The story of Bob Seeger's legendary hit "Old Time Rock & Roll"!
Содержание
"Old Time Rock & Roll" is a famous hit by Bob Seeger, recorded for his album Stranger in Town (1978). Released as a single in 1979, "Old Time Rock & Roll" quickly gained success and popularity among listeners! Today, many music lovers refer to this composition as a favourite in Singer's repertoire... The musician himself described it as "a sentimental take on traditional rock & roll".
The second wave of popularity hit the track in 1983, after the release of the film "Risky Business", in which Tom Cruise performs it (or rather, not performs it, but lip-syncs it). From then on, "Old Time Rock & Roll" is a widely recognised hit! In the 1990s the song was number two on the Top 40 singles of all time! And in 2001, "Old Time Rock & Roll" was included in the list of "the best songs of the century". How was the legendary tune born? That's what we're going to talk about today....
Studio work...
Of all the recognisable songs in Bob Seeger's catalogue, "Old Time Rock & Roll" is by far the most recognisable! Surely everyone has heard this song: not only was it a huge radio hit, but it was also the perfect accompaniment to Paul Brickman's film "Risky Business" starring Tom Cruise! And as soon as you play the 8-note intro on Barry Beckett's piano, the line "Just take those old records off the shelf..." comes to mind.
Thanks to its relevance in films and television, today "Old Time Rock & Roll" represents the most memorable blockbuster of the Stranger in Town album. What's more - it is, you could say, a classic hit on many radio stations! However, the true story of how this song came to be may surprise you a lot....
Bob Seeger had a hit album after ten years of trying, and he needed to prove that Stranger in Town was no fluke... And he succeeded, building on the strengths of his previous record... Seeger again split the album between two back-up bands - his touring band The Silver Bullet Band and The Silver Bullet Band. Bob also split Stranger in Town into two very different camps in terms of concept: on one side are the arena-ready arena rockers, on the other are the reflective ballads...
"Old Time Rock & Roll" turned out to be a late addition to the album's sessions. You could say that Seeger was literally given the biggest hit of his career: the track was sent to him by the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, a group of American session musicians based in Muscle Shoals in northern Alabama, who often supported Seeger during his studio sessions! Seeger liked the song, but decided it was still worth working on... He later described how he kept the chorus lyric while rewriting most of all the verses:
"It was the stupidest thing in my life... I really wanted to finish the album already, so I didn't hire an assistant. I didn't believe in the success of the song, so I gave up on the idea... And today I'm not considered one of the authors of 'Old Time Rock & Roll', so I couldn't control the copyright... And when this track was featured in an advert for Hardee's Restaurants LLC (a chain of fast food restaurants in America) I was horrified...".
Poor Seeger... It wasn't until the end of 2019 that he managed to confirm his rights to the song.
Graduation, success!
Released as a single in March 1979, "Old Time Rock & Roll" took pride of place at Seeger's live shows as part of a series of hits played at the start of the set! The live version (recorded on the 1981 double album Nine Tonight) is much more stark: there's a husky saxophone solo from Alto Reed, and the piano is played by none other than Craig Frost... The best part is that at first the Silver Bullet Band weren't happy with the inclusion of the song on the album... However, when they saw the excitement of the audience during the European tour, they quickly changed their mind! Soon the song became their favourite track too...
A second life
After its release on a single, the song became a modest hit: it wasn't listed as a super-firm tune until it hit the cinema! The composition "Old Time Rock & Roll" perfectly graced the film Risky Business with Tom Cruise! It's played at the actor's iconic moment when he takes off his trousers and... the party officially begins! Let's see:
After that, the song's popularity skyrocketed! It was featured in numerous TV shows and commercials, becoming the flagship song of Guitar Hero: World Tour! "Old Time Rock & Roll" was also a hit on classic rock radio, which was just getting started at the time of the song's release in America...
Conclusion...
When listening to "Old Time Rock & Roll", unfortunately, you begin to realise that today's music doesn't have that kind of soul... This track is literally overflowing with energy and positive mood! It will forever remain a legendary gem not only in Bob Singer's discography, but also in the history of music in general...
