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MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM T r a v e l i n ’ M a n xv I N T R o D U c T I o N Heavy Music G A R Y G R A F F Iwas a Bob Seger fan before I moved to Detroit in 1982—just in time to write about The Distance, Seger’s twelfth studio album and his follow-up to Against the Wind, which was his first to hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and also earned him his first Grammy Award. expectations, and stakes, were high, and I was excited and also a little apprehensive to be covering such an anxiously anticipated release on Seger’s home turf. I settled into an upstairs office at Punch enterprises, Seger’s management company, so I could digest the new album and gather my thoughts before talking to Seger. Then, during the first chorus into the first track, “even Now,” there was a bounding of heavy footsteps on the staircase and into the room popped Seger—smiling, ebullient with a sharp “How ya doin’?!”, sporting a short new haircut, and raring to go. I was able to keep my jaw from dropping, but my heart did beat a bit faster while the thought kept whirring in my head that “oh God, I hope I like this album!” Fortunately I did, and that December encounter was an auspicious beginning for what’s been an enjoyable, long-term relationship with someone whose music I made sure was pounding through my car speakers when I first crossed the Michigan state line on Interstate 75. Travelin’ Man was not conceived as a full-scale, tell-all Seger biography—but it will tell you a lot about the man and his music, particularly those infamous and legendary early days before he became a hit-singles factory and the gold and platinum began to flow. Tom Weschler had a ringside seat to that ascent. He rode on the bumpy road with Seger, often in vehicles in which they literally felt every bump, and witnessed both the triumphs and the setbacks as Seger struggled to find his artistic voice and an audience that wanted to hear it. Best of all, Tom carried his camera with him, chronicling what transpired with a probing eye but also with an empathy that came from being a participant in the story. The resulting images not only show what happened but convey the energy and emotion of the moment and a real feeling of being there, a rare achievement borne of both his talent and the circumstances in which he found himself. The primary thing that strikes you in any encounter with Seger is how much he genuinely loves music and how much it flows through his very fabric of being—and apparently has for most of his life. “My dad made a big deal when I was, like, four years old about the fact that I sang ‘I’m Looking over a Four-Leaf clover’ in the back of his ’49 Buick,” Seger recalls. “He just went nuts over that. I think that was maybe the very first inclination for me”—that music would be a substantial part of his life. Seger, of course, went on to carve out a four-plus decade recording career during which he sold xiv T r a v e l i n ’ M a n MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM more than fifty million albums and launched a chain of enduring rock hits such as “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man,” “Night Moves,” “Turn the Page,” “Hollywood Nights,” “Against the Wind,” and “Like a Rock.” And 1978’s “old Time Rock & Roll” is not only the No. 1 jukebox selection of all time but has virtually replaced creedence clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary” as the mandatory anthem for weddings, bar mitzvahs, and similar celebrations. Moreover, Seger is largely responsible for creating a model for and voice of the midwestern, or heartland, singer-songwriter, a different breed of rock ’n’ roll animal than its east and West coast counterparts. Seger and those who followed, from John Mellencamp to Seger pal and fellow Detroiter Kid Rock, drew the same kind of inspiration from Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, and Bob Dylan but applied their own regional aesthetic to it—a more narrative form built on earth parables about maintaining everyday ideals amidst all manners of adversity and temptation. These were not plaintive troubadours, however; Seger and company also showed you could deliver these contemplative paeans with the same kind of...

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