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A Seger File Special Feature
The Seger File is an unofficial web site about the music of Bob Seger. This section of the Seger File last updated July 22, 2006. For the most current updates, click here. Written and Edited by Scott Sparling sparling@spiritone.com
Seger File Contents
- The Full Contents
- Search the Seger File
- The 2011 Tour Page
- FACE THE PROMISE
- 2010 Updates
- 2009 Updates
- 2008 Updates
- 2007 Updates (Jan -July)
- 2006 Updates (Jan-Sept)
- 2006 Updates (Oct-Dec.)
- 2005 Updates
- 2004 Updates
- 2003 Updates (July-Dec)
- 2003 Updates (Jan-June)
- 2002 Updates
- 2001 Updates
- 1998-2000 Updates
- Nine Years Online
- The Seger File's Birthday Party
- Unreleased Tracks
- Vault V
- 10 more unreleased tracks
- Vault 4
- 16 more unreleased tracks
- Forward Into the Vault --
- 26 more unreleased tracks
- Return to the Vault -- 18 More Unreleased Tracks
- The Vault --31 Unreleased Tracks
- Recorded but Unreleased --Unreleased Seger from A-Z
- Photos
- Photos 1
Photos 2
- Photos 3
- Hall of Fame Photos
- Settle Annex
- A collection of great Seger photos
- Misc.
- Dylan's "Denver"
- The Albums
- Ramblin' Gamblin' Man
- Noah
- Mongrel
- Brand New Morning
- Smokin' O.P.'s
- Back in '72
- Seven
- Beautiful Loser
- Live Bullet
- Night Moves
- Stranger in Town
- Against the Wind
- Nine Tonight
- The Distance
- Like A Rock
- The Fire Inside
- Bob Seger's Greatest Hits
- It's A Mystery
- Greatest Hits 2
- Face the Promise
- Other Albums
- The Promised Live Album
- The Promised Studio Album
- Seger on the Edge
- The Bob Seger Collection --(Australian Greatest Hits)
- Seger Classics
- A Very Special Christmas,1987
- Other Album Appearances
- The Seger Tribute Album
- Sing Your Own Seger
- Perfect Albums?
- Selected Singles
- Check the Label
- Who Picks the Singles?
- Early Singles
- The Lonely One
- TGIF/First Girl
- Ballad of the Yellow Beret
- East Side Story
- Persecution Smith
- Sock It To Me, Santa
- Vagrant Winter/Very Few
- Heavy Music
- 2+2=?/Death Row
- Ramblin' Gamblin' Man
- Looking Back
- If I Were A Carpenter
- Bombs Away
- Understanding
- Chances Are
- My Take on Chances Are
- Reaching Number One
- Other Seger Tracks
- Released on Singles, But Not on Albums
- Covered by Others
- Written By Seger, Recorded by Others
- Videos
- Night Moves (SNL)
- Making Thunderbirds
- Old Time Rock and Roll
- American Storm
- Like a Rock
- Shakedown
- Real Love
- Fire Inside
- Night Moves (New)
- Turn the Page
- It's A Mystery
- Chances Are
- Ten for Two
- The Cobo Hall Tapes
- The Palace Tapes
- Influences/Other Bands
- Soundtracks
- TV Appearances
- Like a Truck
- Who Does the Song Belong To?
- Ancient History Dept.
- How Seger Sees Rock/Truck
- Singer or Salesman?
- Gatsby, Seger and Victory
- The Mystery Man
- How the Song Became An Ad
- Good Song, Great Ad?
- Bad Press, Bad Precedent
- Through the Lean Years
- Bob's View
- Insults and Dead Horses
- Fix Or Repair Daily
- The Early Years
- Early Days
- Motor City's Burning
- Places He Played
- Jackson
- More Dues-Paying Years
- Career, Misc.
- Lead Singer Vs. Guitar Player
- The Slow Road to Success
- The Requisites of Greatness
- Theories: Why It Took So Long
- "You Are Now Leaving Seger Territory"
- Punch
- Breaking Out
- What Is Success?
