Published on Aug 4, 1998
Early on in his career, Bob Seger looked like he would have the
world by a string. His first album,
Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man, brought him early fame and success.
However, subsequent efforts failed to do as well, and Seger was on
the brink of leaving the music industry completely.
In 1975, he gave it one last chance with
Beautiful Loser, an album he poured his heart out on,
figuring he would never get this type of an opportunity again. Much
to people’s surprise, listeners connected with the album, and Seger
again had achieved some semblance of fame, eventually leading to
superstardom with his backing group the Silver Buller Band.
Listening to this album 23 years after it came out, one can hear
both a sense of desparation in the music, as well as an acceptance
of the possibility of failure in the music. It was almost as if
Seger was expecting the worst, and decided to put his whole being
and emotions into many of the songs. In some cases, it worked,
though the album begins to lose steam near the end.
The title track seems to say the most about the situation,
almost as if Seger is taking on the role of the title character.
The track (often paired with “Travellin’ Man” when performed live),
is a powerful autobiographical tale that still is amazing to listen
to. And, when “Travellin’ Man” is listened to, one can understand
how these two songs can easily be paired together.
The true feelings that Seger had can be heard on the song
“Katmandu,” one of the hits off of
Beautiful Loser. Although he goes through a listing of all
the benefits of each area of the country, he seems to be ready to
leave the U.S., declaring, “Nobody here loves me, anyway.” I
honestly don’t think I’ve heard a more telling lyric than those
words regarding a person’s anger at a situation – and it still is
poignant today.
The remainder of
Beautiful Loser is comprised of the rockers and ballads that
would eventually make Seger a superstar. The rockers (“Black
Night,” “Nutbush City Limite”) are for the most part solid, though
the ballads are a little more hit-and-miss. Cuts like “Jody Girl”
and “Momma” are interesting experiments for Seger, while the
album’s closers “Sailing Nights” and “Fine Memory” just don’t fly
that well.
The whole album is a very short listen – only 33 minutes in
length – but the overall emotion and power that Seger packs into
that short a time is enough to give the listener reason to think.
One has to wonder what would have happened with Seger had
Beautiful Loser not been the success it was. Something tells
me that Seger would still have slugged it out, even if it was only
on the bar circuits – I think the rock was too much in his blood.
But there’s no denying that this album is both one of the angriest
and the saddest the rock world has ever seen.
Even with the few minor mistakes on it,
Beautiful Loser is an album that defined Seger’s future as a
musician, and paved the way for many of the songs we all know and
love. While this isn’t one of the easiest listens you’ll ever
experience in Seger’s catalog, it is one that could be called
required listening.