5 Things Learned About Bob Seger
By Walter Price
That’s right, the appealing legend of 70’s & 80’s non-confrontational Rock N’ Roll, the man who’s sounds have graced many a soundtrack and the guy who sold millions of pick-up trucks via his solid ‘Like A Rock’ signature tune. I say signature song, mostly this is so due to familiarity than popularity. That is a debate for another day…
A prolific Detroit man of blue-collar rock up until 1986 when he decided to take it easy and slow his record release flow, again probably due to this ‘Like A Rock’ saturating the marketplace, is back with a new studio album ‘Ride Out’ (his first since 2006 and is available for your holiday shopping needs via Capitol Records) and he has said some things to Rolling Stone’s Andy Greene that I did not know.
FYI, I haven’t had a chance to have a listen to ‘Ride Out’ yet. I expect this album to be in my oversized stocking this year. Thank You.
Back to the five sincerely fascinating things I learned about Bob Seger from a Rolling Stone article:
#1 Bob (because we’re close friends) has global warming thoughts and even goes into it on his new album:
There’s a [recent] U.N. report saying that climate change isn’t coming – it’s here right now. It stuns me that people like Marco Rubio, who seems fairly bright, would say climate change isn’t caused by humans.
#2 There is an actual reason why some of his catalog is hard to get (via streaming/downloads):
It’s an ongoing issue with my manager and Capitol Records. You have to talk to him about that. They agreed to something many years ago about new media and they don’t want to live up to it. The record business is 50 percent of what it was ten years ago, so they’re trying to cut costs. Until that’s resolved, we let very little out.
#3 Bob doesn’t dig social media, email or the internets all that much:
I just have no desire to be that public, I guess. It takes up too much time. I read a funny thing that said “We’re raising screen-agers now.” That’s because they’re always staring at their phones or their pads or whatever. I want to get a little more out of life than looking at a screen. Wait, I should say my office has a Facebook page for me, but I have no idea what’s on it. Occasionally, they’ll ask me a question and I’ll put my answer on it.
#4 If you think you were extremely high and imagined seeing Bob at an Eminem/Rihanna concert, yes you were and yes you probably did:
They (Bob’s children) go to college near us. I’m happy as heck they’re still around because I adore them. I think my daughter is going to be the first to go. She’s 19 and wants to go to Nashville or New York next year for school. That’s going to kill me. She wants to be in music management. You know, I recently took her and her boyfriend to see Eminem and Rihanna. She got to meet a CAA agent there.
#5 Although Bob may have a bit of a cringe when it comes to his ‘Like A Rock’ commercial overload in decades past, he loves him some ‘Old Time Rock and Roll’ Tom Cruise in his underpants (but digs Liam Neeson even more):
It’s an iconic moment. I get a kick out of it. It’s been parodied by many people: Nicole Kidman, Ron Reagan Jr. ..I’m more into Liam Neeson. I never miss anything he does. I liked The Grey, which a lot of people hated. The director is from Detroit, and I was rooting for him.
There ya have it, 5 things I was happy to learn about a Rock N’ Roll hero who is often overlooked by the Arcade Fire fans but should be a part of any budding record collection.
Wanna know more about what Bob thinks about Eminem, what his fave TV show is, did the Silver Bullet Band take part in the new album, why he doesn’t mind looking his age, Waylon Jennings, how long will he tour, his healthy unhealthy habits and a slew of other need to know doodads, click HERE.
Thank You