Turn the Page: First Bob Seger Book Hits Stores
'Travelin' Man' Traces Heartland Rocker's Career Through Photos
Oct 18, 2009
The inspiration for the hardcover title, which brings together 167 images of Seger by noted Detroit rock photographer Thomas Weschler, came two years ago when Weschler held an exhibit of his work at a suburban Detroit gallery. Gary Graff, nationally syndicated music journalist based in Detroit, attended the showing.
"I was reading the cutlines of his photos, and they really needed some work," recalls Graff, pop music critic for the Oakland Press outside Detroit. "I told him, 'Dude, next time you do one of these, call me! You need better captions for your photos." That hatched the idea that maybe we should collaborate at some point."
Photographer Enjoyed Unparalleled Access to Seger
The theme of their first joint project was virtually a no-brainer: Weschler had worked part-time as a roadie for Seger's band beginning in 1968, and received a battlefield commission to become his road manager the following year.
"Punch (Andrews, Seger's longtime manager) called me on a Sunday afternoon, this is only two or three months after I started, and said, 'You're the road manager now. Our guy is in the hospital, so it's your world.'"
When he and Graff realized there were no existing books on Seger, "We start looking through all my stuff and it's almost like I kept a scrapbook on the guy," says Weschler, 60, who spent more than 10 years in the Seger camp. "I mean, I started taking close-up, inside-the-studio, stuff-nobody-else-has kind of pictures back in 1969."
The two waded through nearly 46,000 photos from Weschler's years on the road – "It felt like a million," Graff jests – paring the images down to 5,000, then to the final 167 included in Travelin' Man.
Bob Seger's Career Recaptured in Photos
The book chronicles Seger's career from his relentless concert barnstorming and early studio days of the late '60s through such hits as Old Time Rock & Roll, Night Moves, Turn the Page and Like a Rock, to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, with a foreword by John Mellencamp and an afterword by Kid Rock.
Graff composed all the text for the book, mindful to keep the words in Weschler's colorful vernacular. "It's a real image-oriented book, but it's built on Tom's experiences and tour managing and photographing and helping to run the office for Bob," says Graff. "It's a different thing than a straightforward biography. It's the kind of thing that puts you in the Seger moment. That's really what we wanted."
Fans Hungry for Seger Book, Author Believes
Although Seger hasn't toured since 2006 and seems to be in a blissful state of semi-retirement, Graff and Weschler believe there's a strong audience for Travelin' Man. "The good news for the book is that there are a lot of Bob Seger fans out there," Graff says. "Also, this is the first book about Seger of any kind. So this is really an audience that's been out there and underserved for a long time, an audience that's very passionate about him. We're hoping they will really enjoy the book if they get it."
Weschler says he and Andrews made a conscious decision to keep the book from Seger until it was published, fearing he may want to make last-minute changes or exercise editorial control. At a gala Detroit launch party and book signing event for Travelin' Man in October 2009, Seger was conspicuous by his absence. However, "A slightly older woman of Eastern European descent was in line to get her book signed, and I realized she had Seger's autograph already on it," Weschler recalls. "I asked her about it and she said, 'We work for him, clean house for his family.'
"So naturally, I asked her, 'How does he like the book?' She said, 'He love it! He like book, wife like book, children like book. Everybody like book!"
Travelin' Man: On the Road and Behind the Scenes With Bob Seger is available online at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, the Wayne State University Press Web site and the official Bob Seger site, www.bobseger.com. For more information, visit wsupress.wayne.edu/books/1148/Travelin-Man.
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