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Tunesday: Bob Seger System – Train Man

The New American Digest Posted on by

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.

June 3, 1967
note the spelling …
Silverbell was also a ski “resort”
Fleetwood Mac played here in 1969
Nothing remains of the site – not even the hills

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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Joe
Joe
27 days ago

I would love to have had Bob do a song on this topic. Wall to wall–right at congress.

“No generation has a right to contract debts greater than can be paid off during the course of its own existence.” ~ George Washington to James Madison 1789

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azlibertarian
azlibertarian
27 days ago
Reply to  Joe

Most people don’t understand money (I can only barely say that I do), but my guess is that Washington didn’t understand what was happening right around him.

Google AI….

“….In April 1779, frustrated by the plummeting value of the paper money issued by the Continental Congress to fund the Revolutionary War, Washington bluntly remarked: “A wagonload of money will scarcely purchase a wagonload of provisions.”

The Story Behind the Quote

Massive Over-Printing: Lacking the power to directly tax the colonies, the Continental Congress printed over $200 million in paper “bills of credit” to pay soldiers and buy war supplies.

Zero Financial Backing: The currency was backed by nothing more than the vague promise of “future tax revenues” if the colonies won independence.

Rampant Hyperinflation: As the public lost faith in the currency and the British flooded the market with counterfeits, the value of the bills cratered. By 1779, it took $100 in Continental paper to purchase just $1 in gold or silver coin.

“Not Worth a Continental”: Because a wagon full of these bills couldn’t even buy a basic wagonload of food, the phrase “not worth a Continental” became a standard American idiom for something entirely worthless.

This early economic disaster left a lasting impression on the Founding Fathers, causing the United States to strictly resist issuing national paper currency again until the onset of the Civil War….”

This story has been repeated over and over again throughout our history (as well as elsewhere in the world). Incurring more debt than you can repay encourages Kings, governments and banks to create “money” out of thin air so as to repay it.

Not for nothing, but the Federal Reserve sets the requirements for banks to hold reserve funds for the various sorts of banking accounts. What is that requirement, you ask? Zero, and it has been that way for the past 6 years.

Last edited 27 days ago by azlibertarian
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