Bob Seger
Which Way lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Seger said (from Seger File)
Seger: "It's kind of a Lighting Hopkins. I was just trying to do something real authentic, blues-wise. It's hard getting a good blues shuffle down, so this time I was determined to do one strong blues shuffle." The music was inspired by seeing Clapton with Stevie Ray Vaughan, the month before Vaughan died. Susan Whitall, August 24, 1991, The Detroit News. "Long Way Home"

For the most part I think they capture the feel really well, and most of the sounds work well, I'm just not sure about that lead guitar lick sound.

Lyrically we have a pretty basic kind of lyrical idea, that isn't really saying too much, but in a lot of blues it isn't so much about the lyrics being particularly involved, more the delivery of them. I think Bob captures the idea pretty well, but I would have liked to see him stretch himself a little more with them.

I think we have a nice swinging groove and most of this is good.
It isn't a favourite, but it is a pretty solid track, and it seems so far that the second half of the album has a better mix and sound than the first half of the album. I'm not sure if that's intentional or not, but it sounds a little more organic aurally, but as stated earlier, it could be the less dense tracking that I am hearing.

 

I've said previously that I like this album. In listening to it again, I am realising that it's the second half of it I enjoy the most. I love the Waits covers, and listening again now I still love Which Way. I dig the guitar. Yes, it's got that late Eighties vibe (I'm thinking of similarities to Clapton's Journeyman, for example) but for me that's no bad thing. Next up is a track I really love...

 

Which Way - Another one I don't remember at all. Listening to it now, I like the instrumentation (it sure was good to welcome real drums back in the '90s!), but the words kind of feel like an afterthought.

 

Which Way

Wow, no memory at all of this song, but hearing it again I definitely like it. Once the lyrics start, that delayed echo on the guitar is real nice.

 

Which Way: sounds like a pretty average Fabulous Thunderbirds album track. Not a complete misstep, but the first track that it isn't doing much for me. Blues? While not on the level of Jim Belushi or Bruce Willis, not the kind of blues I listen to! Once again, the production doesn't serve the track well. Seger's vocal is good, but that's the only thing that doesn't sound overly processed. Around that same time, Chis Rea was doing a similar kind of "blues" from his European perspective, and a song like "Texas" seems to work the same territory better for me.

 

She says what? I said Texas... She says... 'What?'

Love that track.

 

Good call.
I say blues merely as that is its roots.
That delay guitar really messes with the blues feel a lot.
Howlin Wolf is my kind of blues.

 

As Mark said in the lead off post, it's "sort of" a blues tune. I don't have a problem with the song overall, it's another example of Seger trying to stretch out and is serviceable as an album cut though I'd still rather hear Seger sing country than modern blues. Interesting that Seger attended one of SRV's last concerts, I didn't know that.

 

Could've been the Eric Clapton concert on the Journeyman tour in Auburn Hills, MI in April '90 (actually a few months before his death). SRV joined Clapton for a couple of tunes. Not sure what Stevie was doing in town but very cool to see, unfortunately the only time I got to see him on stage.

 

Which Way does nothing for me. I find it pretty weak both melodically and lyrically.

 

I was lucky enough to see Stevie Ray on the Soul to Soul tour.... pretty stunning, top five concert for me.

 

First tour with the new keyboardist, really expanded the sound of the band! SRV is one of those artists where you can't help but wonder what would've been and what would've come from him.

 

Me too! That whole album from Rea is great: The Road To Hell. In certain ways it sounds like a fantastic Dire Straits album.

My only time was at the Chicago Blues Festival in Spring 1985. Outdoors for free - great memory!

 

Oddly they were just a three piece at our show.
I know the keys had come on board, and the encore was a scintillating Life Without You, but no keys.
It was an added matinee show, in Perth Western Australia, perhaps they didn't bring him.... idk

 

Ha! Well, you got to hear the "classic" lineup of Double Trouble then, so that's not too shabby. The keyboards were just another texture and Reese mainly came aboard to join the band because they wanted to expand the sonic palette on recordings. You have a good memory apparently.