- Bands
- Early Bands
- The Decibels
- The Town Criers
- The Omens
- Democracy Rocks
- Later Bands
- Bob Seger and the Last Heard
- The Bob Seger System
- STK
- Julia/My Band/Borneo Band
- Muscle Shoals band
- The Silver Bullet Band
- Back-up Systems
- Shaun Murphy
- Karen Newman
- Related Bands
- Detroit All-Stars
- Alto Reed
- Blue Highway (Drew Abbott)
- Bio, Part 1
- Detroit? Ann Arbor?
- We Even Sang the Parts the Instruments Were Playing
- A Father Leaves
- Fire and the Memory of Love
- All the Wild, Wild Good Times
- Personality
- Interests and Hobbies
- Predicting the Future, Then and Now
- Bio, Part 2
- On Growing Older
- Politics
- The Seger Work Ethic
- You Can't Miss That Driving Rain
- Friends and Family
- Let's Dig Up Something Really Nasty
- Katmandu
- I'm Gonna Tell My Tale, C'mon
- Of Caves and Barbed Wire
- Misc.
- Songwriting
- Early Tours and Shows
- The Oakland Mall
- Jackson
- The Primo, R&R Farm, Suds Factory and Chances Are
- The Agora
- On the Road
- Jackson County Fair
- Pontiac, the Michigan Jam and Other Victories
- Seger in the Arena
- The 1983 Tour
- The 1986-87 Tour
- The Last Tour?
- They'll Never Be in The Arena, But They Get to Write the Reviews
- Savannah
- Charlotte
- Philadelphia
- Oakland
- Miami
- San Francisco
- Seattle
- Houston
- New York
- Los Angeles
- Vancouver (Canada)
- Greensboro
- The 1996 Tour
- The Set List Discussed
- The Set List Presented
- The Set List Analyzed
- Bringing the Family
- Tour Notes
- Thirsty for Seger
- A Review of the Reviews
- Charleston
- Nashville
- Palace of Auburn Hills
- Washington
- L.A.
- The 2006-07 Tour Pages
- Readin' O.P.'s
- A compilation of e-mail messages. Some favorite are:
- -- Hope to see you tonight
- -- Motor City Rock
- -- The FargoDome
- -- The 7-Eleven and the Winter Olympics
- -- He gave me a strange look
- -- Now that we're older
- Brand New Email
- More great letters.
- -- Seger, Sinatra, Cobain
- -- My Dad, Bob and Charlie Martin
- -- I work for General Motors
- -- Seger and Mohammad Ali
- -- The last thing I hear from Bob Seger
- -- Road trip to Ann Arbor
- -- I never spoke to Bob, but he always spoke to me
- Brand New Email Pt. II
- -- Bob at the Roseland Inn
- -- Seger interview
- -- Backstage with a bad pass
- -- Put the car in park
- -- Starry August nights
- -- Cool me down
- -- The bridge from Motown
- -- The Seger-starved masses plead for tour news
- -- The Kiss File?
- Seger Stories and Misc. Email
- --The best thing you could say
- --Blue and Julia
- --Rockin' with Fidel
- --Early days of baseball and Bob
- --Follow your heart
- --Waving with the lighter
- Email '05
- --About Drew Abbott
- --On 2+2
- --On "The Lonely One"
- --About Tom Neme
- --About Charlie Martin
- --Shows
- --The Toledo Jam
- --About Pep Perrine
- --About Jim Bruzzese
- --Early days
- --Fans
- --Early songs
- Falsehoods
- Seger Inks SimTour Deal, Gets Ready to Rock
- Capitol Releases "Dee-Pah!
- The Seger Cam is back online
- The Michigan Jam 2
- The Seger versus. Springsteen
- The Medicated Top 20
- Misc.
- Reese: Money for Music
- Get Back to Work
- A guide to surfing The Seger File at work.
- The Primo Photo
- The Rolling Stone Letter
- The Imaginary Interview
- Why the Seger File Is Here -- Getting Over Bob Seger
Vault V
Every year for five years, I've paid a visit to the Vault -- my term for an extensive collection of Seger's unreleased tracks. This year was no exception.
