Turn The Page---Bob Seger---Metallica
Without Prejudice
" On a long and lonesome highway, east of Omaha."
So begins the haunting Turn The Page, by Bob Seger. He wrote it in 1972 and found his last line in 1973.
The line
" The same old cliche, is it Woman, is it Man ?
The line coming from a stop at a restaurant in the early hours after the band had travelled many hours across country. One of the band heard the red neck truckers discussing the boys long hair. And the comments they had heard so many times before as to whether they were women or men.
Seger wrote the comment into his song the next day and the song was complete.
It was more a ballad, a Country and Western song.
Then in 1998 Metallica covered the quiet song and it exploded on to the heavy metal scene. The video clip showed Ginger Lynn Allen, an adult porn starlet, playing a stripper and prostitute making a living with a daughter in tow.
The title intrigues me, Turn The Page. Is it the ennui of a Rock Stars life on the road ? Did Seger want to say, goodbye to all that, on to new venture So?
Bob Seger, thanks to Wiki.
" On a long and lonesome highway, east of Omaha."
So begins the haunting Turn The Page, by Bob Seger. He wrote it in 1972 and found his last line in 1973.
The line
" The same old cliche, is it Woman, is it Man ?
The line coming from a stop at a restaurant in the early hours after the band had travelled many hours across country. One of the band heard the red neck truckers discussing the boys long hair. And the comments they had heard so many times before as to whether they were women or men.
Seger wrote the comment into his song the next day and the song was complete.
It was more a ballad, a Country and Western song.
Then in 1998 Metallica covered the quiet song and it exploded on to the heavy metal scene. The video clip showed Ginger Lynn Allen, an adult porn starlet, playing a stripper and prostitute making a living with a daughter in tow.
The title intrigues me, Turn The Page. Is it the ennui of a Rock Stars life on the road ? Did Seger want to say, goodbye to all that, on to new venture So?
Bob Seger, thanks to Wiki.
In 1974, Seger formed the Silver Bullet Band. Its original members were guitarist Drew Abbott, drummer and backup-singer Charlie Allen Martin, keyboard-player Rick Manasa, bass guitarist Chris Campbell, and saxophone player Alto Reed. With this new band sitting in occasionally, Seger released the album Seven, which contained the Detroit-area hard-rock hit "Get Out of Denver". This track was a modest success and charted at #80 nationally.
In 1975, Seger returned to Capitol Records and released the album Beautiful Loser, with help from the Silver Bullet Band (with new keyboardist Robyn Robbins replacing Manasa) on his cover of the Tina Turner penned "Nutbush City Limits". The album's single "Katmandu" which was featured in the 1985 movie "Mask" starring Cher (in addition to being another substantial Detroit-area hit) was Seger's first real national break-out track since "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man". Although it just missed the US Pop Top 40 – peaking at #43 – the song received strong airplay in a number of markets nationwide including Detroit.
In April 1976, Seger and the Silver Bullet Band released the album Live Bullet, recorded over two nights in Detroit's Cobo Arena in September 1975. It contained Seger's rendition of "Nutbush City Limits" as well as Seger's own classic take on life on the road, "Turn the Page", from Back in '72. It also included his late 1960s successful releases – "Heavy Music" and "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man". Critic Dave Marsh later wrote that "Live Bullet is one of the best live albums ever made ... In spots, particularly during the medley of "Travelin' Man"/"Beautiful Loser" on side one, Seger sounds like a man with one last shot at the top."[16] An instant best-seller in Detroit, Live Bullet began to get attention in other parts of the country, selling better than Seger's previous albums, getting progressive rock radio and album-oriented rock airplay, and enabling Seger to headline more shows.[17] Yet still, Seger had a popularity imbalance. In June 1976, he was a featured performer at the Pontiac Silverdome outside Detroit in front of nearly 80,000 fans. The next night, Seger played before fewer than a thousand people in Chicago.[18]
Peak of success: 1976–1987
Seger in 1977.
Seger finally achieved his commercial breakthrough with his October 1976 album Night Moves. The title song "Night Moves" was a highly evocative, nostalgic, time-spanning tale that was not only critically praised,[17] but became a #4 hit single on the Billboard pop singles chart as well as a heavy album-oriented rock airplay mainstay. The album also contained "Mainstreet" (written about Ann Arbor's Ann Street),[8] a #24 hit ballad that emphasized Seger's heartland rock credentials as well as guitarist Pete Carr's haunting lead guitar. The album also featured the anthem "Rock and Roll Never Forgets". Night Moves was Seger's first top ten album in the Billboard album chart, and as of 2006 was certified at 6 million copies in the United States alone – making it the biggest-selling studio album of his entire career. Furthermore, it activated sales of Seger's recent back catalog, so that Beautiful Loser would eventually sell 2 million and Live Bullet would go on to sell some 5 million copies in the United States. Indeed, Live Bullet stayed on the Billboard charts for 168 weeks and it remains one of the ten best-selling live albums of all time.
