''Like a Rock'' is the thirteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter

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 ...

, released in 1986. The

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

is best known for being featured in

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

truck commercials throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.

Content

Fortunate Son "Fortunate Son" is a song by the American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, released on the band's fourth studio album, '' Willy and the Poor Boys'' in October 1969. It had previously been released as a single, with " Down on the Corner" ...

" is a live cover of the 1969

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, commonly abbreviated as CCR or simply Creedence, was an American Rock music, rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, h ...

hit, recorded March 31, 1983 at

Cobo Hall Huntington Place (formerly known as Cobo Hall, Cobo Center, and briefly TCF Center) is a convention center in Downtown Detroit, owned by the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority (DRCFA) and operated by ASM Global. Located at 1 Washi ...

in Detroit. It was originally available only as the B-side of the " American Storm" single, and was added as a bonus track to the CD release of the album. The

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

version ends with "Somewhere Tonight". The song "Miami" is featured in an episode of the TV series ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo Tubbs, Ricardo "Rico" Tub ...

''. Seger said of "The Ring": ''

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 of "It's You" that "This mid-tempo ballad has a mellow country inflection with the customary Seger rock edge." ''

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 ...

'' called it a "subdued mid-tempo song" that "fairly begs for a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

cover." ''

'' called "Miami" a "more relaxed, meldodic outing." ''

'' called it a "wistful boogie that contemplates the immigrant's dilemma." This is the first studio album credited to "Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band" that does not feature the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section replacing the Silver Bullet Band on any tracks.

History

The album was originally going to be named ''American Storm'' after the first track and was going to be released in December 1985, but it was delayed and the name was changed.

Track listing

Personnel

As listed in the liner notes. *

– guitar (1), piano (3), acoustic guitar (4), vocals (all tracks)

Silver Bullet Band

Craig Frost Craig Frost (born April 20, 1948) is an American musician who rose to prominence as a member of the rock band Grand Funk Railroad, which he joined in 1973 after working with them the previous year.Craig was credited as additional personnel on t ...

– organ (1–4, 7), piano (4, 10), synthesizer (5, 6, 8, 9) *Chris Campbell – bass (all tracks) *

Alto Reed Alto Reed (born Thomas Neal Cartmell, May 16, 1948 – December 30, 2020) was an American saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conic ...

–

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

(1, 7),

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

(3, 6), organ (10)

Additional musicians

Guitars *

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 ...

– guitar (1) *

Dawayne Bailey Dawayne Bailey is an American guitarist who has toured and recorded with Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, Véronique Sanson, and Chicago. Bailey was born and raised in Manhattan, Kansas. While still attending Manhattan High School in Kansas ...

– acoustic guitar (2), electric guitar (10) *

Rick Vito Richard Francis Vito (born October 13, 1949) is an American guitarist and singer. He was part of Fleetwood Mac between 1987 and 1991. Vito took over as lead guitarist after Lindsey Buckingham left the group. He is best known for his blues and ...

–

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

(2, 5, 6), acoustic guitar (3, 4) *

Fred Tackett Fredrick O. Tackett (born August 30, 1945) is an American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Originally a session player on guitar, mandolin, and trumpet, he is best known as a member of the band Little Feat. In addition to his work with Li ...

– acoustic guitar (4, 9), guitar solo (7) *

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer, studio guitarist, and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004 ...

– guitar (7) *Mark Chatfield – electric guitar (10) Drums and percussion *

Russ Kunkel Russell Kunkel (born September 27, 1948) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician with many popular artists, including Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Chapin, Rita Coolidge, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Cass Elliot, Dan Fo ...

– drums (1, 2) * John Robinson – drums (3, 5–9) *

Gary Mallaber Gary Mallaber (born October 11, 1946, in Buffalo) is an American musician from Los Angeles, mostly known as a drummer, but plays percussion, vibraphone, and keyboards. In addition, he is a songwriter, arranger, composer, producer, engineer, a ...

– drums (4) *

Don Brewer Donald George Brewer (born September 3, 1948) is an American drummer and singer who is a founding member and longtime original drummer of the rock band Grand Funk Railroad. Early life Brewer was born in Flint, Michigan, on September 3, 1948, ...

– drums (10) *

Paulinho da Costa Paulinho da Costa (, born Paulo Roberto da Costa on May 31, 1948) is a Brazilian percussionist. Beginning his career as a samba musician in Brazil, he moved to the United States in the early 1970s and worked with Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Me ...

