BOB SEGER AND THE SILVER BULLET BAND
"Live Bullet" (Capitol Records;
1976)
Reviewed by Snidermann
Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band's "Live Bullet" was released in 1976 and was recorded at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan. Bob and the band were popular in the in the Detroit area, but not anywhere else at this time; however, that was about to change.
The music of this recording is tight and very well done. Some of the songs were studio recordings but that does not retract from the overall coolness of this live recording. Some of the cover tunes on this recording are awesome: "Nutbush City Limits" (Ike and Tina Turner) "I’ve Been Working" (Van Morrison) and "Let It Rock" written (Chuck Berry). There is also a song that I must point out right now: The studio version of Turn The Page from the album "Back on '72," and frankly, it sucked! The live version is what people will always remember—it is head-and-shoulders better that the studio version. It's a song about living on the road and having long hair before it was cool and just putting yourself out there night after night and dealing with all the crap associated with that.
On a personal note, my wife and I saw Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band—I would have to say it was in the mid to late 80s. We were at the Forum In Los Angeles, which holds about 19,000 people for a hockey or basketball game. For a concert, it probably holds a bit more. We were in the back row, the farthest you could possibly be from the stage, and I would say it still sounded like they were playing to us and us alone. That, my friends, is what it is to be a dedicated, solid performer.
Great show and a great recording! If you want to know what it is like to witness a Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet band live performance, then listen to this recording. It sounds just like it sounds on the album.
For more information, check out https://www.bobseger.com/.
"Night Moves" (Capitol Records;
1976)
Reviewed by Snidermann
Before 1976, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band were strictly a regional band. However, after "Night Moves" "Live Bullet" came out, Bob Seger and the Band were on there way to becoming superstars.
Begin from Michigan myself, I find a certain amount of pride whenever I listen to Bob; as though he's a mid-western brother making good. As far back as I can remember, Bob has been a staple in my ears starting with vinyl albums, moving to tapes, CDs, streaming (and probably back to vinyl). Frankly, I cannot remember a time when I was not a Bob Seger fan.
"Night Moves" struck a major chord with me
during my early years. The title track, "The Fire Down Below," and "Main Street"
are staples on classic rock radio stations worldwide to this very day. While the
rest of the cuts on the album are not hits per se, they are simple,
down-to-earth music that hits not only the ears, but the soul. Each song plays
like a short story with Bob Seger as the narrator. Great music from start to
finish, with not a dud song on the list.
"I woke last night to the sound of thunder
How far off, I sat and
wondered.
Started hummin’ a song from 1962*
Ain't if funny how the night
moves?
When you just don’t seem to have as much
to lose.
Strange how the night moves
With autumn closin’ in."
(admit it, if
you know the song, you were singing it, not just reading it)
*I have
wondered what song Bob Seger was thinking about when he wrote that lyric. As it
happens, when Ronnie Spector, a singer from The Ronettes passed away in January
of 2022, Bob Seger stated that "Be My Baby" was the song he was thinking of when
he wrote that lyric.
For more information, check
out
https://www.bobseger.com/.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.
Copyright © 2022 by R. Scott Bolton. All rights reserved.