By now, most readers know that the Vault is actually a large, locked cabinet at the bottom of Virginia's Luray Caverns -- the largest and most popular caverns in eastern America, not far the Blue Ridge Mountains. The subterranean location is great for controlling access, though the high humidity tends to degrade the tape -- something which Seger's management actually seems to prefer.
As always, I began this year's visit (henceforth called Vault V) accompanied by Ears Two, whose knowledge of and enthusiasm for rock and roll knows no bounds. A friend for more than three decades, he's called Ears Two (or E2) in these reports because he provides a second set of ears as we listen to the precious tapes.
This year's trip, however, was different. The trail into the cavern seemed steeper and the air was thinner than usual. Eventually, it got to me.
"I can't make it any farther," I said, gasping. "Leave me here alone. You go on without me."
"Okay, sure," Ears Two said. "But if you're not coming, I want my nickname upgraded to Ears One."
"Done."
He left me then, leaning against a stalagmite with only a box of unpublished lyrics to keep me occupied. Ears One went on alone, listening to four new songs from 2005.
Seger's Vault deep in the Luray Caverns.
Seriously, due to some sort of tape retrieval SNAFU, only E1 heard the tapes this year. In some ways, that makes it even more interesting to me: Now I'm on your side of the equation, trying to understand a song from someone's notes. But you couldn't ask for a better guide than Ears Tw-- uh, Ears One. Vault V begins below.
- To: Segerfile
- From: Ears One
- Re: The Vault
Bottom line: Several of the new tracks could be considered "country," mostly because Bob can drop his g's with the best of them and knows to use phrases like "big fun." No shoals or shores or moons among the lyrics today. "Passing Through" was the best of the bunch and should be on the new CD. "The Price" and "Won't Stop" need a little work but ought to be released someday. "Too Late" is a curiosity that might make for a decent boxed set track.
As for "Sightseeing," the version I listened to was indeed accordion-free. It sounded like it needed something -- something like an accordion, most likely! "Adelaide" was also in the bag and it was nice to hear it again. Actually, I was surprised at how fully formed it was and how well it told a story in comparison to most of the new songs.
I'm wondering about Bob's claims to be including songs that were recorded "three weeks ago... five days ago... ten minutes ago." All those years to prepare (and plenty of really good stuff already in the can) and then he uses a bunch of last-minute stuff? What's that all about, anyway? Hmmm.
Attached are my thoughts on the tracks I heard.
[Editor's comment: It's clear from E1's notes that this is a breakup song. Hope has disappeared and you feel like you're living a lie. There's a price to all that and it's...well, I don't want to give away the ending. Let's just say it's not low. Here's what E1 has to say.]
A slowly strummed show tune with a vocal that sneaks into the song. Very effective female vocal helps Seger finish. Reminiscent, overall, of "Landing In London," in a way, but nowhere near as powerful. Maybe also a bit like "Famous Final Scene." The music's pretty good, but the lyrics are depressing. Loved the first and second listens, liked the third, bailed during the fourth.
[Later, these emails arrived from E1.]
- To: Segerfile
- From: Ears One
I've had the end of "The Price" in my head today and realized that it bears a faint kinship to the fadeout of Elton John's "Levon," with lots of strings (or string sounds) going this way and that. The feel of the song and the timbre of Seger's voice bring to mind "We've Got Tonight."
- To: Ears One
- From: Segerfile
Which is a feel and timbre a lot of people like, though not me so much. (Someone recently called "We've Got Tonight" the best get-in-yer-britches song ever. What, even better than "Get In Yer Britches" by Severalmany Tractors?? I don't think so.)
- To: Segerfile
- From: Ears One
I've always had a soft spot for "We've Got Tonight," but there's one key difference between it and "The Price" -- the tune is staying with me, but the lyrics offer no hope at all, not even for a moment of bliss before everything comes crashing down.
[Editor's note: From the lyrics, the song seems to be a philosophical look at life -- we're all on this ride together, just passing through. Some of the lines have the brilliant, easy mastery of a Dylan lyric, to my mind: "I could tell you plenty that you might not need to hear / Maybe it's a blessing some things are left unclear." Here is E1's report.]
This is a "country" song that really ought to be on the CD and I hope it is. A melancholy yet upbeat tune that has a singalong feel from the get-go. Easy to picture a crowd swaying back and forth, mouthing the lyrics and paying homage to Seger as an elder statesman.