The following year, original Silver Bullet drummer Charlie Allen Martin was hit by a car from behind while walking on a service road, and was left unable to walk. David Teegarden, drummer for Seger on the Smokin' O.P.'s album, replaced him. Despite the loss, Seger followed up strongly with 1978's Stranger in Town. The first single, "Still the Same", emphasized Seger's talent for mid-tempo numbers that revealed a sense of purpose, and reached #4 on the pop singles chart. "Hollywood Nights" was an up-tempo #12 hit rocker, while "We've Got Tonight" was a slow ballad that reached #13 on the Hot 100. (The latter became an even bigger hit when country music superstar Kenny Rogers and pop singer Sheena Easton teamed up for a 1983 treatment of it that topped Billboard's Country and Adult Contemporary charts.) "Old Time Rock and Roll", a song from George Jackson and Thomas E. Jones III that Seger substantially rewrote the lyrics for,[8][19] was not a big pop hit initially, but achieved substantial album track airplay. Moreover, it would later become one of Seger's most recognizable songs following its memorable Tom Cruise-dancing-in-his-underwear use in the 1983 film Risky Business. Indeed, it has been ranked the second-most played Jukebox Single of all time, behind Patsy Cline's "Crazy".[8] The iconic recording of "Old Time Rock and Roll" was named one of the Songs of the Century in 2001. (Seger has ruefully remarked that not taking one-third writing credit on his recording was "the dumbest thing I ever did" financially.[8])
Seger also co-wrote the Eagles' #1 hit song "Heartache Tonight" from their 1979 album The Long Run;[8] their collaboration a result of Seger's and Glenn Frey's early days together in Detroit.
In 1980, Seger released Against the Wind (with ex-Grand Funk Railroad member Craig Frostreplacing Robyn Robbins on keyboards) and it became his first and only #1 album on the Billboard album chart. The first single "Fire Lake" featured Eagles Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit, and Glenn Frey on backing vocals and Muscle Shoals guitarist, Pete Carr, on 12-string acoustic. Fire Lake reached #6 on the Hot 100, while the title song "Against the Wind" reached #5 as a single and even crossed over to the Top 10 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. "You'll Accomp'ny Me" became the third hit single from the record, reaching #14. Against the Wind would also win two Grammy Awards. As of 2006, both Stranger in Town and Against the Wind had sold over 5 million copies each in the United States.
The live 1981 album Nine Tonight encapsulated this three-album peak of Seger's commercial career. Seger's take on Eugene Williams' "Tryin' To Live My Life Without You" became a Top Five hit from Nine Tonight and the album would go on to sell 4 million copies.
Seger released the acclaimed The Distance in the final days of 1982. During the recording of this album, Silver Bullet guitarist Drew Abbott left the band due to his frustration with Seger's frequent use of session musicians in the studio, and was replaced by Dawayne Bailey. After the album's release, David Teegarden also left the band due to internal conflict, and was replaced by ex-Grand Funk drummer Don Brewer. Critically praised for representing a more versatile sound than that of his recent material, The Distance spawned numerous hits beginning with Rodney Crowell's "Shame on the Moon". It was the biggest hit of the Silver Bullet Band's entire career, hitting #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart and holding at #2 for four consecutive weeks – behind Patti Austin and James Ingram's "Baby, Come to Me" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" – on the Hot 100. It also crossed over to #15 on Billboard's Country Singles chart. The follow-up single, "Even Now", just missed the Top 10 and "Roll Me Away" peaked at #27. The driving album track "Making Thunderbirds" was a popular music video filmed in Detroit and well-received on MTV. Seger's multi-platinum sales dropped off at this point, with The Distance peaking at #5 and selling only 1.9 million copies in the United States. (This album was belatedly released on 8 track tape; Capitol reportedly had no plans to do so, but Seger, guessing that a good many of his fans still had 8 track players in their vehicles, prevailed upon the label to release the album in that discontinued format as well.)
In 1984, Seger wrote and recorded the power rock ballad "Understanding" for the film soundtrack Teachers. The song was another Top 20 hit for Seger in late 1984. In 1986, he wrote and recorded "Living Inside My Heart" for the film soundtrack of About Last Night....
Seger was no longer as prolific and several years elapsed before his next studio album, Like a Rock emerged in the spring of 1986. The fast-paced "American Storm" was another Top 20 single aided by a popular music video featuring actress Lesley Ann Warren, and "Like a Rock" followed, reaching #12 on Billboard's Hot 100. Later, it would become familiar to many Americans through its association with a long-running Chevrolet ad campaign(something Seger explicitly chose to do to support struggling American automobile workers in Detroit).[20] Seger's 1986–1987 American Storm Tour was his self-stated last major tour, playing 105 shows over 9 months and selling almost 1.5 million tickets. Like a Rock reached #3 and eventually sold over 3 million copies although it has never been certified above platinum.
