Because of his reluctance to deal with streaming companies, reissues from Bob Seger take on extra importance compared to other artists. Considering that ‘Live’ Bullet, his hallowed double album from 1975, looms so large in his legend and had been out of print, the newly remastered rerelease breaks out from the pack of classic albums getting another chance at the spotlight. Quite simply, this is one of the landmark live records in the annals of rock, one that demonstrates the potential of the genre.
Too many live albums of that era were afterthoughts and money grabs. But ‘Live’ Bullet helped to define one of the quintessential American rockers at a time when he was largely unknown to the national audience. At the time of the 1976 release of the live record, Seger had already been kicking around the industry for around a decade with different collectives, gaining great regional acclaim but not so much national recognition.
The timing couldn’t have been better for this particular live album to arrive. Seger had spent most of that pre-fame decade playing heavier rock with R&B undertones for short-lived groupings like the Bob Seger System and The Last Heard. Just two months before the release of ‘Live’ Bullet, he had uncorked a record called Beautiful Loser which found him drifting closer to the singer-songwriter styles that helped him go national. Indeed, some of the most memorable moments on the live album come with tender renderings of “Beautiful Loser” and “Travelin’ Man,” which were only months old but immediately came across as audience favorites.
https://youtu.be/attPbjuxli0
None of Beautiful Loser’s songs hit the Top 40, but they laid the groundwork for the mega-success that was in the offing. A year later, Night Moves, with its Top Five title track, would send Seger into the stratosphere. Thus, ‘Live’ Bullet captures him at a true turning point, mixing the thundering material from the early part of his career with the introspection that would soon make him a household name. On these performances, he nails it all with a mix of sweaty energy and everyman charisma.
It’s also notable as perhaps the most thrilling example of the on-stage chemistry that Seger discovered with the Silver Bullet Band. Seger often utilized hired hands for his studio albums; consider the fact that Beautiful Loser was largely made with the Muscle Shoals rhythm section. But the Silver Bullet Band, which he had assembled about three years prior to ‘Live’ Bullet, possessed a knack for transforming the material, once they got their hands on it in concert, into something more robust and three-dimensional than what was on the original recordings.
Case in point: “Turn The Page.” The original studio version is fine as a song but a bit tentative as a recording. The ‘Live’ Bullet version of the song is the take that has become iconic. Seger’s vocal is a big part of it; you can tell he lived this song time and again. But the performance is also boosted by the sultry groove located by the rhythm section and by Alto Reed’s noirish saxophone. “Turn The Page” stands as one of the best songs about “the road” in the annals of rock, and it’s this version that makes it so.
As mentioned above, Bob Seger’s catalog is a tricky one to pin down, especially in the early years. Many records before 1975 are out of print, and streaming them is an impossibility as well. That’s another reason why ‘Live Bullet’ is so essential. You can hear the best of what Seger had cooking before “Against The Wind,” “Still The Same” and all the other classics from the late 70s and early 80s when he was one of the surest and most insightful rock hitmakers around. The boogie-rock never really went away, as there was always a song or two on the later records that harkened back to it. ‘Live’ Bullet depicts a time when it was still Seger’s bread and butter, and it makes a compelling case that he was just as adept at it as he was with the reflective songs that would live in the charts for the next decade or so.
On top of all that, ‘Live Bullet’ being back in print ensures that we can once again survey the best live document of Seger and the expert musicians at his side, something that has become even more important now that they’ve closed out their concert career. Bob Seger found a way to turn the page forward and elevate his career with ‘Live’ Bullet. With this reissue, rock fans everywhere can now turn those pages right back to capture one of rock’s signature artists, and his band, at their collective peak.
-Jim Beviglia
Good review of an excellent album. It would be appreciated if you would tell us what formats a reissue is coming out on so we know how to look.
I believe these are vinyl.
Thanks for sharing this. First concert I ever attended was a Bob Seger show at EMU on (I looked it up) Sept. 12, 1975. It was part of the Beautiful Loser tour—“Live Bullet” was recorded at Cobo Arena a week earlier.
I was 13 years old and can’t believe my parents let me go unchaperoned, along with a stoner pal and his cute little sister. The “Beautiful Loser” album was all over local radio that summer, particularly the title song and—to my dad’s regret—“Katmandu.” So we knew those songs, if not all of the older stuff. (It’s ALL older stuff now!)
What an experience. Walking into Bowen Field House, surrounded by high school and college kids, so grown up to a 13-year-old, with their cool long hair and hippie t-shirts, most of them passing joints back and forth and laughing and cheering. I don’t remember the warmup band at all, but Bob and the Silver Bullet Band were unforgettable. They could boogie and get everyone on their feet, and then slide into “Turn the Page,” one of the first and best “pity me, I’m a rock star on the road” songs—a subgenre that became corny, but not in 1975, or at least not to me.
But the non-rocker that got me the most was “Beautiful Loser,” the song itself. Damn, how I loved that one. The wanting and not-getting Beautiful Loser, always willing to be second best, described compassionately, without the mocking that Dylan laid on Mr. Jones or the needling The Beatles gave to their Nowhere Man. Just seen, and shown. I recognized that guy. I worried I WAS that guy, sometimes, even in the midst of a happy crowd of rockers.
A Seger show would not be a place for introspection, however, and before the last note of that song was engulfed in applause, the band was already onto something else and our feet were stomping again. After, we left the place with our ears ringing, our throats raw, and our heads light from the blueish smoke of a thousand joints of homegrown. It was beautiful.
My friends at school were incredulous when I tried and failed to describe what an Earth-shaking experience I’d been through. But then, a year later, “‘Live’ Bullet” came out. Bought a copy as soon as I could and forced some friends to listen to it, proclaiming, “THAT’S what I was talking about!”
Great review, Jim. As an aside, did Live Bullet represent the entire performance? Or did Bob leave a few songs off the album? Thanks’
How is there not a comprehensive Seger set with outtakes for completionists? They should do this soon while they can cash in.
hey jim, any bonus tracks on the reissue?
Afraid not, Joe. (And sorry for the belated reply; I just saw this.)
I was there at Cobo Hall in Detroit, for the second Live album called Nine Tonight. Growing up in the burbs near the D at the time was truly something special, we would stand outside of Record Time all night for tickets to go on sale for these shows, Seger would sell out 3-4 shows every time.15 bucks a ticket. Nobody’s trying 2 shows a venue these days. A week after the first set of shows would sell out, BOB would sell out another 3 shows. Bbb , thanks for the memories, Rock-‘n’-roll Never Forgets.