Nice low key work by the band -- no show-off stuff but solid backing.
Hints of many songs: The long lyric lines remind me of Burton Cummings' "Break It to Them Gently." The guitar fade takes me to "Who'll Stop the Rain." The cold ending is Beatlesque.
[Editor's note: From the lyrics, I took "Won't Stop" to be a fast song -- mainly because it's got a lot of words in it. But no, E1 says it's a slow song. The lyrics are addressing you...you can throw your hands up, say you're gonna quit, drink all night, blame the world for your troubles. But guess what? It's not in you to quit, so you won't stop. There's a wonderfully graceful line -- "tyrants and kings do their usual things" -- that reminds me of what great economy Seger has as a lyricist. Here is E1's report.]
Definitely an attempt to go country -- a slow strummer. Synth comes up under second verse ("You can study…") and reminds me a little of ELP's "Lucky Man" build.
The "Tyrants and kings," section is superb, moody, heartfelt -- and ruined immediately by a hideous guitar solo (the soul-free guy is back and the amp's at 11).
It's just dawned on me that the part of "Won't Stop" I especially liked -- "Tyrants and kings do the usual things while you try to stay out of their way / Follow the truth and you'll find what you need every day" -- sounded a lot like something else we both know well: "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds." Imagine the "Follow" line sung as "Climb in the back with your head in the clouds and you're gone" and you'll have it.
Overall, a pretty good song but shouldn't be released until the guitar howl is removed.
[Editor's note: Gosh, the Internet can be a confusing place, with all its various contributors. Especially if you're a major recording star with other things on your mind. So to recap: Boston Sammy -- great guy from Boston. Scott Sparling- - Goes to Vault, doesn't actually steal songs. Ears One -- Hates your guitar solo. And doesn't actually steal songs either. Okey-dokey then.]
Editor's note: The lyrics to this one sound country. It's a kiss-off song, ala "it ain't no use in turning on your light, babe." Only instead of Dylan, think maybe Tim McGraw. And instead of "babe," think "hon." There are some nice phrases here, my favorite being "Well I've never been wicked but I'm gonna learn how." E1's notes follow. I can't tell for sure, but I don't think he liked this song.]
This one's a clunker, a stomping "good 'ol boy" effort that falls short. No band seems present -- just someone bashing at an acoustic guitar and some sort of synthesized bass that sounds like a whoopee cushion tape loop.
Ends with an off-key guitar whack that sounds like it broke a string. Geez, I hope this isn't on the new CD. There are too many much better choices.
[Later, this email arrived:]
- To: Segerfile
- From: Ears One
- Subject: Get Out of (John) Denver
I knew "Too Late" reminded me a little of something terrible, and it just came to me: The approach and the content both smack of "Thank God I'm A Country Boy." It's a song I've long despised, in large part because the Baltimore Orioles inexplicably use it as a seventh-inning-stretch anthem, which is just wrong. It wouldn't be hard to add a fiddle to "Too Late," unfortunately.
A sign near the Vault, meaning, Do Not Grope the Stalagmite. Or possibly, Keep Your Hands Off South America.
So there you have it: E1's take on four tracks you and I are probably never gonna hear. I, for one, am not going to miss the whoopee cushion bass loop.
Meanwhile, back at the stalagmite, I discovered another SNAFU. I was promised nine lyric sheets. Only eight were in the box. The one I wanted most -- "Suicide Streets" -- was missing.
But enough negativity. The box was eight/ninths full! Here's what was there.
"Good Luck, Baby Jane," is a passed over track from the mid-1970s. Baby Jane will need the luck because her family wants to keep her on the straight and narrow. Twin brothers watch her "like a hawk / have you feeling guilty before you can walk." Her mother's picked out a finishing school. They're determined to keep her pure; it's a battle for her soul.
"Pumpin'" -- another Seger song from the '70s -- consists of exactly nine words. In alphabetical order: All, Feelgood, Got, I'm, Long, Me, Mr., Night and Pumpin'.
I bet this song had a great Stax/Volt groove. But I don't read music, so we'll never know for sure.
