Today, some good news.
Christmas just won’t be a drag.
Why?
Santa’s got a brand new bag.
So says a young Bob Seger on a rave-up that mashes together “Deck the Halls” with Mitch Ryder and James Brown. Seger — then just 21! — recorded it with The Last Heard, one of his earliest Detroit bands.
Last December, we’d popped into a tavern for a bite to eat before going out to look at vintage aluminum Christmas trees. As we left, we were sent on our way with this delightful blast of holiday spirit via the local classic rock station.
Now we’re going to sock it to you.
“Sock It To Me, Santa,” Bob Seger and the Last Heard, 1966. I have it on “Heavy Music: The Complete Cameo Recordings 1966-1967,” an excellent compilation LP released in 2018.
BTW, if you know Bob Seger only from his time with the Silver Bullet Band, you’re missing out.
Some of us have long preferred the young, spirited, in-your-face Seger of the late ’60s and early ’70s — a rock powerhouse largely known only to those of us in the Midwest — to the more familiar, more mainstream latter-day Seger.
So, a little gift for you. Please enjoy some of Bob Seger’s other greatest hits, compiled a few years back with the help of some friends of the blog.