Bob Seger: Rarely Seen & Promotional Photos: 1961-1980s

When Bob Seger was just a kid in the 60s, he had already been a member of several bands: The Decibels, The Town Criers, Doug Brown and The Omens, Bob Seger & The Last Heard, and The Bob Seger System.

Bob was only 15 when he was with The Decibels, and the group actually made a record: The Lonely One, written by Seger. It was Bob's first song recorded by Bob's first band, and was the first to get played on the radio. But only once. On an Ann Arbor radio station.

Next up was The Town Criers. It was a typical 'bar' band, covering well-known songs for the instant edification of the crowd. It was his time with this band when Bob's recognition started to rise.

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After meeting Doug Brown, he decided to join his band, The Omens, well-knowing that they were more popular than The Town Criers. The band released a single, TGIF/First Girl and later a song titled Ballad of The Yellow Beret, a takeoff of Barry Sadler's Ballad of the Green Berets. While Sadler's song was about the bravery of the Green Berets, The Omens' song made fun of draft dodgers. Well, Sadler didn't like that and sued the band and their record company. The record was subsequently taken off the market. Bootleg copies appeared in later years as by 'The Beach Bums', giving die-hard record collectors a chance to snag a copy.

Then came Bob Seger & The Last Heard. Their first single, East Side Story, sold over 50,000 copies. It was followed by Sock It To Me Santa, Persecution Smith, Vagrant Winter, and the one that really kicked off his national career: Heavy Music. It didn't make the Hot 100 in America, but received enough airplay and bar band covers to make it one of his best-known songs.

After signing with Capitol Records, the band's name was changed (by Capitol) to The Bob Seger System. With the track Ramblin' Gamblin' Man from their Tales of Lucy Blue album, Bob was made into a national rock star (the album title was then changed to Ramblin' Gamblin' Man). Their next album, Noah, failed to chart at all, and Bob briefly went to college. Every album afterward kept Bob's notoriety growing until he became the icon he is today.

Below is a gallery of rare and promotional photos of Bob, some have never been seen by many people. Then come back and see Bob's Oakland County mansion HERE.