– percussion (3, 6, 8) Keyboards *

Bill Payne William H. Payne (born March 12, 1949, in Waco, Texas) is an American pianist who, with Lowell George, co-founded the American rock band Little Feat. He is considered by many other rock pianists, including Elton John, to be one of the finest A ...

– piano (1, 2, 6–9), piano solo (8), synthesizer (3, 4, 8) * David Cole – synthesizer solo (8) Horns * Gary Grant – trumpet (3) *Gary Herbig – saxophone (3) *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', '' Rock with Y ...

– trumpet (3, 6, 7) *Kim Hutchcroft – saxophone (3, 7) *

Bill Reichenbach Jr. William Frank Reichenbach Jr. (born November 30, 1949) is an American jazz trombonist and composer. He is the son of Bill Reichenbach, who was the drummer for Charlie Byrd from 1962 to 1973. He is best known as a session musician for television, ...

–

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

(3, 6, 7) *

Marc Russo The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band from San Jose, California. Formed in the fall of 1970, the group was originally a quartet that featured lead vocalist and guitarist Tom Johnston, guitarist and second vocalist Patrick Simmons, bass ...

– saxophone (3, 6, 7) *

Ernie Watts Ernest James Watts (born October 23, 1945) is an American jazz and R&B saxophonist who plays soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone. He has worked with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and toured with the Rolling Stones. On Frank Zappa's album '' ...

– saxophone (3, 6, 7) Additional vocals *Douglas Kibble – background vocals (2) *

The Weather Girls The Weather Girls are an American female duo whose best-known line-up comprised Martha Wash and Izora Armstead. Formed in 1976 in San Francisco, California, Wash and Armstead began their musical careers as Two Tons O' Fun, the female backup du ...

( Izora Armstead and

Martha Wash Martha Elaine Wash (born December 28, 1953) is an American singer and songwriter. Known for her distinctive and powerful voice, Wash first achieved fame as half of the The Weather Girls, Two Tons O' Fun, along with Izora Armstead, as they sang b ...

) – background vocals (2, 5, 6) *

Don Henley Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician who is a founding member of the rock band the Eagles, for whom he is the drummer and co-lead vocalist, as well as its sole continuous member. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles ...

– background vocals (3) * Timothy B. Schmit – background vocals (3) * Laura Creamer – background vocals (5, 6, 8, 9) *Mark Creamer – background vocals (5, 6, 8, 9) *

Donny Gerrard Donald Bradford Gerrard (March 19, 1946 – February 3, 2022) was a Canadian singer. He was a member of the band Skylark in the early 1970s, and in later years performed and recorded as a baritone backup singer for artists such as Mavis Staples ...

– background vocals (5, 6, 8, 9) *

Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Snooker Championship, 2005 World Championship and has completed the Triple Crown (snooker), Triple Crown. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murp ...

– vocals (5), background vocals (6, 9), harmony vocals (7, 8)

Production

*Producers: Punch Andrews,

David N. Cole David Cole is a record producer, who has worked with Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, Melissa Etheridge, Richard Marx, Steve Miller Band, Emerson Drive, NSYNC, and many others. Early career In 1976, David Cole began working as a Staff Enginee ...

, Bob Seger *Engineers: David N. Cole, Greg Edward,

Shelly Yakus Sheldon Gershon "Shelly" Yakus (born November 1945) is an American music engineer and mixer. Formerly chief engineer and vice president of A&M Records, he was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. Yakus is referenced ...

*Assistant engineers: David Axelbaum, Bob Castle, Judy Clapp,

Peter Doell Peter Doell is an American recording and mastering engineer known for his work with Miles Davis, Toto, Céline Dion and The Beach Boys. Doell has been a staff engineer at Capitol Studios, Sunset Sound Recorders and Universal Mastering Studios Wes ...

, Steve Himelfarb *Mixing: Punch Andrews, David N. Cole, Bob Seger *Mastering: Wally Traugott *Horn arrangements:

, Alto Reed *Art direction: Bill Burks, Roy Kohara *Design: Mark Shoolery *Photography:

Aaron Rapoport Aaron Rapoport (born May 22, 1954) is an American photographer, best known for his photographs of musicians. Biography In a career that spans over three decades, Rapoport has photographed in a wide variety of areas including commercial photogr ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

References

{{Authority control Bob Seger albums 1986 albums Albums produced by Punch Andrews Albums produced by David N. Cole Capitol Records albums Albums recorded at Capitol Studios