Bob Seger & the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section

Bob Seger has recorded many songs in the 1970s & 1980s with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (MSRS), a group of session musicians in the small town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The core members of the MSRS are Barry Beckett (keyboards), Pete Carr (lead guitar), Jimmy Johnson (rhythm guitar), David Hood (bass) and Roger Hawkins (drums & percussion). I’m writing about their work with Bob Seger covering many of the songs they recorded with him from 1975’s “Beautiful Loser” album to 1980’s “Against the Wind” album. They also did some recording with Bob in the few years before and after this. Bob during this period alternated recording with the MSRS and his own band the Silver Bullet Band (SBB). A few SBB members played with the MSRS as we’ll soon see.

We’re starting with the “Beautiful Loser” album in 1975. The MSRS on this album had a second keyboardist, Spooner Oldham. The title track is a warm melodic ballad. Barry Beckett’s piano has a strong presence. He gives a good piano solo and also plays synth parts. The electric piano rocker “Black Night” is a case where the MSRS is augmented by an SBB member, being lead guitar by Drew Abbott. The electric piano would be played by Barry or Spooner. Drew also played guitar with the MSRS on the rock & roll song “Katmandu”. Barry gives great rock & roll piano including glissandos near the end.

We’re now going to the 1976 “Night Moves” album. The rocker “Sunspot Baby” opens with piano and is joined by guitar. Barry’s piano and Pete’s guitar go well together in this song. Pete has two amazing guitar solos. Roger rocks well with his powerful drumming. Rock ballad “Mainstreet” has incredible guitar by Pete Carr throughout it. Barry is on both piano and organ. David’s bass guitar gives deep notes that enrich the song. The ballad “Ship of Fools” is led by Pete’s acoustic guitar and Barry’s piano. Silver Bullet Band guitarist Drew Abbott plays guitar licks on it.

Sunspot Baby (1976)

Mainstreet (1976)

The following album is 1978’s “Stranger in Town”. The iconic “Old Time Rock & Roll” is written by George Jackson, Thomas Earl Jones III and Bob Seger in an uncredited capacity for re-writing the lyrics. Bob recorded his vocals over the original demo and added his saxophonist Alto Reed on it. The piano is played by Randy McCormick who was also involved with the MSRS and opens the song with its legendary intro. The guitars are played by different guitarists, Ken Bell and Forrest McDonald (lead).

A few members of the Eagles played guitar solos with the MSRS. Till it Shines featured the guitar solo by Glenn Frey. Don Felder played the guitar solo on the Frankie Miller cover “Ain’t Got No Money”. Barry gives great rock & roll piano notes near the end of that song. The popular ballad “We’ve Got Tonight”’s main instrument is Barry’s piano. Roger drums effectively where he alternates between playing softly and fully charged. David’s bass playing suits the song well. The Famous Final Scene is also a ballad with Barry on piano & organ and featuring orchestra. It’s more rock sounding than the previous song with Pete’s guitars throughout. All the instruments play strongly, matching well with Bob’s singing.

Ain’t Got No Money (1978)

The Famous Final Scene (1978)

On 1980’s “Against the Wind” album, the band is augmented by Randy McCormick of “Old Time Rock & Roll” on organ. The rocker “Long Twin Silver Line” is driven by Pete’s guitars. It opens with the guitars and is followed by Barry’s piano coming in via a glissando. Barry plays rock & roll piano notes which are louder in parts of the song such as the chorus. Pete plays a rocking guitar solo with subtle country influences. Randy’s organ has a stronger presence on the next two songs. They are both ballads with a soft rock feel. The guitars feature a good mix of acoustic and electric. I wonder if Jimmy is playing the acoustic guitar parts. Fire Lake features Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles on wonderful backing vocals. Barry’s piano and Randy’s organ go well together. Shinin’ Brightly is a positive, optimistic song. Throughout “Shinin’ Brightly”, Randy’s organ does great musical explorations. Barry does a bit of rock piano near the end.

