Bob Seger and James Brown James Brown, who died Christmas day, was the Godfather of Soul and one of the biggest early influences on Seger. Here's a sampling of Seger comments about James Brown from over the years. "Among me and my friends, the absolute favorite record was James Brown Live at the Apollo, Vol. 1. It was like, if you didn't own that album, don't show up." Chris Cioe, Musician Magazine. "Bob Seger: Hymns from the heartland." Cioe remembers Seger watching Seger perform in 1966 in Ann Arbor, on the front lawn of the Chi Phi house on Washtenaw Avenue. Seger was playing keyboard bass with this left hand. "The first song I remember hearing him sing was James Brown's 'I Feel Good,' his voice already a riveting mixture of Wilson Pickett, Van Morrison and something all his own." ... Seger:"James Brown was probably my biggest influence, as far as the show was concerned. I saw him 3 or 4 times while I was in high school...Dionne Warwick was with the James Brown Revue, before she was on the Specter label, she was doing R&B back then, and we used to see all those acts [Warwick, Otis Redding, Garnett Mimms and Soloman Burke]. Then, of course, James would come out with the cape and the Famous Flames and the fabulous dance steps. "I don't know if it was because of James Brown and Little Richard, I always preferred a high energy vocal, a hard full-force vocal. I liked Little Richard better than Elvis, and I liked James Brown better than the Beatles...but the Miracles were a heavy influence on me, too...[though] I always preferred the more energized vocals." Late-1981 radio interview. There are James Brown influences throughout Seger's music, from "Sock it To Me Santa" to "Simplicity." It makes me wonder if Seger and Brown ever met. It also makes me wonder if Seger might send a song out to the Godfather of Soul on Thursday night. December 25, 2006 Bob Seger and Gerald Ford Gerald Ford, who died today, was the 38th president and also an important influence on Seger's early career. Ford's given name at birth was Leslie King, but his mother changed it to Gerald Ford to conceal his identity. Seger briefly worked at the Ford Motor Company. Ford was born in Omaha, which is mentioned prominently in Turn the Page; he later moved to Grand Rapids, where Seger began his recent tour. Ford pardoned Nixon; Seger once said "Pardon me" to a stagehand. The similarities are endless. It makes me wonder if the two ever met. It also makes me wonder if April Fool's Day has come early. December 26, 2006 Dylan Socks it to Santa The December 20 episode of Bob Dylan's "Theme Time Radio Hour" on XM Radio featured Dylan reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas." And if that's not enough to get you in a holiday mood, how about a little Seger in playlist? "This holiday episode of "Theme Time Radio Hour" will be devoted to the theme of "Christmas and New Year's," with a song list that spans the decades, including "Who Took The Merry Out Of Christmas" by The Staples Singers, "Sock It To Me Santa" by Bob Seger, "Jingle Bells" by Johnny Paycheck and "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" by Nancy Wilson, among many others." December 14, 2006, Digital Pipeline. I'd love to know how he introduced the song, wouldn't you? The two-hour holiday will encore at various times on Deep Tracks, XM 40, through the end of the month, so if you've got XM, give a listen. Thanks to the ever-vigilant Bill Cook for the tip. December 25, 2006 Oklahoma Disappears...Again. It was on the schedule. It was off the schedule. It was on the schedule. And now...The Ford Center has posted this update: "Due to routing issues Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band will not be appearing on February 06, 2007 at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City...Management for Bob Seger and Live Nation are continuing to work with the Ford Center on a date that will work on Bob Seger's 2007 tour." Thanks to Jason Brown for the tip. December 19, 2006 Quick Times in Cleveland The Cleveland show was everything you could want. I'll have my review posted soon. Meanwhile, check out these Cleveland photos from Lynne. Click image for more Cleveland photos. And thanks to Brenda Harrison for this photo of Seger and Patty Loveless in Atlanta. December 19, 2006 Face the