The Silver Bullet Band was formed in 1974. Its original members were:
* Drew Abbott, guitar
* Charlie Allen Martin, drums
* Rick Mannassa, keyboards
* Chris Campbell, bass guitar
* Alto Reed, saxophones, flutes, acoustic guitar, keyboards and percussion.
Seger himself did all lead vocals and plays guitar and piano.
In 1975 Mannassa was replaced by Robyn Robbins on keyboards, who in 1980 was replaced by Craig Frost. Around 1977 Martin was replaced by Dave Teegarden on drums, who in 1983 was replaced by Don Brewer. In 1982 Abbott was replaced by Dawayne Bailey on guitar.
Seger has almost always used session musicians, most notably The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, on his albums as well.
In 1974 Seger formed the Silver Bullet Band and released the album Seven (credited to Bob Seger), which contained the Detroit-area hard rock hit "Get Out of Denver". This track that was a modest success and charted at #80 nationally.
In April 1976 Seger and the Silver Bullet Band had an even bigger commercial breakthrough with the album Live Bullet, recorded over two nights in Detroit's Cobo Arena in September 1975. The album stayed on the Billboard charts for 168 weeks, peaking at #34 which was Seger's highest charting album at the time. It also contained Seger's hit rendition of Tina Turner's "Nutbush City Limits" (#69 US) 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', Seger sounds like a man with one last shot at the top." An instant best-seller in Detroit, Live Bullet quickly began to get attention in other parts of the country. In June 1976 he was a featured performer at the Pontiac Silverdome outside Detroit in front of nearly 80,000 fans. Only three nights before in Chicago, Seger had played before 50 people in a bar.
Seger and the Silver Bullet Band achieved a commercial breakthrough with their 1976 album Night Moves which featured several hits including the highly evocative title song. Subsequently Seger had success with rockers such as "Hollywood Nights" and mellower mid-tempo ballads such as "We've Got Tonight", "Fire Lake" (recorded 1979, and featured Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit, and Glen Frey on backing vocals) and "Against the Wind". His most recognizable songs are almost certainly "Old Time Rock & Roll" (featured in the film Risky Business) and "Like a Rock" (most familiar to many younger Americans through its association with a long-running Chevrolet ad campaign).
Seger and the Silver Bullet Band released The Distance in 1982. Critically praised for representing a tougher sound than some of Seger's recent material, the album spawned hits with Rodney Crowell's "Shame on the Moon" (which also did moderately well as a country music song), "Even Now", and "Roll Me Away". But perhaps because Seger and his band were ill-equipped to exploit the new MTV era, Seger's album sales dropped noticeably, with The Distance only selling approximately 1 million copies. The following year country music superstar Kenny Rogers would team up with pop singer Sheena Easton to cover "We've Got Tonight". This version was a world wide hit and was so successful Rogers used it as the title cut to one of his own albums. In 1984 Seger wrote and recorded with his band the power rock ballad "Understanding" for the "Teachers" movie soundtrack. The song was a mild Top 40 hit in 1985.
Seger and the Silver Bullet Band were no longer as prolific and four years elapsed before their next studio album, 1986's Like a Rock emerged. The fast-paced "American Storm" garnered both pop and rock airplay, and "Like a Rock" became yet another successful Seger ballad. 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). 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 sold over a million copies and went platinum.
Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band's next record was 1991's The Fire Inside, at a time when glam metal, grunge and alternative rock were all taking the forefront. Seger's new music found little visibility on radio or elsewhere. The same was true of 1995's It's a Mystery, however the album was certified Gold (500,000 copies sold). In between, however, his Greatest Hits compilation was a major success, achieving sales of over 8 million units through late 2006. 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 and his band has recently released his first new album in 11 years, titled Face the Promise (credited to Bob Seger) (with guest appearances from Patty Loveless and Detroiter Kid Rock). In its first 45 days, the album sold more than 400,000 copies, according to Soundscan. The album has sold over 1 million copies to date and stayed on the Billboard chart for months. His supporting tour has also been eagerly anticipated, with many shows selling out within minutes. Showing that Seger's legendary appeal in Michigan had not diminished, all 15,000 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.
The Encyclopedia of Rock And Roll stated that "His throaty, authoritative delivery is a pleasure to listen to, and the Silver Bullet Band is superb."
Events in late March of 2007 suggested that Seger may move on from Capitol Records because those who had worked with him to this point are now gone from the label. The same press release also confirmed Seger's intention to release a live CD/DVD package chronicling his Face the Promise tour at some point in the fall.
"Face the Promise" Tour 2006-2007 Lineup:
# Chris Campbell, Bass Guitar, since 1969
# Alto Reed, Saxaphones, since 1972
# Craig Frost, Keyboards, Piano, 25 years
# Mark Chatfield, Lead Guitar (Rythm Guitar 1983, 1996 Tours)
# Shaun Murphy, Backing vocals, since 1973
# Laura Creamer, Backing vocals, since 1968
# Don Brewer, Drums, (also 1983 Tour)
# Jim "Moose" Brown, Guitar and Keyboard
# Barbara Payton, backing vocals
Turn the Page
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
East of Omaha
You can listen to the engine
Moanin' out his one note song
You can think about the woman
Or the girl you knew the night before
But your thoughts will soon be wandering
The way they always do
And there's nothin' much to do
And you don't feel much like ridin'
You just wish the trip was through
See here I am
On the road again
There I am
Up on the stage
Here I go
Playin' star again
There I go
Turn the page
Well you walk into a restaurant
Strung out from the road
And you feel the eyes upon you
As you're shakin' off the cold
You pretend it doesn't bother you
But you just want to explode
Most times you can't hear 'em talk
Other times you can
All the same old cliches
"Is that a woman or a man?"
