East Side Story (Bob Seger song)

"East Side Story" is an early Bob Seger single. It was Seger's first single with his group The Last Heard, marking his departure from Doug Brown and the Omens and the beginning of his own career. The song reached #3 on the Detroit charts.[1]

"East Side Story"
Single by Bob Seger & The Last Heard
B-side"East Side Sound"
ReleasedJanuary 1966
GenreRock
Length2:28
LabelHideout
Cameo-Parkway
Songwriter(s)Bob Seger
Producer(s)Bob Seger
Doug Brown
Bob Seger & The Last Heard singles chronology
"East Side Story"
(1966)
"Persecution Smith"
(1966)

History

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Seger had originally written the song for a local Detroit band called the Underdogs, managed by Edward "Punch" Andrews along with Seger. Andrews was looking for a song for the Underdogs to follow up their successful "Man in the Glass", so Doug Brown and Seger each wrote a song. Seger recalls: "They liked what I wrote, which was 'East Side Story.' But they didn't like the way the Underdogs did it. So we recorded it ourselves, and then Doug and I went our own ways. I started my own band."[2] Members of both the Omens and Seger's own Town Criers played on the studio version. The single, which cost $1,200 to make, sold 50,000 copies.[3] Seger made his television debut performing this song on the show Swingin' Time, hosted by Robin Seymour.

References

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  1. ^ Rolling Stone Editors. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll: Revised and Updated for the 21st Century. New York: Fireside, 2001.
  2. ^ A definitive oral history of Seger's early years
  3. ^ Dave Marsh, June 15, 1978, Rolling Stone. "Bob Seger: Not A Stranger Anymore."