EARLY SEGER, VOL. 1

“Several early-Seventies nuggets – including the Chuck Berry-style blazer ‘Get Out Of Denver,’ Seger’s burnt-road-dog growl in the Allman Brothers cover ‘Midnight Rider’ and the brassed-up locomotion of ‘Long Song Comin’ ‘ (with new overdubs) –  highlight Seger’s funky-church and Detroit-muscle charge…” – Rolling Stone, from David Fricke’s “Fricke’s Picks”

“**** out of four stars Vintage rock 'n' roll, barroom balladry and soulful Southern rock are delivered with equal aplomb, and a frisky update of ‘Long Song Comin' ' breathes new life into that 1974 track. But it's the deep archival stuff that will most entice the diehards. ‘Gets Ya Pumpin' ' is a grinding, ‘Seven’-era number with Seger's electric young voice at its peak. The melodic midtempo songs ‘Wildfire’ and ‘Days When the Rain Would Come’ hail from the ‘Like a Rock’ period, and they hold their own against the best of Seger's majestic Midwest rock. “ –  Detroit Free Press

“You know you're in Seger territory when he opens ‘Wildfire’ -- the best of the four ‘new’ songs -- with the kind of wholly Midwestern scene-setting that comes to him so naturally: ‘With a full moon rising high on a windswept summer night,’ he opens, effortlessly dropping you into a story of a night out on the town. ‘Early Seger’ offers a glimpse at what could be a treasure trove of unreleased Seger recordings.” - Detroit News

“...the songs are largely quite strong, particularly those cherry-picked from the out of print albums: it’s hard to complain with anything that gets his brilliant Chuck Berry homage ‘Get Out of Denver,’ clever interpretation of ‘Midnight Rider,’ and wickedly funny ‘U.M.C. (Upper Middle Class)’ back in circulation. Seger bolsters ‘Long Song Comin’ ’ with some new overdubs, and the unreleased cuts are also subjected to some new studio tinkering, which doesn’t hurt these strong unheard items, particularly the ballad ‘Days When the Rain Would Come’ and the ‘Roll Me Away’ cousin ‘Wildfire.’ ”   –  allmusic.com

“Ten tunes from the vaults of Michigan rock icon Bob Seger reaffirm the strength of classic rock 'n' roll...Such meat-and-potatoes music may have more staying power than Detroit, the city that made Seger, the Stooges and the Motown stable music icons. ‘Long Song Comin', ’ a sharply political track from 1974, speaks especially poignantly to the Rust Belt rue Seger articulates so well.” –  Cleveland Scene

“An absolute must for Seger fans and devotees of Motor City rock because it contains previously unreleased fist-pumpers like ‘Gets Ya Pumpin',’ remastered classics (‘Midnight Rider’ with J.J. Cale on lead guitar, ‘Get Out of Denver’) and refreshed early gems (‘Days When the Rain Would Come,’ ‘Long Song Comin' ‘). This is vintage Seger, complete with Tom Weschler's vintage photos in the CD booklet.” – Grand Rapids Press

 “Bob Seger is raiding his vaults for a 10-song set dubbed ‘Early Seger, Vol. 1’ ...Highlights of the collection are four unreleased tracks, three of which – ‘Star Tonight,’ ‘Wildfire’ and ’Days When the Rain Would Come’ -- were written during the early '80s...’Gets Ya Pumpin',’ meanwhile, began life as a song called ‘Pumpin' ‘ originally for Seger's ‘Seven’ album in 1973 and was recorded again in 1977 before being revisited for ‘Early Seger.’ - Billboard

“The power in Seger's staggering voice is never less than full tilt, and he carries the guts of Motor City inside him no matter what he chooses to sing. He may have made his name on irresistible classics like "Night Moves" and "Old Time Rock & Roll," but Bob Seger can go head to head with the Rolling Stones or Steve Winwood or anyone else, really, and not have to back down an inch. It is no accident one of his hits collections holds the all-time best-seller slot on the catalogue album charts.” – sonicboomers.com

“Listening to the 10 tracks, each offers unassailable proof of Seger’s renowned musical mastery, coupling his trademark commanding sandpaper vocals, evocative, heartfelt lyrics and gritty musicianship...” – FMQB.com

“Detroit legend Bob Seger has a distinguished history and a similarly distinguished discography, much of which has been unavailable for a puzzlingly long time! This collection really stands as the first attempt to compile some of that missing history...remastered tracks highlighted by his classic ‘Get Out Of Denver,’ and four previously unreleased songs...”
– Yahoo! Music

“The funkified rockin' outburst that is the early 70's output of one of Detroit's finest proves that this young white boy had some soul in him. ‘Get Out of Denver’ and ‘U.M.C.’ are two classic tracks penned by the young rocker that showed greatness was just around the corner...The gem of the show is a song called ‘Gets Ya Pumpin'. This one rocks and goes back to 1973.”-classicrockrevisited.com

“The disc opens with ‘Midnight Rider,’ a lively blues send-up that conjures up that era’s peers like Paul Butterfield, as well as future Motor City blues deconstructionists like the White Stripes....There was a time when Bob Seger was just a voice and a guitar, another struggling troubadour with three chords and the truth.” – The Other Paper (Columbus, OH)

“Early Seger Vol. 1 is a must for any Seger fan...” – blogcritics.org

“Bob Seger is giving fans more than just his early years on the album he's releasing later this month. ‘Early Seger Vol. 1’...features songs from a couple different periods of Seger’s career. Four of the tracks are previously unreleased, and several have been significantly re-recorded...[giving] some hope to fans who have been wishing Seger would dig into his prodigious vault of unreleased songs.” – The Oakland Press

“For me personally, and for a much younger fan here in the office, the three main musical highlights of this collection are actually some of the unreleased tracks - such as ‘Star Tonight,’ ‘Wildfire’ and ‘Days When the Rain Would Come.’ And although ‘Days When the Rain Would Come’ was actually recorded in 1984, Seger enhanced the original tapes of the other three tracks with fresh vocals, horns and other such new instrumentation - and it all sounds sooooo good!” – Exclusive Magazine

Bio

Press Releases

Quote Sheet