Fire Lake (1980)

These songs are very well produced by Bob Seger and the MSRS. The MSRS are a great band who wonderfully support Bob Seger’s brand of American rock music. They are able to perform intense rockers, slow ballads and everything in between.The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section are an important part of the legacy of Bob Seger’s music. If you enjoyed this article, you might be interested in my previous article “Bill Payne’s Keyboards for Bob Seger”.

The Original Version of Old Time Rock & Roll

Bob Seger’s song “Old Time Rock & Roll” is one of his most popular songs. The song was written by songwriters George Jackson and Thomas Earl Jones III. The song was pitched to Bob Seger by the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, a group of Alabama session musicians that Bob Seger recorded with in the 1970s and 80s. Bob Seger re-wrote the lyrics, but didn’t ask for credit (which he regrets) so he isn’t credited. George Jackson’s demo of “Old Time Rock & Roll” appeared on the compilation album “All Because of Your Love”. I’ll be embedding the official audio of George Jackson’s version followed by Bob Seger’s version. 

George Jackson’s Original Version

Bob Seger’s Version

George Jackson’s demo opens with the piano intro that’s played only once. Bob Seger has the intro played twice. According to Jimmy Johnson of The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section who was mixing the demo that was handed to Bob Seger, he made a mistake mixing the song featuring the piano intro played twice which is how it ended up that way in Bob Seger’s version. The lyrics of the first verse are similar with some changes. George is singing about how his girlfriend likes old time rock & roll, unlike Bob who sings that he likes old time rock & roll. The differences in the first verse and chorus are based on the girlfriend. There’s a contrast in how George sings about when he takes his girlfriend to a disco and Bob’s singing saying not to try taking him to one.

The second verse is completely different. I remember Bob Seger mentioning in an interview that the original lyrics referred to Little Richard & Jerry Lee Lewis and you hear references to them here. There is a more intense guitar part in this version including two guitar solos. The second guitar solo seems to be accompanied by the same piano notes that accompany Alto Reed’s saxophone solo in Bob’s version. The backing vocals are the same as the ones backing Bob. Interestingly, George Jackson is one of the backing vocalists on Bob Seger’s version. I would imagine that George is also one of the backing vocalists on his version. 

I enjoy listening to George Jackson’s demo of “Old Time Rock & Roll”. It’s good to hear what the song was originally like which shows the changes that Bob Seger made. It’s fun to hear how different the original version of a song you love is. Bob Seger improved the lyrics which flow better and fit more naturally to the melody. Bob singing praise for rock & roll from his perspective sounds more organic than George singing praise for rock & roll from his girlfriend’s perspective. Comparing the two, Bob’s version is better produced. He sings with such power and passion. I like the fact that Bob’s version is longer. He features a production choice not in the original demo where he sings the chorus accompanied with only drums and backing vocals. Bob got his Silver Bullet Band saxophonist Alto Reed to record an overdubbed solo in place of the demo’s second guitar solo.

For my article about the making of Bob Seger’s “Stranger in Town” album that featured this song, bassist David Hood said ““Old Time Rock & Roll” was recorded for our publishing company demo with the writer, George Jackson singing the original version. George didn’t have a traditional “rock” voice so we overdubbed a young white singer named Dennis Gulley on the track to give Bob the right idea about finishing the recording.” As Bob’s attempts to record the song with both the Silver Bullet Band and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section wasn’t working, he ended up using the demo as his version of the song and recorded his voice over it. 

I am not so sure that George Jackson’s demo which is embedded in this post is the same demo that Bob Seger used as most of the guitar parts sound so different. Jimmy Johnson says that the song was slowed down and says that the part in the song where Bob sings with the drums and backing vocals was achieved by muting the other instruments. This does explain some of the differences between George Jackson and Bob Seger’s versions including its speed and length, but they don’t feel like the same recording. My theory is that George Jackson’s version released is an alternate take of the song to the demo that Bob Seger used. As Bob Seger and his manager Punch Andrews bought the demo, I suspect that those compiling George Jackson songs for the album “All Because of Your Love”, would have only had access to alternate takes of George Jackson's “Old Time Rock & Roll”.

