"Fire Lake" is a song written and recorded by the American musical artist

Bob Seger Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is a retired American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded with the groups Bob Seger and the Last Heard and the Bob Seger System throu ...

. He had planned to record "Fire Lake" for his 1975 album '' Beautiful Loser'', but the track was not finished. The song had been partly written years before, in 1971, and was finally finished in 1979 and released in 1980 on Seger's album '' Against the Wind''. The single reached number 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. A live version of the song appeared on the album '' Nine Tonight'', released in 1981.

Background and writing

Seger and colleagues decided to make "Fire Lake" the first single from ''Against the Wind'' because it was "totally and unequivocally unlike anything I'd ever done before." *"The lyric is very ... different ... and very kind of unique. It's about taking risks. About risking love, chucking it all and just heading off with a bunch of wild people, whatever. *"It is one of my favorite lyrics down through the years, and the track is very unusual. It's sort of an R&B meets country kind of thing. *"I really wanted it to be the first single but I never thought Capitol would agree to it, and I believe it was Punch (Andrews, Seger's manager and often co-producer) who talked them into it. What I liked about it was that it broke new ground for us. It really showed that we were unafraid to push the envelope of what we were doing before, which was basically pretty hot rock and roll, you know, with a few ballads thrown in."

Reception

Music critic Maury Dean described the song as an "ominous ballad" about "

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fireworks". Dean praised the song's intensity, Seger's vocal, and the "nifty"

minor chord In music theory, a minor chord is a chord that has a root, a minor third, and a perfect fifth. When a chord comprises only these three notes, it is called a minor triad. For example, the minor triad built on A, called an A minor triad, has pit ...

s. Dean speculated that the title may not be entirely figurative, as there may be a hidden reference to a midwestern body of water which caught fire, the

Cuyahoga River The Cuyahoga River (see ) is a river located in Northeast Ohio that bisects the City of Cleveland and feeds into Lake Erie. As Cleveland emerged as a major manufacturing center, the river became heavily affected by industrial pollution, so mu ...

in Ohio. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' described "Fire Lake" as an "excellent song

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is paced by acoustic guitar which lends a folk flavor" and the lyrics as describing "the subversion of small-town life." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said it has "full-bodied harmonies and an easy, country-tinged melody" and praised the production. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' called it "Dynamite!" ''Classic Rock History'' critic Janey Roberts rated it as Seger's 14th best song.

Production

Three of the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

provided the backing vocals for this track:

Glenn Frey Glenn Lewis Frey (; November 6, 1948 – January 18, 2016) was an American musician. He was a founding member of the rock band Eagles, for whom he was the co-lead singer and frontman, roles he came to share with fellow member Don Henley, with ...

, Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit. Seger's recording engineer David Cole refers to the song on his website when he talks of his history with Seger: "I was there when the Eagles sang 'Who wants to go to Fire Lake?' and many other great moments during the '' Stranger in Town'' album".

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

of Seger's 2003 '' Greatest Hits 2'' compilation. *

– lead vocals

Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section is a group of American session musicians based in the northern Alabama town of Muscle Shoals. One of the most prominent American studio house bands from the 1960s to the 1980s, these musicians, individually or a ...

Barry Beckett Barry Edward Beckett (February 4, 1943 – June 10, 2009) was an American keyboardist, session musician, record producer, and studio founder. He is best known for his work with David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, and Roger Hawkins, his bandmates in the ...

– piano *

Pete Carr Jesse Willard "Pete" Carr (April 22, 1950 – June 27, 2020) was an American guitarist. Carr contributed session work to recordings by Joan Baez, Luther Ingram, Bob Seger, Paul Simon, Willie Nelson, Joe Cocker, Boz Scaggs, Percy Sledge, The Sta ...

– lead guitar, acoustic guitar * Roger Hawkins – drums, percussion *

David Hood David Hood (born September 21, 1943) is an American musician, hailing from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, He is known for playing the bass guitar and trombone, and is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Early life and education Hood was b ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Jimmy Johnson – rhythm guitar *Randy McCormick –

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Additional musicians *

– harmony vocals * Don Henley – harmony vocals * Timothy B. Schmit – harmony vocals

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1980 singles Bob Seger songs Songs written by Bob Seger 1980 songs Capitol Records singles Song recordings produced by Bob Seger