A sample of some obscure - and maybe not obscure - tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.

Today's selection: Bob Seger System - "Train Man" 1969

The album was originally named "Tales of Lucy Blue" and when I was not a kid but not yet an adult (I expect to become an adult any year now), the band would spend time in my home town - "Peppy", the drummer, lived in a farmhouse not far from where I lived. I met Seger then, but not much more than that - I was several years younger but pretending I was kind-of in the music business (light shows and bass guitar). The band's equipment truck was painted with the art of the album cover. Which came first, the album art or truck art is unknown ... by me. But it was before the national release of the LP.

The album was released in 1968 locally; someone caught the cut "Ramblin', Gamblin' Man" and the nation became aware of the Bob Seger System (Glenn Frey was 19 when he performed on this album as his first studio appearance). This was Bob Seger's first national hit (his first local hit was "East Side Story". The better known "Silver Bullet Band" didn't form until 1973.

This album remains one of my favorite Seger albums; this is one of the lesser known cuts ("2+2=?" and "Ramblin Gamblin Man" are much better known). Likely more of very early Seger to come.

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