(As noted in my first Essentials entry, this is an occasional series in which I spotlight albums that, in my estimation, everyone should experience at least once.)
You’d expect that an album that goes platinum within a month of its release would not only hit No. 1, but would also be in the running for best-selling album of the year. Not so in 1978, which was dominated by the soundtracks to Saturday Night Fever and Grease, the Rolling Stones’ Some Girls and Billy Joel’s 52nd Street, among others.
Such was the case for Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band’s Stranger in Town. Released in May of that year, it sold like the hot platter that it was and is, but the highest it charted was No. 4. Yet, in my estimation, it easily ranks as one of the year’s best albums, surpassed only by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s Darkness on the Edge of Town. It features a confident Seger doing what he does best: crafting cinematic songs that speak to the heart and soul like few others. Among its timeless tracks: one of the greatest driving songs of all time, “Hollywood Nights”; the classic rock mainstays “Still the Same,” “Old Time Rock &’ Roll” and “We’ve Got Tonight”; and the greatest working man’s (and woman’s) anthem yet written and performed, “Feel Like a Number.”
Here’s a commercial promoting the album:
And here are live renditions (from the movie FM) of “Hollywood Nights” and “Still the Same,” and the studio version of “Feel Like a Number.”
Stranger in Town, it should be mentioned, was the Midwest rocker’s 10th album. For many fans at the time, however, it was just the second or third LP of his that they had purchased. For those who don’t know his backstory: After a decade spent as a regional success, he catapulted to national headliner status on the strength of the equally essential Live Bullet and Night Moves, both of which were released in 1976. And like Night Moves, though the Stranger in Town album cover billed him with the ampersand Silver Bullet Band, five of the tracks actually feature the famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. Old pal Glenn Frey also plays guitar on “Till It Shines”; Frey’s fellow Eagle Don Felder handles the guitar solo on “Ain’t Got No Money”; Little Feat’s Bill Payne plays keyboards on “Hollywood Nights”; and Doug Riley provides the memorable piano in “Feels Like a Number” and “Brave Strangers.”
“Brave Strangers” obviously echoes the nostalgic theme laid down in “Night Moves” (and, from 1971, “Railroad Days”). No matter. It’s a stirring coming-of-age song. “The Famous Final Scene” is the perfect cap on a perfect album:
Side One:
- Hollywood Nights
- Still the Same
- Old Time Rock & Roll*
- Till It Shines*
- Feel Like a Number
Side Two:
- Ain’t Got No Money*
- We’ve Got Tonight*
- Brave Strangers
- The Famous Final Scene*
(* = Muscles Shoals Rhythm Section)
I hasten to add that, as yesterday as I write, Stranger in Town is now available on the major streaming services. If you have Apple Music, as I do, you can listen to it here:
Give it a spin (or click). You won’t be disappointed.
