ON SONGWRITING
“In 1975 we did 261
dates, and ninety nine
percent of them were
one-nighters. Now that
gets you seen by a lot
of people. It gets your
band tight.”
brought. “Our organ player went on an
ego trip and quit the group just before a
national tour. So we went out as a threepiece which was a dire mistake. The tour
only lasted about four weeks and was
pretty much a disaster.”
Later, with a new organ player, Seger
and crew built toward another peak.
“Early in 1970, in Orlando, Florida, we
played the biggest gig of our career. We
drew 8,500 people and made $10,000 for
one night, which was totally ridiculous for
our band. About a month after that, when
we got back to doing what we normally
did, the usual, run of the mill, crummy
gigs, the guys kind of got depressed and
the group broke up.”
With ten years and six albums behind
him and eight singles at that point, Bob
Seger is perhaps more qualified than
most to comment on the nuts and bolts
of a quintessential rock-and-roll overnight
success.
Go Bob. “The first four years were
a fiasco. Nobody knew what they were
doing. The next four years I made some
good albums, but I had to go through six
bands to do it. I had my ups and downs,
but I always managed to make a living
out of it, and really, that was enough for
me, because I enjoyed doing it. I didn’t
want to do a nine to five gig, and I knew
sooner or later I’d figure out what I was
doing wrong.” ■
56
GUITAR TRICKS INSIDER
DIGITAL EDITION
OCT/NOV