This year, Every Sunday Evening, Album Rock WXYG, The GOAT will feature a full album at 8:00 PM from the halcyon musical days of 1975. 1975 was one of the top Years in Album Rock history. Another year of tough choices every week. So many great ones to choose from.
We hope you’ll tune in the evening of June 8th for “Beautiful Loser”, the eighth studio album by Bob Seger, released in 1975.
This album marked Seger's return to Capitol Records after a four-year split. His previous record with Capitol was Brand New Morning in 1971.
The album relied mostly on session musicians from the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, but the Silver Bullet Band members were used separately on some songs and together on "Nutbush City Limits," a cover song of the hit by Ike & Tina Turner.
Beautiful Loser winds up sounding more like Back in '72 than its immediate predecessor, Seven, largely because Bob Seger threaded reflective ballads and mid-tempo laments back into his hard-driving rock. He doesn't shy away from it, either, opening with the lovely title track. And why shouldn't he? These ballads were as much a part of his success as his storming rockers, since his sentimental streak seemed all the more genuine when contrasted with the rockers. If anything, Beautiful Loser might err a little bit in favor of reflection, with much of the album devoted to introspective, confessional mid-tempo cuts. There are a couple of exceptions to the rule, of course -- "Katmandu" roars with humor, and his cover of "Nutbush City Limits" shames Tina Turner's original.
They are the full-throttle rockers here, with "Black Night" coming in as a funky, swaggering cousin. It's the exact opposite of Seven, in other words, and in its own way, it's just as satisfying. Occasionally, it might be a little too sentimental for some tastes, but it's all heartfelt and he's written some terrific songs here, most notably the album's heart of "Jody Girl" and "Travelin' Man." Seger had started turning inward, searching his soul in a way he hadn't since the since-disowned Brand New Morning, and in doing so, he was setting the stage for his first genuine blockbuster, “Live Bullet” which exploded on to the scene in 1976 and turned “Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band” into Giant Stars, from which Bob never had to look back.
Tune In and Turn On the evening of June 8th, and every Sunday evening at 8:00 PM for The GOAT'S "The Long Play with Al Neff”.