And you always seem outnumbered
You don't dare make a stand
Here I am
On the road again
There I am
Up on the stage
Here I go
Playin' star again
There I go
Turn the page
Out there in the spotlight
You're a million miles away
Every ounce of energy
You try to give away
As the sweat pours out your body
Like the music that you play
Later in the evening
As you lie awake in bed
With the echoes from the amplifiers
Ringin' in your head
You smoke the day's last cigarette
Rememberin' what she said
Here I am
On the road again
There I am
Up on the stage
Here I go
Playin' star again
There I go
Turn the page
Here I am
On the road again
There I am
Up on the stage
Here I go
Playin' star again
There I go
There I go
"Turn the Page" by Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band is about the life of a musician on the road. Seger paints a vivid picture of a lonesome highway, east of Omaha, where the singer is riding for sixteen hours with his thoughts wandering. He thinks about the woman or girl he knew the night before, but there's always "nothing much to do" except wait for the trip to end. The lyrics demonstrate how tiring and lonely the road can be for musicians who have to leave behind their loved ones to play music.
In the chorus, the tone shifts to the stage, where the musician is playing, and the audience is watching. Seger refers to the singer as a star, and he's up on the stage again, playing his heart out. However, the life of a rockstar is not always glamorous. The next verse describes how the musician walks into a restaurant, strung out from the road, filled with eyes upon him as he shakes off the cold. People stare, "Is that a woman or a man?" - the musician seems outnumbered and can't make a stand.
Finally, the last verse paints a picture of a musician on stage, a million miles away in the spotlight, pouring out every ounce of energy. But, later in the evening, the echoes from the amplifiers ring in the head. The musician smokes the day's last cigarette and remembers what his loved one said before leaving for the trip. "Turn the Page," as a whole, is a melancholic yet a truthful look into the life of a road-weary musician.
Line by Line Meaning
On a long and lonesome highway
Traveling on a lengthy and solitary roadway
East of Omaha
Towards the Eastern side of Omaha
You can listen to the engine
You have the option to hear the sounds of the engine
Moanin' out his one note song
Emitting a monotonous sound
You can think about the woman
One can contemplate about a female person
Or the girl you knew the night before
Or a woman that you met the previous night
But your thoughts will soon be wandering
However, thoughts will quickly divert
The way they always do
As they always tend to do
When you're ridin' sixteen hours
When you have been traveling for sixteen hours
And there's nothin' much to do
You have nothing else to do
And you don't feel much like ridin'
You don't feel like traveling anymore
You just wish the trip was through
You hope the journey ends soon
See here I am
This is me
On the road again
Traveling again
There I am
And there I go
Up on the stage
Performing on a stage
Here I go
I am starting again
Playin' star again
Acting like a celebrity again
There I go
And I am off
Turn the page
Moving on to the next chapter
Well you walk into a restaurant
You enter a restaurant
Strung out from the road
Feeling exhausted from traveling
And you feel the eyes upon you
And you become aware of people's stares
As you're shakin' off the cold
As you try to warm yourself up
You pretend it doesn't bother you
You pretend not to be affected by their stares
But you just want to explode
But deep down, you feel like breaking down
Most times you can't hear 'em talk
Usually, you can't hear people talking
Other times you can
But other times, you can hear them
All the same old cliches
People saying the same old things
"Is that a woman or a man?"
Questioning the gender of a person
And you always seem outnumbered
You always feel like you're in the minority
You don't dare make a stand
You don't have the courage to take a stand
Out there in the spotlight
Shining in the public eye
You're a million miles away
You feel very distant from reality
Every ounce of energy
All of your energy
You try to give away
You attempt to put it all out there
As the sweat pours out your body
As you perspire profusely
Like the music that you play
Just like the music you produce
Later in the evening
Later during the night
As you lie awake in bed
As you lay in bed awake
With the echoes from the amplifiers
With the sounds from the artists
Ringin' in your head
Echoing in your mind
You smoke the day's last cigarette
You smoke the last cigarette of the day
Rememberin' what she said
Recalling what a female said
There I am
And there I go
On the road again
Traveling again
There I am
And there I go
Up on the stage
Performing on a stage
Here I go
I am starting again
Playin' star again
Acting like a celebrity again
There I go
And I am off
Turn the page
Moving on to the next chapter
Here I am
This is me
On the road again
Traveling again
There I am
And there I go
Up on the stage
Performing on a stage
Here I go
I am starting again
Playin' star again
Acting like a celebrity again
There I go
And I am off
There I go
And off I go
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Bob Seger
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@wolfhaven9312
Always had a thing for Bob Seger.
He is so beautiful!
I remember listening to him when I was a girl and wanting to run away with him.
That voice.
That smile.
That hair.
That presence...
He is still the handsome drifter he was back in the better days!
My type of guy.
Here is to the ladies like me... Those who refuse to settle for anything less than men like this!
@alejandrofallas9734
This is without a doubt one of the greatest songs of rock and roll of all time!!
@bobseger3824
Thanks for all the love and support. Seriously blown away by the love from all of you.thank your
@heididietrich9800
I love this song.
@heididietrich9800
@@bobseger3824 this song touches my heart in a way I don't quite understand. I can see myself on the bus, in the restaurant and in each scenario mentioned in the song. And I love the saxophone in it. I was in a marching band and we traveled a lot but I bet it's different for you.
@mysticwanderer4787
True
@anthonybafundo3067
It sure is.But shit I've known that for 45 years.😄
@JG-ef2cn
If you don't get chills when Seger starts singing you better check yourself you're dead!!
One of the greatest rock and roll artists ever! Best of the best!
@williamboney7371
Best rock voice ever.
@gypsyrain369
WELL SAID .
@gogoyubari366
How can a dead man check himself?