On March 13, 1987, Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their contributions to the music industry at 1750 Vine Street.[21][22][23]
The following year Seger's "Shakedown", a somewhat uncharacteristic song off the 1987 film Beverly Hills Cop II's soundtrack, became his first and only #1 hit on the pop singles chart. The song had originally been intended for Seger's fellow Detroiter Glenn Frey, but when he lost his voice just prior to the recording session, Frey called in Seger to take his place. Seger changed the verses of the song but kept the chorus the same. The song earned Seger an Academy Award nomination as co-writer in the Best Original Song category the following year.
Later years: 1988–present
Bob Seger's next record was 1991's The Fire Inside, at a time when glam metal, grunge and alternative rock were taking the forefront. His new music found little visibility on radio or elsewhere. The same was true of 1995's It's a Mystery, although the album was certified gold (500,000 copies sold). However, in 1994, Seger released Greatest Hits; the compilation album was his biggest-ever record in terms of sales, selling nearly 10 million copies in the United States as of 2010. Seger did go back on the road again for a 1996 tour, which was successful and sold the fourth-largest number of tickets of any North American tour that year. (Seger was once known for his concerts in small venues, as witnessed with his appearance at the 18th Amendment in Omaha, Nebraska.)
Seger took a sabbatical from the music business for about ten years to spend time with his wife and two young children. In 2001 and 2002, Seger won the prestigious Port Huron to Mackinac Boat Race aboard his 52-foot (16 m) sailboat Lightning. He subsequently sold the boat. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 2004. Fellow Detroiter Kid Rock gave the induction speech and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholmproclaimed that date Bob Seger Day in his honor. In 2005, Seger was featured singing with 3 Doors Down on the song "Landing in London" from their Seventeen Days album.
Seger's first new album in eleven years, titled Face the Promise, was released in 2006. In its first 45 days, it sold more than 400,000 copies.[24] The album sold over 1.2 million copies, returning Seger to platinum status and staying on the Billboard chart for several months. His supporting tour was also eagerly anticipated, with many shows selling out within minutes. Showing that Seger's legendary appeal in Michigan had not diminished, all 10,834 tickets available for his first show at Grand Rapids' Van Andel Arena sold out in under five minutes; three additional shows were subsequently added, each of which also sold out.
In 2009, Seger released a compilation album titled Early Seger Vol. 1, which contained archival material from the 1970s and 1980s, including some fully or partially re-recorded tracks from his albums Smokin' O.P.'s and Seven and some never-before-released songs.[25]The album was initially only available for purchase at Meijer stores and then later for download at BobSeger.com.[26] Seger contributed piano and vocals on Kid Rock's 2010 album Born Free. Seger staged a successful arena tour during 2011, with another two-CD compilation album, Ultimate Hits: Rock and Roll Never Forgets, slated for release.[27] On May 28, 2011, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder proclaimed that date as Bob Seger Day for his more than 50 years of sharing his celebrated musical talents with fans all over the world.[28]
On December 30, 2011, before a sell-out crowd at the Mandalay Bay Resort Arena in Las Vegas, Seger closed another successful tour though it's likely not to be his last. On October 30, 2011, he told AnnArbor.com director Bob Needham he was returning to the studio to complete another new album for release in the fall of 2012, followed by another supporting tour.[29]
On June 14, 2012, Seger was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[2][3] On January 10, 2013, Seger announced another tour in the US and Canada.
Seger performed a duet of Who'll Stop the Rain with John Fogerty on Fogerty's album Wrote a Song for Everyone, released in 2013.
Personal life
Seger's first marriage in 1968 lasted for "one day short of a year." He had a long-term relationship with Jan Dinsdale from 1972 until 1983. In 1987, he married actress Annette Sinclair and they divorced one year later. He married Juanita Dorricott in 1993, in a small private setting at The Village Club, in Bloomfield Hills; they have two children.[32] Seger lives mainly at his home in Orchard Lake Village, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. He owns a condo in Naples, Florida.
Then Metallica covered it in 1998 and it exploded into the Heavy Metal scene.
Turn The Page is the fourth track on Disc 1 from 1998's album Garage, Inc. It was written by Bob Seger and has a length of 6:06.
This song was originally released by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band on the Back in '72 album. Metallica version was recorded in Sep-Oct 1998, at The Plant Studios in Sausalito, CA. Turn The Page was also released by Metallica on a self-titled single.
The band has played this song live 82 times, the first time being on October 18, 1998, in Los Angeles, CA. The band hasn't played this song since December 7, 2011, in San Francisco, CA, at their 30th anniversary, featuring Kid Rock. Turn The Pagealso features in Orgullo, Pasión y Gloria and Quebec Magnetic live albums/videos. It was also on the Die, Die My Darling single released in Australia.
