Scott Sparling

Seger Seven

Posted on Mar 26th, 2013

It's turning into Seger week in Portland. A writer from Esquire called, wanting some quotes about "Night Moves." My essay on Seger as a lyricist is running in the Portland Mercury. And Seger plays the Rose Garden here Saturday night.

So, to get in the spirit, I'm adding a post a day about Seger on Facebook. Here they are so far, collected.

 

SATURDAY

My own personal Seger week is starting now, with a song I first heard as a teenager. I still sing the last line to myself whenever the world tries to make me into someone I'm not. Which is to say, all the time.

 

SUNDAY

J.J. Cale. Rodney Crowell. Otis Clay. Albert King. Peter Green. I learned about all these artists from songs Bob Seger covered. He even named an album after a Leonard Cohen book, way before Cohen's current popularity. And of course, Tom Waits. No one has covered Waits more often than Seger. Claim differently and he'll whittle you into kindling.

 

MONDAY

For Seger Week Part 3, not just a cover, but a complete reinvention of Midnight Rider. With the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and the most perfectly minimalist guitar solo you'll ever hear, from J.J. Cale. Unfortunately, Joe Cocker's cover of Midnight Rider was released just before Seger's, and that was that.

 

TUESDAY

Okay, so Seger was rockin' it in the early days. What about something from this century? It can't all be cornfields and the backseat of a '60 Chevy, right? Fair enough. You want up-to-date? Try this song about what to do before the sun burns us all up.