Bob Seger definitely doesn't come to mind when you think about the great soul artists of the past. Typically, you'll remember "Night Moves" or any of his other classics and think of your rock 'n roll legends of the past. You think of innovators like Chuck Berry or Little Richard. Conversely, you might imagine the biggest rockstars of all time like Elvis Presley. But in the case of rhythm and blues, a lot of people wouldn't even think twice about it.
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However, one of the great discoveries you'll make when discovering rock influences, artists like Seger often site the greatest soul artists. For instance, The Beatles famously cite The Isley Brothers as one of their premier influences. They even cover the Isleys hit "Twist & Shout" and make it an even bigger hit. As for Bob Seger though, which music legend does he give credit to as one of his big inspirations?
Back in 2010, Rolling Stone cobbles together a list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. However, there's a twist: they ask other artists to write essays about their choices and what makes them so great. Eventually, number 32 comes and Bob Seger ends up talking about Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. There, he lauds Smokey as one of the most consistently great performers in Motown history.
"Smokey wrote his own stuff, so he had an originality or individualism that maybe the other Motown greats didn't. He was a lyric man as well as a melody man, a musicians' musician. It's kinda like Hollywood, where you have the star, and then you have the actors' actor. Gene Hackman — when was the last time that guy gave a bad performance? Smokey was the Gene Hackman of Motown," Seger declares.
Bob Seger Names One of His Biggest Musical Influences
Additionally, the rock legend recalls his days performing at bars in the "black neighborhoods" of Ann Arbor, Michigan. He notes that playing Smokey Robinson cuts was the name of the game and earned him the money, respect, and confidence to keep going. Smokey's first hit, "Shop Around," was one of the first records I bought. Later on, when my brother went into the service and I was the sole support of my mother, I was playing bars six nights a week, five 45-minute sets a night. This was '63-'67, and I could make the most money playing in a trio," Seger explains.
"We had a medley of six Smokey songs that we played at least twice every night: 'You've Really Got a Hold on Me,' 'Shop Around,' 'Bad Girl,' 'Way Over There' and a couple of others. It was a survival move — the people demanded it," Seger adds. "Also, if you were after a girl in the audience, it was always a good idea to do some Smokey."
Obviously, all this hard work playing local gigs pays off for Bob Seger. He ends his essay by highlighting just how nice Smokey Robinson was in his experiences with him. Moreover, he recalls a time when he got to thank the Motown legend for all the inspiration to keep chasing his music dream. I saw him again around '87 at an awards show. I was able to tell him how much I appreciated his writing, and all the money I made playing his songs in bars... Thank you, Smokey," Seger concludes.