Old Time Rock & Roll is one of the most iconic rock & roll songs in the history of music. George Jackson and Thomas Earl Jones III made a great contribution to music with this song. They are a big part of the popularity and success of Bob Seger. I’m pleased to hear that George Jackson considers “Old Time Rock & Roll” as his favourite song he’s written. If you enjoyed this post, you might like my post “Bob Seger’s Old Time Rock & Roll Live” where I embed the official video of Bob Seger performing “Old Time Rock & Roll” at his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction 18 years ago in March 2004 and give my thoughts on it. 

The Bob Seger Sound

I wanted to write about a musical arrangement Bob Seger has used in his music. It isn’t always

present in his music and he has used it less over the years, but it is common and a significant part of

his work so I’m calling it the Bob Seger sound. This Bob Seger sound incorporates piano, electric

guitar, acoustic guitar and organ. It’s most common on rock ballads, but is also present on full on

rock songs and of course quiet ballads. I’m only including songs in this article that feature these four

instruments. I am mentioning many, but not every single Bob Seger song that has all these

instruments on it will be featured. 

The song I’m going to begin with is a rock ballad “Mainstreet” (1976). This song is significant as the

lead guitarist of the song Pete Carr recently passed away at the end of June. That song was

recorded with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, a group of session musicians Bob Seger has

recorded with several times. I’ll now mention three songs from the next album “Stranger in Town”

(1978). One of its songs “Till It Shines” sounds similar to “Mainstreet” and it uses these four

elements effectively. It’s lead guitar part is far more intense than “Mainstreet” and the guitar solo is

played very well by late Glenn Frey of The Eagles. We’ve Got Tonight has those four instruments,

but uses them in a different way to produce a ballad that isn’t overtly rock like. It has an orchestra

and the organ parts are more subtle. Also, the electric guitar doesn’t give a rock sound. The Famous

Final Scene on the same album uses the ballad with an orchestra sound of “We’ve Got Tonight”, but

it brings the rock style into it, especially by Pete Carr’s rocking lead guitars. The piano on the song

rocks too.

The following album “Against The Wind” (1980) featured quite a few songs with these instruments,

being its ballads “No Man’s Land”, “Good For Me”, “Shinin’ Brightly”, “Fire Lake” and “Against the

Wind”. The last two are hits, especially the title track which is one of the most globally recognised

Bob Seger songs. Against The Wind goes in a more country direction, which is most evident in Paul

Harris’ piano solo and Drew Abbott’s electric guitar part playing along with it. Its organ is probably

most prominent in the second verse. 

The “Like a Rock” (1986) song has this arrangement. It’s a title track of the album of the same name.

It feels like a hybrid of “Against The Wind” and “Mainstreet”. It even refers to “Against The Wind” with

its lyric “Hard Against The Wind”. The organ is the only keyboard part during the first verse and it

does have a moment later on where it's louder in the mix with it matching with Bob’s powerful

singing. There are two other songs recorded during the same album’s sessions which remained

unreleased until 2009’s “Early Seger Vol. 1”, being “Star Tonight” and “Wildfire”. Star Tonight is a

signature Bob Seger rock ballad. We initially only hear piano, acoustic guitar and organ. The electric

guitar is barely present until it comes in giving the sudden jolt of a rocking guitar solo. The organ is

prominent in a special way in parts of the song. Wildfire is a full on rock song with these four

instruments, which has a similar arrangement of not having its electric guitar part until the solo and it

has some parts following that. It’s organ part is very subtle. This song features great piano, including

a piano solo and is reminiscent of his 1982 hit “Roll Me Away”.    

In 2003 for his “Greatest Hits 2” album, Bob Seger used these four instruments in a different way

than he usually does with his original blues song “Satisfied”. This song is interesting as it features

two acoustic guitars and one electric guitar, unlike some of the songs on this article which feature the

reverse arrangement when it comes to guitars. The electric guitar part is barely audible, with the

acoustic guitars being the prominent guitar part. The acoustic guitars do a blues part following the

first piano solo. Speaking of the piano, it is very catchy and melodic. I’ll conclude with “I’ll Remember

You” from Bob’s latest album “I Knew You When” (2017). This song features all four instruments

prominently with each one being stronger in different parts of the song. It’s a rock ballad that really

rocks and has incredible singing by Bob. It could have been a hit if it came out during Bob Seger’s

peak period.