Promise Goes Platinum That didn't take long. Face The Promise tour has already gone platinum, according to the PR Newswire. Thanks to Mike from GR for the tip. While we're doing the numbers, a total 293,711 Seger fans have attended the first 21 shows. December 18, 2006 Leavin' for Cleveland Usually when Ears Two and I get together, it's to listen to some rare Seger in the Vault. This time it's for something even better: to hear some Seger live and in person in a great rock and roll city. Meanwhile, here's a great picture of Seger you won't find on the Detroit News site, or at WCSX, the Free Press or any other site. It's from photographer Tim Jenkins. Enjoy. December 14, 2006 Seger: Rock and Roll til March, Then Reassess From the WCSX website: Bob Seger plans to stay on the road until March 15th -- and after that things are up in the air. Seger tells the insider that Silver Bullet Band drummer Don Brewer has to go back to Grand Funk Railroad after that date, which puts a relatively firm closing date on this portion of the "Face the Promise" tour. But Seger notes that the tour "has been so successful (that) a lot of promoters are screaming for summer (shows) for sheds. And if I want to do a summer thing I'd have to do it with a different drummer; we might not be able to get Don, and I don't know if I'd want to do it without Don 'cause he's such a great wall to lean on. So we'll see. At this point I'm gonna go to March 15th...And I don't know how I'm gonna feel on March 15th, either. That's a long way off." Seger has started to roll out 2007 dates and says the last one booked at the moment is March 3rd in Las Vegas. After that, he notes, "there's so many different ways we can go...and we've missed some places." But might one of those directions bring him back to Detroit area for some more shows in the early spring? "I don't know," he says. "I just don't know. I'm not looking past Vegas right now. We just don't know what we're gonna do." Thanks to Mike from GR for the tip. December 12, 2006 Seger Celebrates the Seger File's 9th Year with Portland Concert Nine years is a lifetime on the Internet. But next February will mark nine years since the Seger File was launched. (This site was born in February 1998. Six months later, an unknown search engine site called Google came online. Despite their best efforts, they have been unable to match this site for sheer depth of info about Seger. Unless you enter the term "Seger" in their clunky search box. And then you end up here anyway.) For most of its existence, the Seger File was blessed by a near-total lack of Seger news. I came online just as Seger was going off the grid, so to speak. So in order to have anything to post, I was forced to input info from a huge collection of pre-internet Seger news and magazine stories. That background still forms the basis of the Seger File. I was also forced to rely on personal opinions, humor, anecdotes, sarcasm and, every April Fools Day, outright lies...er, jokes...giving the Seger File the personality it has today. Of course, another blessing was the fact that Seger had no official web site or fan club, so I had the field to myself (at least until the equally fabulous Segerbob.com and Segernet.com came along). And so, just as the Seger File celebrates its 9th year, Seger is coming to town. Coincidence? You be the judge. He'll be in Portland, Oregon at the Rose Garden on February 17. (FYI, tickets for the Portland show are not being handled by Ticketmaster. You can get them through the Rose Garden's ticket site or supposedly through Comcasttix.com -- which may lead you to the same site. Don't know for sure, because Comcasttix crashed my laptop. Or call (877) 789-ROSE.) Seattle's on the schedule too. February 22. No doubt we'll learn of some shows in between soon. Meanwhile, if you see Bob, remind him to say "Happy Birthday, Seger File!" when he plays Portland. It's the best present the site could get! December 10, 2006 Loveless Newbie That's the title I've earned over at Patty-Loveless.net, where the message boards are lighting up over the Patty Loveless / Seger duet in Atlanta. Here's how a poster named Tammie described it: "Bob introduced her something like this: "Well, we have a special guest here tonight, she's going to join me on stage in a few moments. I'm a HUGE fan of this lady, she's my favorite country singer - she's from right here in Georgia. I was lucky enough to have her sing a duet with me on my latest album - she's going to join me on stage here tonight - this is going to be my favorite night of the entire tour, I'm certain. That's all I'm going to say...ladies and gentlemen...Ms. Patty Loveless!" She walked on stage and there was applause - I would have to say mostly polite applause. I'm sure some people there had no clue who she was...although one lady near me shouted "It's Patty Loveless!" Which I thought was cool. So, she comes across to hug Bob's neck and they start the song...one odd thing - he was center stage with some band members - sitting on stools together...Patty was standing, which was an odd duet...with her standing and him sitting...but whatever! Who cares...right? So, he sang the first verse and then she comes in for her part with "The heart's a lonely hunter it never quite feels safe..." Once she sang, "The heart's a lonely hunter..." the crowd went WILD! She literally brought down the house....it was deafening! So loud, it actually drowned out her vocals for the next few seconds...thankfully, the sound guy was on top of things and turned her microphone up part way through her performance...which made it even better. It was impressive - there were LOTS of folks there - I think she was VERY smart to accept his invitation to join him on stage - perhaps she can win some new fans over. Besides - how often do you go to a concert and sit through the entire thing HOPING that a duet partner shows up to perform...that's ALWAYS an added bonus and when it's Patty Loveless...it's even better. Also, earlier in the show when Bob Seger sang "Old Time Rock and Roll" he sent it out to Emory....which was cool! Overall, it was a wonderful concert...the man can still rock! He sounded great and did a couple of things that I really LOVED and appreciated (besides bringing PL on stage)....he introduced each and ever band member and had NO fancy light shows, no big screens, nothing to "distract" the listener - no need to "mask" for non-talent...the guy was awesome...just him and the band on stage....oh and one very talented guest vocalist!" Thanks, Tammie. Hopefully we'll get some pictures to share soon. December 10, 2006 The Answer's In the Question After all the interviews Seger has done recently, some writers are still uncovering new and interesting information...simply by asking interesting questions. The Tennessean is the latest to explore some new territory. The recent interview by Peter Cooper talks about Seger's motorcycle habits (he has motorcycle boots with 22,000 miles on them; he always wears a helmet) and reveals an unused line from "Answer's In the Question," (Loveless and her producer/husband Emory Gordy, Jr. liked the released version better). You can read the whole interview here. Speaking of which -- in Atlanta a few nights ago, Seger introduced "Old Time Rock & Roll" by calling out "This one's for you, Emory." Fevered Dreams, Part 2: If I were a rock star, instead of someone who hammers words together for a living, I would never schedule tours during flu season. Because I always seem to get it. This is the second time in two months that the Seger File has been "down" for a week. So if I missed responding to your email in the past week, my apologies. December 9, 2006 Seger is Number 3 Ticket-seller Last Week From Ticketnews.com: TOP 10 CONCERT EVENTS Eric Clapton High School Musical Bob Seger Rod Stewart Mana George Strait Josh Groban Trans Siberian Orch The Cheetah Girls Billy Joel December 7, 2006 Orlando and Worcester and D.C and Denver and Philly and Charleston, SC... They're coming in droves now. The North Charleston Coliseum has announced a Seger concert on January 9. The Pepsi Center in Denver has Seger appearing on February 14. WMGK, the Philadelphia classic rock station, lists Seger at the Wachovia Spectrum on January 18. According to Pollstar, Seger has added Orlando, Florida to the schedule on 1/6/07. According to LiveNation, he's added Worcester, MA. He'll be there January 30. According to Ticketmaster, he's added D.C. on February 1. I've added them all to my master schedule, here. That makes 18 "second leg" dates so far. Thanks for the tips to Jason Brown, Craig from Allentown, Mike from GR, Mike (not from GR) and Johnny Mosteller. December 2, 2006 Loveless in Atlanta Patty Loveless, that is. Rumor is she'll join Bob on stage in Atlanta. Remember you heard it hear first. Unless you were at the Chicago show last night, in which case you heard it straight from Bob. December 2, 2006 I'm Right, Chicago's Wrong Growing up in Michigan, I never liked Chicago much. Maybe you grew up in Chicago and never liked Michigan much. Fair enough. But Chicago has always seemed to me like a good place to change planes, or if you happen to be driving, a place to get caught in traffic and miss your plane. I was once questioned by federal drug agents in Chicago simply because I happened to park in the middle of their stakeout. If they'd had a little sign reading "Federal Drug Stakeout in Progress - No Parking," I wouldn't have taken their precious parking spot, of course.... But that's all in the past. What ticks me off about Chicago these days is the attitude of their music critics. Specifically, their attitude toward Seger. I posted three reviews from three different Chicago papers -- and to be honest, they're all pretty good. Not that bad at all. But little things stick in my craw. (Okay, so I have an extremely tiny craw; it's easy to get stuck in there.) For example, the Chicago Daily Herald called Seger "an arena rocker." Yes, Seger can rock an arena. But if that's all you think he is, you shouldn't be writing reviews about him. The same review claims Seger "represents solid, no-frills, reliable rock and soul" -- a cliche that gets repeated by every critic without a clue...a journeyman, a meat and potatoes rocker, Springsteen without the vision, etc., etc. Clearly these people have never really listened to any of Seger's albums. The Chicago Sun-Times rolled out the cliches early, going for "Midwestern meat-and-potatoes arena anthems" at the top of the second paragraph. "Yeah, ol' Bob can be cheesy at times," the reviewer wrote. "He crossed the line from earnest to Hallmark card-banal while introducing the new 'No Matter Who You Are.'" Oh really? Was there a collective groan from the 18,000 fans at the Allstate Arena. Or was it just the elevated sensibilities of the critic that were offended? Look, a guy comes to your town, maybe you only know him from his radio hits. He captivates and thrills 18,000 fans. Your job as a reviewer is to find out why. Instead you come up with "Unlike the Boss, Bob isn't aspiring to craft Important Art." Yep, he's just up there banging out three-chord rock, rhyming moon with June. Nothing worth thinking about in Seger's lyrics. Okey-dokey. Hey, Mr. Critic. You need a parking spot? I've got a really good one you could use. The review in the Chicago Tribune is perfectly fine, actually. I wouldn't mention it if the other two hadn't already got me on a rant. The one line that bugged me is this: "The set list occasionally lagged when he leaned too heavily on songs from 'Face the Promise.'" That seems like the ultimate Catch-22. When he plays the radio hits from the '70s, call him an arena rocker. When he plays the new stuff, say the set list lags. What do you want him to do -- just stand there? (And not have to dance?)* The thing is, these were all positive reviews overall, so perhaps I should stop complaining. At least they spelled his name right. Except they didn't. Check it out. See -- that's why I've never liked Chicago. The Allstate Arena web site: Someone named Seeger is rocking the house. *Insider joke known only to people who have actually listened to the new album. Sorry critics. For a totally different perspective on Chicago, read this fan review. December 2, 2006 ...And When You Come to Oregon, Try the Granola The Kansas City Star has posted the rest of its interview with Seger on their blog site. It includes insights on what Seger likes to eat in Kansas City. Some excerpts: What has changed the most in the record industry over past 10 years? I think the biggest change has been the relentless promotion. I see someone like Gretchen Wilson doing promotion literally day and night for a year and a half ... because that's what they want you to do. I can't do all that stuff; I have to save my voice. But if you're willing to do it, they'll promote you day and night. It didn't use to be that way; you didn't have to worry so much about that stuff. But I'm listening to the company. I've been on TV ... How gratifying is it to tour again? I don't think I realized how much fun it was until we hit the road again -- working with the band, being on stage. I love Kansas City and Kemper Arena. Whenever we're in town we'd say, "OK, we're in Kansas City; we got to get a steak." Read the entire interview on the Seger Live section of the Seger File. November 30, 2006 Hollywood, Florida (But No Cleveland Sequel) The latest official tour date to sneak on the calendar is January 11 at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida. Thanks to Miama Frank for the tip, who says it's a great venue with only 5,500 seats. The rumor of a second Cleveland show now seems false. On Wednesday, radio station Y-103 in Cleveland had a January 5th show posted on their web site, but by Thursday it was gone. The rumor about a concert in Columbus, Ohio in March is still on the table. Given the Cleveland experience, I'm taking it with an even larger grain of salt. And some ground pepper. Also, while I was snooping around various Classic Rock sites trying to uncover more hidden tour dates, it hit me that one of the songs Seger says he doesn't want to play anymore is the very song that sexagenarian Rod Stewart is singing in many of these same arenas and the title track of Stewart's latest offering: Still the Same. "The 'Baby, baby, you're still the same' doesn't lay with me anymore," Seger said in a story by Jon Bream of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. In other words, Rod, it no longer meets Seger-Standards, so you can have it. Finally, you have a temporary pass to leave the Seger File and check out these great Milwaukee photos at concertlivewire. I'll expect you back in five minutes, so don't dawdle. Thanks to Mike from GR for the tip. November 28, 2006 Updated Schedule; Azar and Church are openers To keep the info all in one place, here's the full schedule: Grand Rapids, MI 11/8/06 Saginaw, MI 11/10/06 Grand Rapids, MI 11/12/06 Charleston, WV 11/14/06 Milwaukee, WI 11/16/06 Indianapolis 11/18/06 Knoxville, TN 11/20/06 Cincinnati, OH 11/25/06 Mpls/St. Paul, MN 11/28/06 Chicago, IL 11/30/06 Kansas City, MO 12/2/06 St. Louis, MO 12/4/06 Atlanta, GA 12/07/06 Nashville, TN 12/9/06 Louisville, KY 12/12/06 Pittsburgh, PA 12/14/06 Cleveland, OH 12/16/06 Detroit 12/20/06 Detroit 12/22/06 Detroit 12/28/06 Detroit 12/30/06 Orlando, FL 1/6/07 North Charleston, SC 1/9/07 Hollywood, FL 1/11/07 Tampa 1/13/07 Charlotte, NC 1/16/07 Philadelphia 1/18/07 Uncasville, CT 1/20/07 Toronto 1/23/07 New York City 1/25/07 Boston 1/27/07 Worcester, MA 1/30/07 Washington, D.C. 2/1/07 Memphis 2/3/07 Dallas 2/8/07 Little Rock 2/10/07 Houston 2/12/07 Denver 2/14/07 Portland 2/17/07 Seattle 2/22/07 Oakland 2/24/07 Phoenix 2/27/07 Los Angeles 3/1/07 Las Vegas 3/3/07 Omaha 3/6/07 Lexington, KY 3/8/07 Columbus, OH 3/10/07 Detroit 3/13/07 Detroit (Cobo Hall) 3/15/07 Detroit (Cobo Hall) 3/17/07 Steve Azar is opening the shows through Knoxville. Then Eric Church opens for the next ten shows. Then Azar returns. Azar and Church. Or maybe it's the other way around. Understanding Ever since hearing "No More," I've wondered why Seger didn't incorporate some kind of a link, or at least a sly nod, back to "2 + 2 =?" Now I realize it's been right there in front of me all along. Look at where Seger has placed the word "understand" in these two stanzas. From "2 + 2" "Now he's buried in the mud Of a foreign jungle land And his girl just sits and cries She just doesn't understand."     From "No More" "It was 40 years ago and I was young And the jungle not the desert heard the guns Someone said they had a secret plan And the rest of us were told to understand." There's the connection right there -- one song acknowledging another. Maybe it wasn't even intentional and the lyrics are doing it all on their own. Either way, he followed his creative consciousness down a path and both times -- 40 years apart -- it landed right on that word. That can't be coincidence. The other thing worth noting is that Seger came out with a song that said "I have had enough, no more," in September. In November, the country went to the polls and said basically the same thing. Memo to the White House: When you've lost Seger, you've lost the country. November 30, 2006 Seger is Number 1 on Pollstar A preview of the Chicago show published Sunday contains this tidbit: "Pollstar, a trade publication that covers the concert industry, has a chart with a "power index,'' which tracks the number of fan requests for an act's tour itinerary. For the week ending Nov. 17, Seger was No. 1 on the Pollstar Top 50. So if you come to the Seger File for the latest tour news, maybe you should go to Pollstar too. Just to keep Seger's numbers up. Some other excerpts: ..."I never thought I'd be out here again,'' Seger, 61, said during a phone call from his home in the Detroit suburbs. ...The track "No More'' makes a comparison between the war in Vietnam and the war in Iraq. ..."I came up with the chorus first: 'I've had enough, no more,''' Seger recalled. "I fit the chords and it was angry like a rock song, but I didn't know what I was talking about. It took me about two minutes to figure out, 'Oh, I know what I'm mad about.' These guys should be coming home. I was pretty proud of [Rep.] Jack Murtha, an ex-Marine who's been in combat, for standing up last year and saying, 'Bring them home.' That's basically my position. I think the next president is going to be picked by the best withdrawal strategy.'' ...according to Pollstar's database, Seger played 64 shows in 1996, selling 922,484 tickets, with gross ticket sales of $26.3 million. Read the entire article on the Seger Live page of the Seger File. November 27, 2006 Seger: "We're doing close to 50 gigs." That line definitely jumped out at me from the latest profile/preview piece on Seger. This one is by Jon Bream in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. My chart of all announced tour dates lists 32 gigs -- which means there are about 20 more shows we don't know about yet. Presumably three or four of those gigs will be at the Joe Louis in Detroit. So, by that logic, there's roughly 15 yet-to-be-announced shows around the country. Bream also reveals that Seger has been flying home after the shows. (Though I wonder if he'll continue that practice when he plays the west coast.) Some excerpts: "My voice sounds like crap now," Bob Seger proclaimed. It was the morning after the fourth concert of his first tour in 10 years. He'd just woken up. On stage, however, his voice is "holding up really good," he said. "It's actually getting stronger every night, believe it or not." ...After the long hiatus, Seger has developed a new routine for gig days: Wake up at 8:30, take care of business, maybe nap, see the kids after school, fly to the gig on a private plane, do sound-check, eat dinner, nap again, loosen up, drink his tea, perform, fly home, fall asleep by 3 a.m. or so. "I just don't do well in hotels," he said from his home in suburban Detroit. "West Virginia last night was like 55 minutes home. The big thing is making sure I get enough sleep." ...He initially planned only 21 concerts over two months but now the tour has been extended into next year. "It's a little daunting, knowing that we're doing close to 50 gigs," he said. "I'm trying to get into that mindset." Will this be his last tour? "I don't think like that," said the silver-haired rocker, who did his first tour in 1966. "I never say never. And I go day to day. Right now, I'll be done the middle of March, and I'll rest for a month and see if I want to do it again." ...Seger is getting two thumbs up from his kids, who have seen two shows. "They're really digging it," he said, and he hopes to take them on the road every weekend. The interview comes with a short sidebar about three songs Seger doesn't want to play anymore. You can real the whole piece, "Bob Seger's working on his night moves," by Jon Bream in the SegerLive section of the Seger File. November 24, 2006 The (Non-smoking) T-Shirt Opening night in Grand Rapids, I hit the merch stand pretty hard. Two t-shirts and a coffee cup. The shirts, like the album, coasters, posters and everything else, all feature photos by Cybelle Codish But look closely at the photo and you'll notice that Seger is not smoking on the shirt -- they photoshopped his cigarette out. I guess it's a non-smoking shirt. He rides on his Harley from morning to late afternoon: The official t-shirt and the original photo by Cybelle Codish.  November 27, 2006