Elton John & Bob Seger are my two favourite singers and I see similarities in their music. I
would love to see them performing together, so I decided to write an article imagining them
performing together in concert featuring songs by both singers. I envision a mix of supporting
musicians that work with each singer as the backing band. It would comprise Bob’s backing band the
Silver Bullet Band: Chris Campbell (bass, backing vocals), Alto Reed (saxophone, percussion,
guitar) & Craig Frost (organ, keyboards) and Elton’s original band members Davey Johnstone
(guitar, backing vocals) & Nigel Olsson (drums, backing vocals) who are part of his current
band. The current line-up of Bob Seger’s Silver Bullet Band is only these three members, as his
other backing musicians don’t appear to be official members. Elton would of course play piano and
Bob would play guitar, piano & tambourine. When Bob plays piano, he would play a second
piano in addition to Elton’s piano. I did in fact envision Elton & Bob perform with this backing
I gave an equal amount of songs that belong to each singer. I’m aware that there are some major
hits belonging to both of them not included here. The way I determined this list is by focusing on
songs of theirs I like looking mostly from their hit songs and thinking of ones which sound good in
collaboration. I’m including some of their hit songs that they haven’t played in concert for a while,
and there are also a few of their album tracks. I’ll now list how I see their songs played together.
Crocodile Rock (1973)
This is one of Elton’s biggest hits. It’s influenced by 50s rock & roll music, which was a big
influence on both singers. The song has a prominent farfisa organ sound on the original. In this
version, replace that organ sound with the one that Bob uses to be played by Craig and have Alto
play saxophone (an instrument not featured on the original recording).
Old Time Rock & Roll (1978)
This is Bob Seger’s signature song. It’s included after “Crocodile Rock” as the two songs are a bit
similar. Have Bob play electric guitar on this, with Davey playing lead. Have an added organ part by
Craig on this.
Candle in the Wind (1973)
Bob would play acoustic guitar and Davey would play electric guitar. This version would have the
added organ played by Craig. Alto would play percussion. Have Elton sing the first verse &
chorus, Bob sing the second verse and chorus and they’d share lines of the third verse with the third
chorus sung together.
Mainstreet (1976)
This song is placed after “Candle in the Wind” due to the similarity it has to that song. The studio
version has this brilliant electric guitar riff played throughout that’s replaced with Alto’s saxophone in
live versions. Bring back the electric guitar riff for this version to be played by Davey and have Bob
on acoustic guitar. Have Alto on percussion.
Rocket Man (1972)
Have Bob play acoustic guitar and Davey play slide guitar. Craig would play the synth parts from the
original on keyboards. Alto would play percussion.
Hollywood Nights (1978)
Have Bob on electric guitar. The piano parts on the studio version starts in the middle of the first
verse, with it starting from the beginning in Bob’s live versions. Have the piano start from the
beginning on this version. Elton would keep most the special piano moments in the song while
putting his unique spin on them and adding a few of his own piano parts. The piano would be more
prominent on this version. The section at the end of the song has the backing vocalists singing
“Hollywood Nights, Hollywood Hills, Above All The Lights” with Bob responding to them. Have Elton
sing the backing vocalists part at the end in full lead vocal (without any contributions from the
backing vocalists onstage) with Bob’s part at the end being the same.
I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues (1983)
Have Bob play the harmonica solo that was played by Stevie Wonder on the original version. Alto
would play percussion.
I Can’t Save You Angelene (1995)
I included this song after Elton’s “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues” as it’s similar to that
one. I think this song sounds a lot like Elton John. I pointed it out in my previous blog post “Ten Great
Bob Seger Songs By Ten Different Piano Players” including its similarity to the previous song. Part of
it is the fact that Bob played piano on the original recording. Thus have Bob and Elton play piano
together on this version. Have added organ by Craig. Alto would play percussion.
Philadelphia Freedom (1975)
Alto would play the added sax. There would be no strings on this version. Craig would play added
organ.
Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (1974)
This is placed before “We’ve Got Tonight” due to the two songs’ similarities. Elton and Bob would
again both play piano. They would use the George Michael duet version vocal arrangement, where
Bob would sing George’s lines and Elton would sing his lines from that version. Alto would play
saxophone as there were horns on the original. Craig would play organ on this version.
We’ve Got Tonight (1978)
Elton and Bob would both play piano on this. Bob would sing the first verse and chorus, the bridge
& the fourth chorus and Elton would sing the second verse & chorus. Elton and Bob would sing
the third and last chorus together. Alto would play percussion. This version would rock more than the
original as after the line “still here we are” the string parts would be played as a rock guitar part by
Davey.