Many of the songs on this list have been featured in my articles “Ten Powerful Rock Ballads by Bob

Seger” and “Ten Great Bob Seger Songs by Ten Different Piano Players”. I dedicate this article to

Pete Carr who played on some of the songs discussed and many others for Bob Seger. RIP Pete

Carr.  

Ten Powerful Rock Ballads by Bob Seger

Having written an article “Ten Powerful Rock Ballads by Elton John”, I decided to write a similar one

about Bob Seger. I have also written a Bob Seger article like this, that being “Ten Great Bob Seger

Songs by Ten Different Piano Players”. These songs also feature piano. I made a selection of Bob

Seger songs that I consider to be both ballads and rock songs. Some songs have more emphasis in

its ballad aspects, while others have more emphasis on its rock aspects. I feature a mixture of his

hits and album tracks. I feature songs credited with his band the Silver Bullet Band as well as solo

songs. Not all songs credited with the Silver Bullet Band feature them, and I’ll specify if that’s the

case. The first seven songs are credited with the Silver Bullet Band with the remaining three songs

being solo.

Mainstreet (1976)

This song is recorded with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, a group of session musicians in Alabama. This is a great song which has a brilliant guitar riff played by Pete Carr. The piano plays alone for half a second which is then joined by Pete Carr’s guitar riff which continues to come throughout the song. It has the Bob Seger sound of piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar and organ. The piano and organ is played by Barry Beckett. The piano brings a gentle feel and the organ has a relaxed, lounge atmosphere. About two minutes into the song Pete Carr delivers a captivating guitar solo. I like it how some of the lyrics say “Sometimes Even Now” as “Sometimes” and “Even Now” are two other Bob Seger songs I love. Near the end of the song Bob shoutingly sings “down on Mainstreet” in a long way. The organ does some good effects at this part.

The first song in my similar Elton John article is “Candle in the Wind”, and I think both songs sound

alike. They both have a similar length. In fact, I had described Elton John & Bob Seger performing

these songs together one after the other in my article of an imaginary concert by them called “Elton

John & Bob Seger Live in Concert”. 

The Famous Final Scene (1978)

This song uses the same set of musicians as the previous song. It opens with piano which is soon

joined by electric guitar which gives a rock vibe. The electric guitar plays the same riff as the piano in

a different way. We are then joined by Bob singing with it being mainly piano backing him. The

electric guitars come back about a minute into the song. There are some strings and an organ. The

guitar parts played by Pete Carr are rocking and powerful. In the last minute of the song, the piano

does a few good rock notes accompanied by the drums. 

You’ll Accomp’ny Me (1980)

This is a softer song whose guitar parts are all acoustic. This song seems like soft rock. The acoustic

guitar is played by Bob. The opening of the song is mainly acoustic guitar with brief bits of keyboards

in the background until the piano comes thirty six seconds in. Bill Payne plays piano, organ and

synthesizer on this song. His piano parts bring energy to the song. In parts of the song, the organ

becomes prominent and does something good. This is the first song on this list to feature Silver

Bullet Band musicians, being bassist Chris Campbell and drummer David Teegarden. 

The live version from the 1981 live album “Nine Tonight” is even better with its powerful piano played by Craig Frost. This song is from his successful “Against The Wind” album which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, having been released in 1980. The next song is another hit from the same album.

Fire Lake (1980)

Bob Seger described this song as “R&B meets country” and while those elements are there, I’d

place it as soft rock. The electric guitar parts have an interesting effect. Don Henley, Timothy B.

Schmit and Glenn Frey of the Eagles sing backing vocals. They sing supporting effects and at the

two and a half minute mark sing “who wants to go to fire lake” which they repeat several times. This

song is recorded with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and features piano by Barry Beckett and

organ by Randy McCormick (who played the piano on “Old Time Rock & Roll”). 

