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.