I thought this earlier version of "Brave Strangers" might be different from the album version, and it was, but only by a line or two. Instead of "We were players, not arrangers," this version goes, "She was lonely, I was easy, and we rolled till the dawn's early light." (Or else, "She was lovely, I was easy." Whoever was supposed to teach me good handwriting did a miserable job.) And the line we know as "So we walked out, hardly speaking" is represented here as "Quite contented, hardly speaking," which has a markedly different feel.
The song, I mean, not the album. Back in the old days -- when interviewers asked about songs, not supermodels -- Seger described "Stranger" pretty thoroughly, explaining what it meant to him and why he ultimately left the title track off the album. You can catch up with his comments here.
Seeing the full lyrics didn't change my understanding of the song much, or at all. The later verses are in the same vein as the first: "The moon rose full and high," people stayed inside, children whispered to each other, and "the lawman kept a watch on that hotel." I'd still love to hear this song, and presumably it would be a must for any boxed set.
A road song from a trucker's point of view. The phrase "Breaker, breaker" in the lyrics dates it to the mid 70s, when it was written. He's coming out of Chicago, over weight and looking for back roads, looking out for Smokey and popping speed (referred to here as "cross" for white cross).
Those elements sound like a lot of trucker songs of the era. But in later verses, Seger makes it specific to Michigan -- "Now I see Ann Arbor and I'm speeding up 14 then up 23." If you've driven those roads, as a lot of us have, the lyrics take on special meaning.
A groupie song. She said, "you make it look so easy, I love the way you play." He "told her what she wanted to hear." By the final verse, everything's pretty easy "as we rolled out of sight." Which has a bit of a familiar ring to it.
It coulda. "But it ended up wrong." In other words, a relationship song -- about a relationship that had promise but died. "Was it a dream? When did we start saying things we didn't mean?"
A guide to previous Vault trips.
- Vault 1
- Face the Promise
- Days When the Rain Would Come
- Little Jane
- Hit the Road
- Anniversary
- The Future's Now
- Media Whipped
- Like A Rock -- (unreleased version, extra verse)
- Kentucky Moonlight
- Hustled in Nashville
- Comin' Home -- (unreleased version, extra lyrics)
- Carfax Abbey
- You'll Accomp'ny Me -- (unreleased version)
- Shinin' Brightly -- (unreleased version)
- Long Twin Silver Line -- (unreleased version)
- Horizontal Bop -- (unreleased version)
- Fire Lake -- (unreleased version)
- Wounded Angel
- Red Eye to Memphis
- Hard Night for Sarah
- Sunset
- Elevator Button
- White Monkey
- Can't Hit the Corners
- Babe
- Stargazer
- Snow Today
- Star Tonight
- Nine Tonight -- (unreleased version)
- Wildfire
- The Ring -- (unreleased version)
- Answer's in the Question
- Vault 2
- Tomorrow
- Northern Lights
- Love Will Find A Way
- Melting Pot
- Runaway Train
- Satisfied
- Kuwait
- Cold Dark Night
- Let Me Try
- Got No Shadow
- Hollow Man
- Something More
- Finding Out
- Numbers Game
- Lioness Girl
- Vault 3
- Blue Ridge
- The Hard One
- The Reckoning
- Mr. Bottom
- Forward Into the Past
- Outland
- Before
- I Knew You When
- Crossfire
- Tonight
- Dreamin'
- It's Over
- At Sea
- You're My Girl
- Good Neighbor
- Love Changes All The Time
- Your Best Friend
- Hard to Make It Home
- Amazed
- More of You
- It Passes For Love
- Full Circle
- Hard Enough
- Maybe In A Minute
- Fly Away
- All Brand New
- Vault 4
- Time
- Wreck This Heart
- Wait For Me
- Don't Ask
- Are You
- It All Goes On
- Hero
- Let the Rivers Run
- Adelaide
- Seems Like A Long Time
- Black Linen, White Lace
- Patient
- Show It
- Freewheelin'
- Back In '72
- Louise
- Jet Set Woman
- Along the Way
Return to News & Updates The trains that stopped for a hundred years, they just rumble through...a whole way of life is fading fast.... But occasionally I still answer my email:
