From Chuck Eddy’s blog [the ONLY website bookmarked on my computer!], this vintage assessment of the complicated aesthetic of Mr. Seger reminds of why I feel compelled to fight back so hard when people act like admitting to enjoying the man’s tunes is some sort of poisonous detriment to my “cool” rep. This is my favorite thing I’ve read in the last month, and the fact that this piece itself now is three decades old probably goes at least partway toward making its own joke at the expense of just what kind of backwards-looking middle-aged-dude type is presumed to find Seger appealing in the first place… But listening to Seger somehow makes all those charges less threatening, weirdly: his back is always gonna ache more, and he’s always gonna wonder aloud “where-has-all-the-time-gone,” than I ever may manage! Jaz Jacobi This may convince me actually to LISTEN to that copy of THE FIRE INSIDE I picked up for 50 cents and I bet I’ve still never played!
Chuck Eddy
Honestly, I’m pretty sure I haven’t listened to it since I wrote this review! Jaz Jacobi That Bruce Hornsby quotient may continue to steer me clear away! But then, I put up with Glenn Frey in the background of “Fire Lake,” so who knows Regis Philbert Is Seger still policing the streaming and reissue of his catalog?
A tiny bit more lax–he allowed a compilation of stray tracks from his early ’70s LPs, but with newly-recorded instrumentation replacing bits of it
And supposedly there is an official comp of [some of] his legendary ’60s singles
He might not control that material anyway–some of those ’60s songs showed up on a Cameo-Parkway compilation or two Regis Philbert The last thing I bought was the Seger System Ramblin Gamblin Man reissue from a few years back but thinking about taking a deep dive… Regis Philbert (but I’m wary of anything post-1980 ) ·
Regis Philbert Oh I just realized I have this but haven’t listened to it… Bob Seger And The Last Heard – Heavy Music: The Complete Cameo Recordings 1966-1967 (2018, Vinyl)
Jaz Jacovu
I have the RAMBLIN’ GAMBLIN’ CD as well, lucked into finding it for a couple of bucks many years ago
Regis Philbert
i ha mine’s the blue vinyl version which I suspect you would resent the very existence of when it exists on perfectly sensible clean and cheap cd format!
Jaz Jacobi
You know me too well! If I wanted Seger VINYL, all these out-of-print albums have been sitting around in that format for decades. [Maybe I SHOULD consider it!]
Nothing in life has dealt a harsher blow to my “cool” rep than publicly stating that I enjoy Seger’s music. People get PISSED about how much they hate him, for some reason!
Chuck Eddy Their “cool” rep is clearly a delusion!
Jaz Jacobi
The Fresh Prince’s mom might insist I’m still not old enough to “have a rep yet”!
This is fantastic. I missed this piece back then. Thanks for posting it.
via bluesky
damoneramone
Great article, really glad you posted it.
via facebook
Jaz Jacobi
From Chuck Eddy’s blog [the ONLY website bookmarked on my computer!], this vintage assessment of the complicated aesthetic of Mr. Seger reminds of why I feel compelled to fight back so hard when people act like admitting to enjoying the man’s tunes is some sort of poisonous detriment to my “cool” rep. This is my favorite thing I’ve read in the last month, and the fact that this piece itself now is three decades old probably goes at least partway toward making its own joke at the expense of just what kind of backwards-looking middle-aged-dude type is presumed to find Seger appealing in the first place… But listening to Seger somehow makes all those charges less threatening, weirdly: his back is always gonna ache more, and he’s always gonna wonder aloud “where-has-all-the-time-gone,” than I ever may manage! Jaz Jacobi This may convince me actually to LISTEN to that copy of THE FIRE INSIDE I picked up for 50 cents and I bet I’ve still never played!
Chuck Eddy
Honestly, I’m pretty sure I haven’t listened to it since I wrote this review! Jaz Jacobi That Bruce Hornsby quotient may continue to steer me clear away! But then, I put up with Glenn Frey in the background of “Fire Lake,” so who knows Regis Philbert Is Seger still policing the streaming and reissue of his catalog?
A tiny bit more lax–he allowed a compilation of stray tracks from his early ’70s LPs, but with newly-recorded instrumentation replacing bits of it
And supposedly there is an official comp of [some of] his legendary ’60s singles
He might not control that material anyway–some of those ’60s songs showed up on a Cameo-Parkway compilation or two Regis Philbert The last thing I bought was the Seger System Ramblin Gamblin Man reissue from a few years back but thinking about taking a deep dive… Regis Philbert (but I’m wary of anything post-1980 ) ·
Regis Philbert Oh I just realized I have this but haven’t listened to it… Bob Seger And The Last Heard – Heavy Music: The Complete Cameo Recordings 1966-1967 (2018, Vinyl)
Jaz Jacovu
I have the RAMBLIN’ GAMBLIN’ CD as well, lucked into finding it for a couple of bucks many years ago
Regis Philbert
i ha mine’s the blue vinyl version which I suspect you would resent the very existence of when it exists on perfectly sensible clean and cheap cd format!
Jaz Jacobi
You know me too well! If I wanted Seger VINYL, all these out-of-print albums have been sitting around in that format for decades. [Maybe I SHOULD consider it!]
Nothing in life has dealt a harsher blow to my “cool” rep than publicly stating that I enjoy Seger’s music. People get PISSED about how much they hate him, for some reason!
Chuck Eddy Their “cool” rep is clearly a delusion!
Jaz Jacobi
The Fresh Prince’s mom might insist I’m still not old enough to “have a rep yet”!