Sunspot Baby (1976)
There would be the additional organ by Craig. Alto would play percussion. Following the last guitar
solo have an extended jam where Elton would incorporate a piano solo.
Island Girl (1975)
Bob would play acoustic guitar. The original has the electric guitar parts only in certain sections of
the song. In this version, have the electric guitar throughout the whole song. Alto would play the
added saxophone. Craig would play its mellotron and synthesizer parts on the keyboard including
the mellotron solo. Davey would play some rocking guitar riffs in the mellotron solo.
Still The Same (1978)
Elton and Bob would both play piano, as Bob played piano on the original version. Alto would play
acoustic guitar alongside Davey.
Love’s The Last To Know (1982)
This is included as Elton’s guitarist Davey played acoustic guitar on the original track. Craig and
Chris were also on the original recording. Alto would play percussion.
Honky Cat (1972)
Alto would play sax as there were horns on the original. The original’s stringed instrument was a
banjo played by Davey. Davey would still play that, but there would be the addition of electric guitar
on this version played by Bob. Have Craig play electric piano sounds on the keyboard as Elton also
played electric piano on the original.
Healing Hands (1989)
This is my favourite Elton John which he unfortunately no longer plays in concert. Craig would play
organ instead of the keyboard sounds on the original. Alto would play percussion.
Even Now (1982)
I thought it would be good to follow my favourite Elton John song with my favourite Bob Seger song,
which Bob too no longer plays in concert. In the original recording, Bob sings both backing and lead
vocals in the chorus. It’s not possible to sing both in a live context, so have Elton sing the backing
vocal lines in full lead vocal (without any of the backing vocalists on stage contributing). Bob would
sing his lead vocal part in the chorus like how he did on the studio version. Bob would also play
tambourine. Elton would also sing the second verse. This song has a brilliant piano part in it by Roy
Bittan. It’s different to Elton’s style, and Elton should both stay close the original part and add his
own spin on it.
England & America (2016)
This song is from the Deluxe Edition of Elton’s most recent studio album “Wonderful Crazy Night”. It
follows “Even Now” as it has musical similarities to it. Also, “Even Now” is from the 80s and “England
& America” has a real 80s rock sound. This song also sounds different to Elton’s usual style,
where it actually sounds more like a Bob Seger song than an Elton John song. Bob would play
electric guitar as this is a harder rocking song. Alto would play percussion.
Against The Wind (1980)
The backing harmony vocals in the studio version are sung by Bob Seger & late Eagle Glenn
Frey. Have Elton sing the backing vocal parts at the end solely by himself, and of course sing part of
the lead vocals with Bob. Bob would play acoustic guitar and Davey would play electric guitar. Alto
would play percussion.
Club at the End of the Street (1989)
Have Elton play acoustic piano (unlike the electric piano of the original recording) like how he did on
his 2000 concert/DVD One Night Only. Alto would play saxophone as there was one on the original.
I Don’t Wanna Go On With You Like That (1988)
Craig would replace the synth parts on the original with new keyboard parts on the organ. Alto would
play percussion.
The Fire Inside (1991)
This song is chosen to follow “I Don’t Wanna Go On With You Like That” as both songs are a bit
similar, from the same period and feature good rock piano parts. Also, both songs are rock songs
whose guitar part is acoustic and not electric. This song has fabulous piano work on the original that
was played by Roy Bittan. It would give Elton a great opportunity to showcase his piano playing skills
and be a challenge to play something that’s outside of his normal style & a rock piano piece
even more complicated than his normal work. Elton would both stay close to Roy’s original piano
part and add his own spin on it. Alto would play percussion.
Fire Lake (1980)
This is going from one Bob Seger “Fire” song to another, but it’s much slower than the previous one
as it’s a ballad. Have Bob on acoustic guitar and Davey on electric guitar. Alto would play percussion.
The Encores
Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting (1973)
In the intro Craig would play the added organ alongside the guitars before Elton’s piano comes in.
Bob would play electric guitar. Alto would play added sax.
Rock & Roll Never Forgets (1976)
This song is included after “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” as it sounds similar to it. It’s
chosen to conclude the show as Bob has been ending his concerts with it.
I hope you enjoyed my selection of songs Elton John and Bob Seger could perform together in a
hypothetical concert. It’s fitting as the concert opens with an Elton John song and closes with a Bob
Seger song. I’d be interested if you have any songs of theirs that you’d like to see them perform
together. Feel free to comment with those ideas. I think these two singers fit well together and am
sure this band would be performing great songs together.
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