Bob Seger explains the real story behind the Silver Bullet band's name. (2014)
The Conversation
our next guest is a Grammy award winner and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame this guy has sold over 52 million albums worldwide 52 million
albums and he's not done remember when this guy was all about uh Chevy trucks oh yeah
like a rock for God's sake like a damn Rock remember that fantastic yeah woo um his new
album is entitled right out and he's currently on a North American tour uh ladies and gentlemen the great Bob Seager I have a thank you I have so many questions for you uh I have enjoyed your music as long as you've been making music and when you started uh what a daunting time and daunting
place for a kid to begin a musical career in an around Detroit who were the same who were
who were the guys the men and women in your your class of who are your well Stevie Wonder Marvin Gay The Temptations the Miracles uh yeah had the whole mtown bunch and uh Mitch Ryder was
before me and he did really well he came to New York here and and had his records produced did
you get to interact with these other musicians oh yeah oh yeah uh there was a a Canadian um uh television station and I remember one New Year's Eve it was really a thrill uh I was in a room with Stevie Wonder The Four Tops uh Diana Ross and The PRS and they're all practicing and you
know singing and Stevie was playing harmonica and it was just was pretty he pretty is this
uh out of like Windsor Ontario yes yeah uh uh and how old were you then if you don't mind 21
21 oh my god did you ever uh work on any Motown records did you no I never did no no I I signed with capital actually they offered me a deal but I I signed with capital and uh uh did you know
Barry Gordy never met him no but I I met some of the writers down through the years uh and uh Holland oer Holland and some of those people they were I've heard PA talk about those people
before Oh the greatest what a what a run but talk about a run Bob Seager yeah what about Bob Seger
in the last herd that was just before the silver bullet yeah yeah he was a teenager and he had a
head record that's right yeah what was the song you're talking about a rambling Gambling Man oh
that's right that's exactly right right and that was not the silver bullet B no they weren't they
weren't quite there yet now next year uh listen to this uh two days ago I was with some friends
and we were talking about you and the Silver Bullet Band and a friend of mine said do you
know how the name of the Silver Bullet Band came to be and I said I don't know and then he told us
this story if you will tell us the story and then I'll know if my friend is lying well we
were we were he's probably not lying we were all arguing about what our band name should be and and
I was kind of letting the band pick it themselves and and uh and they just kept arguing and arguing went on and on and on and finally my manager sent us our paychecks with Bob Seager and the Silver Bullet Band on it he got tired of waiting for us so he made it up himself really yeah yeah
that's where it came my friend's version of this was okay that to go to gigs you guys had
a stretch limousine that was painted silver and it was nicknamed the Silver Bullet no no
sorry
give me an idea the quality of friends I get good information these days now when when you uh your music is to me well of course I you know this is right in my wheelhouse uh but when you play live
on this concert tour is it going to be guys like me or is it going to be all kind of all-aged kids
old you know it depends on the city and it just but we get all ages yeah yeah we really do and um and uh it's really a joy to play with my band I've been with him now basically since the same
exact cast of character since about 1980 886 right in there and and we've been uh doing it together forever and it's just like a family I used to play that Ramblin Gamblin man when I worked at a college radio station and and within 100 million how much did you make from Chevy honest
to God I mean well we gave some to the workers fund you know oh yeah yeah there you go that's fantastic selling those trucks weren't we oh boy did you you must have got a
free truck every month no I had to buy them I I swear I did I bought them yep honest to God