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As the music business increasingly adopts streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music into their strategies for success, it becomes painfully clear when albums (or whole catalogues, even) are missing from the digital realm. This year, we've already seen the triumphant return of Prince's Warner Bros.-era masters beyond the Tidal platform, ahead of next week's Purple Rain reissue.
On Friday, one of the most famous holdouts finally relented. Bob Seger, the iconic Detroit rocker, and Capitol Records jointly added more than a dozen classic albums and compilations to digital download and streaming partners. The news comes hot on the heels of Seger's Greatest Hits (1994) earning diamond certification (more than 10 million units shipped) from the Recording Industry Association of America. The album, which beat out The Beatles' 1 in 2009 to become the best-selling catalogue release of the decade, is newly available on 180-gram double vinyl today, alongside black and blue vinyl pressings of The Bob Seger System's Ramblin' Gamblin' Man (1968).
The albums, which have reverted to Seger's own label Hideout and are being licensed to Capitol by way of Universal Music Enterprises, have gained recent attention for their utter scarcity. Much of his Bob Seger System and subsequent solo work (on Capitol from 1968-1971, then Reprise for three albums from 1972-1974) has been out of print for decades (and never on CD, to boot). Speculation as to why hinges on Seger's belief that the works aren't up to par to his more popular fare with The Silver Bullet Band, from 1976 into the 1990s. In 2011, a year after The Second Disc started publishing, versions of live albums 'Live' Bullet (1976) and Nine Tonight (1981) were released on CD with bonus tracks, as was a new double-disc compilation, Ultimate Hits: Rock and Roll Never Forgets (2011). A recreation of an early Seger single was issued by Third Man Records for Record Store Day just a few months ago.
While this digital delivery does omit the rarer projects, Seger's core Capitol catalogue and most popular fare, including Ramblin' Gamblin' Man then stretching from 1975 to 1991, is now available for all to access easier than ever. Thanks to modern metadata and sorting issues, Spotify users will have to search under both "Bob Seger" and "Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band"--so we've done a solid and offered digital links for your listening convenience. Take those old records off the shelf and enjoy!
The Bob Seger System, Ramblin' Gamblin' Man (originally released as Capitol ST-172, 1968): Apple Music / Spotify
Bob Seger, Beautiful Loser (originally released as Capitol ST-11378, 1975): Apple Music / Amazon / Spotify
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, 'Live' Bullet (originally released as Capitol SKBB-11523, 1976 - reissued Hideout/Capitol 50999 098330 2 9, 2011): Apple Music / Amazon / Spotify
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Night Moves (originally released as Capitol ST-11557, 1976): Apple Music / Amazon / Spotify
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Stranger In Town (originally released as Capitol SW-11698, 1978): Apple Music / Amazon / Spotify
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Against The Wind (originally released as Capitol SOO-12401, 1980): Apple Music / Amazon / Spotify
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Nine Tonight (originally released as Capitol STBK-12182, 1981 - reissued Hideout/Capitol 50999 098521 2 9): Apple Music / Amazon / Spotify
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, The Distance (originally released as Capitol ST-12254, 1982): Apple Music / Amazon / Spotify
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Like a Rock (originally released as Capitol PT-12398, 1986): Apple Music / Amazon / Spotify
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, The Fire Inside (originally released as Capitol C1-91134, 1991): Apple Music / Amazon / Spotify
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Greatest Hits (originally released as Capitol CDP 72438 30334 2 3, 1994): Apple Music / Spotify
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Greatest Hits 2 (originally released as Capitol CDP 72438 52772 0 7, 2003): Apple Music / Amazon / Spotify
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Ultimate Hits: Rock and Roll Never Forgets (originally released as Capitol 509999 41298 2 3, 2011): Apple Music / Amazon / Spotify
Release Round-Up: Week of June 11
Lookin' Back: Capitol, UMe Reissue, Remaster Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band's "Live Bullet"
Release Round-Up: Week of September 7
East Side Sound: Bob Seger and The Last Heard's Rare Singles Collected By ABKCO
You can also get purple vinyl of the greatest hits on his site, free shipping too!
I u derstand if Bob feels that the early albums don't hold up however I still think he could cherry pick the best tracks for a boxed set. With physical media for catalog titles becoming even scarcer, it would be nice to have some of these.
His interview in Rolling Stone he said a box set is coming. His manager had him hold out until he got the deal they wanted. He knows the demand is there, but as he said he does the music, his manager handles the buisness.
Bah... Put out Ramblin' Gamblin' Man on CD, along with Mongrel, Back In '72, and Seven (is Smokin' OPs still in priint?), along with some of the non-album single tracks of that era, and then get back to me.
I won't hold out any hope Brand New Morning, or Bob's own songs from Noah, but it would be nice to have those too.