Like a Rock (1986) 

This is the title track of Bob Seger’s 1986 album and is a hit song. It opens with acoustic guitars with

subtle slide guitar parts by Rick Vito. The song is more rock than the previous two songs. Silver

Bullet Band member Craig Frost’s organ has a presence in the background. Bill Payne’s piano

comes in just before the chorus. In the chorus, Russ Kunkel ramps up his drums. In the bridge, Bob

sings much more intensely. Following this, Rick Vito gives the first of two incredible slide guitar solos.

Bill Payne gives good piano accompaniment to the slide guitar solos. I like it how Bob seemingly

makes a reference to his other hit “Against The Wind” with the line “Hard Against the Wind”. This

song goes on for an epic five minutes and fifty seven seconds. 

Miami (1986)

This is a song about the Cubans immigrating to America during the 1980s. It’s melodic and has a pop rock feel. It opens with drums, which is joined by the other instruments in a second. Bob Seger plays the piano in this song. He plays it well in a melodic way. The guitar part is an acoustic guitar. The song has good organ and horn parts, as well as Alto Reed’s saxophone playing. Craig Frost’s organ plays a good riff throughout the song. There is good harmony vocals by Don Henley. About the halfway mark, Brazilian percussionist Paulinho Da Costa plays good percussion with his hands. There is a brief moment where it’s just percussion and Bob’s singing. Bob brings his piano notes back in a good way a few seconds later. Near the end of the song, there’s a bit of rock piano playing by Bob Seger which is good to hear as he rarely plays rock piano. Bob’s rock piano notes here sound like the piano notes at the end of Jackson Browne’s “The Pretender”, which isn’t surprising as I remember reading Bob Seger speak highly of that song when praising Jackson Browne’s songwriting.

Always In My Heart (1991)

This song opens with piano played by Bruce Hornsby who had some hit singles credited with his then backing band The Range from 1986 - 1990. Bruce plays very good piano in this song. He moves the piano notes into good places musically which enriches the song. Bob sings powerfully. This song is recorded with session musicians except for Craig Frost’s synthesizer strings. It is reminiscent of Bob Seger’s popular song “We’ve Got Tonight”. We’ve Got Tonight was recorded with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and this song was produced by Barry Beckett (Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section keyboardist) and Bob Seger.

Wait For Me (2006)

This is a solo song as are the remaining two songs on the list. It opens with drums joined by piano a

few seconds later. This is the signature Bob Seger rock ballad sound featuring piano. It’s played by

frequent collaborator Bill Payne. Bob delivers the good lines “No matter how far, no matter free”. Bob

sings with such soul and passion in this song. He plays a good rocking guitar solo. If this song was

released during Bob’s classic period, I think it would have become a big hit. I’d say the same thing

about the next song.

I’ll Remember You (2017) 

This song has the Bob Seger sound of piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar and organ. It is similar to

his 1980 piano ballad “Good For Me”, so it seems like a rockier version of that song. The piano and

organ is played by Reese Wynans. Bob sings very powerfully in the song, most noticeably in the

choruses. The backing vocalists support Bob well and Kenny Greenberg gives intense rocking

guitar. Reese features his organ throughout the song. He plays some of his piano notes hard in an

effective rocking way. 

Maire (2017)

This song has the familiar Bob Seger piano ballad sound, while also sounding unlike anything he’s

ever done before. The piano is played by Steve Nathan. The song does rock with the piano and

drums giving a rock vibe. There are acoustic guitars including the acoustic flamenco guitar played by

Rob McNelley. Rob’s flamenco guitar parts appear in the last minute of the song. The flamenco

guitar is one aspect that makes it sound different to other Bob Seger songs.   

I hope you enjoyed my selection of Bob Seger rock ballads. I featured songs from every decade

from the 1970s to the 2010s. The 2020s isn’t featured as it’s only just beginning and there’s no new

Bob Seger songs so far. I’m sure Bob Seger would release his next album in this decade featuring

more powerful rock ballads worthy of this list. Feel free to give your thoughts on these songs or any

other Bob Seger rock ballads you like that are not featured here.