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PIGPEN'S DETROIT COUSIN'S AMBITIOUS OPENING SALVO SALUTED
Long before he told us about those "Hollywood Nights" or rock's elephantine memory, Bob Seger was a regional phenom in his native Michigan, releasing singles in the mid-60s with titles like " "Ballad of the Yellow Beret," "Vagrant Winter," "Sock It to Me Santa," "Chain Smokin'" and early classic "Heavy Music." It would take almost a decade for Seger to firmly establish himself as a national force to be reckoned with, but powered by a blazing live show, an unforgettable man's man voice and buckets of raw talent, there was no lack of drive towards the top from the very start. Recording and performing as The Bob Seger System, he assembled what remains a startlingly ballsy full-length debut, 1968's Ramblin' Gamblin' Man. While it may have taken some time for West Coast ways to hit Motor City, the System's debut incorporates equal parts Moby Grape/Grateful Dead and Detroit's own patron saint, Mitch Ryder, a rollicking mixture of hippie mores and auto worker drinking hole chooglers, stretching a tie-dye American flag across the rear window of a purring muscle car.
Blasting out of the gate with the party starting title cut, which remains a concert staple to this day, Seger both captures the Flower Power zeitgeist of the era and begins to explicate the whiff of ennui and disappointment lurking just around the corner. But, the psychedelic disenchantment is buried within wailing, buttery organ, caveman drums, impolite electric guitars and Seger's ready for American Bandstand vigor. In terms of end-to-end solidity and overall vision it beats the pants off better known, more celebrated debuts from Jefferson Airplane and Quicksilver Messenger Service and more than holds its own against the Dead's self-titled '67 first. Ramblin' is pure muscle and pernicious creativity that tweaks vocals and mixes up moods in a thoroughly compelling way. Hippy-dippy "Gone" (bemoaning, "where have all the good times gone?") is sandwiched between strip club ready romp "Ivory" and growly city blues "Down Home." Like Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, even as a young man Seeger exuded rough 'n' tumble mojo, a voice and mindset readymade for the lamentation and meanness of the blues after they've gobbled a tab or twelve.
Ramblin' Gamblin' Man builds and builds, where even seeming breathers like folksy "Train Man" are placed to set us up for the huge surge on the other side. This album provides a blueprint for an alternate path Seeger might have taken, one less dependent on pick-up truck, heartland ready numbers. This set is pretty anti-establishment, including one of the unsung protest songs of the period, "2 + 2 = ?" There's no "Like A Rock" puffed-chestery or "Against The Wind" fatigue. A rebellious teenage glimmer shines throughout, right down to the attentive arrangements full of snaky lead guitar, insinuating bass and Detroit Wheels style percussion melded to the era's lysergic warbles and half-baked poetic verses. It all works wonderfully though doesn't really hint at future Seeger blue collar masterpieces like Night Moves and Stranger In Town. It is, like much music put out in 1968, inextricably tied to the time of its creation, a moment when unhampered creativity still had a shot at radio success.
Ramblin' Gamblin' Man hit No. 62 on the national album charts and the band made a blip in the mainstream media for the first time. By most reports, this success put the zap on Seeger's head and by 1969's follow-up, Noah, he'd brought in a second vocalist-keyboardist, Tom Neme, to bolster his nervous writer's block and unexpected stage jitters. Thankfully, the bearded man from Dearborn got his shit together by 1970's Mongrel, which contained bangers like "Lucifer," the two part title tune and "Highway Child," one of the first of many tour life inspired gems that dot his catalog. By 1971's more singer-songwriterly Brand New Morning, he'd dropped the "System" from the band's name, and by 1976's tour de force concert set Live Bullet he was officially backed by the Silver Bullet Band. As meat & taters satisfying as much of Seeger's subsequent career has been, Ramblin' Gamblin' Man remains one of his finest works and a glimpse inside the head of an undeniable rock master.
While out of print for many years, industrious children can easily find copies of Ramblin' Gamblin' Man on the Interweb while we wait for Capitol Records to get off their thumbs and put together a proper reissue series for Seeger's early catalog. Currently six of his first seven albums remain in the vaults, only 1972's cover song heavy Smokin' O.P.'s has been reissued in recent years. Given the brevity of most of these records, a box set for diehards and anyone else curious about the first chapters in this Detroit legend's career seems the natural move. Feel free to join JamBase in badgering the powers that be until we get what we want. It is, after all, the American Way!
Audio only, fan-assembled clip but you really must hear this one.
And while we're talking Seeger on a site that proclaims "Go See Live Music!" it seems appropriate to share one of the grand anthems of touring bands everywhere.
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