Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – ‘Rock & Roll Never Forgets’

Writer: Bob Seger
Producers: Bob Seger and Ed “Punch” Andrews
Recorded: Early 1976 at Pampa Sound Studios, Detroit.
Released: Fall 1976
Players:
Bob Seger — vocals, guitar
Drew Abbott — guitar
Chris Campbell — bass
Alto Reed — saxophone
Robyn Robbins — keyboards
Charlie Allen Martin — drums
Album: Night Moves (Capitol, 1976)
Also on:
Nine Tonight (Capitol, 1991)
Bob Seger, Greatest Hits 2 (Capitol, 2003)
A song that deals with the joys of rock ‘n’ roll even as you get older (“So now sweet sixteen’s turned thirty-one”), “Rock and Roll Never Forgets” came about late in the recording of Night Moves, according to Bob Seger: “I think that was one of the last songs I wrote for Night Moves. I wanted a rock ‘n’ roll opening to the album, ’cause I felt I needed one more rock song. I like the chords to that, too. There’s some strange changes in that, unusual.”
Of the lyrics, Seger says “The subject matter is pretty self-explanatory, I think. I wouldn’t want to try to explain it. It’s just kind of a celebration of rock ‘n’ roll, how much I love it.”
“Rock and Roll Never Forgets” peaked at Number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart but was also a favorite album track at rock radio stations.
Following the groundwork laid by the Live Bullet album earlier in the year, Night Moves was Seger’s breakthrough album, hitting Number Eight on the Billboard Top 200 and selling more than five million copies.

FAST FORWARD:

After numerous personnel changes, the Silver Bullet Band now consists only of Craig Campbell and Alto Reed, with former Grand Funk Railroad keyboardist Craig Frost, who joined in 1980.
Drummer Charlie Martin was involved in a 1975 auto accident that left him wheelchair-bound and out of the band, though he guested on vocals and piano at a few concerts on Seger’s 1996 tour.
Seger was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

His most recent album, 2006’s Face The Promise, was his first in 11 years. He spends most of his time these days at home in suburban Detroit with his wife, Nita, and their children Cole and Samantha.