Bob Seger

2+2=?

Capitol/Third Man

There’s nearly a lifetime of thoughts and feelings I can write about this song. I’ll start with a response…

To all the folks responding “Bob Seger…blech!”…this release is meant SPECIFICALLY for you.

The first thing anyone learns as a record collector in Michigan is that the early Bob Seger material rips. Shreds. That it’s totally unlike what you’d expect.

Whether it’s his garage-y sides as the Last Heard for Cameo/Hideout or the heavy rock songs from the System, this revelation is repeated ad infinitum, year after year, like the swallows returning to Capistrano or Phil seeing his shadow in Punxatawney.

In Detroit, these singles were all high-selling hits and thus, can usually be found without much struggle. Certainly for me, age 14-15 was punctuated by bringing these singles home and having my parents sing along to them. A more fond teenage moment of bonding I would be hard-pressed to name. Prime covers by Ty Segall, the Seger Liberation Army or hell, even me on vocals with the Dirtbombs on rare occasion, they all just further cement the timelessness of the song.

(aside: I believe the White Stripes attempted to learn this one for their legendary performance in the Rivera Court at the Detroit Institute of Arts, but it just ended up not gelling. I also believe this had absolutely no bearing on Jack writing “Seven Nation Army” which some folks claim is indebted to the bass line to “2+2=?”)

So forget “Night Moves” or “Hollywood Nights” or any of the Silver Bullet Band material if you’re already dead-set against it. This is a completely different animal.

“2+2” is a savage rebuke of the Vietnam war delivered at the height of escalating tensions in 1968. The gnarly fuzz guitar is enough to make anyone to wonder how this is the same guy that wrote “We’ve Got Tonight”

And let me be clear…I don’t think I ever cared about the Silver Bullet Band until AFTER I dug in to the Heard/System. Prior to that, his ubiquitousness on classic rock radio was the equivalent of wall paper or air…it just kinda blended in. Never seemed special. But now, understanding Seger’s complete progression as an artist, as a songwriter…it ONLY makes sense once you take into consideration where it began. Bob put out this single on major label Capitol before the Stooges or MC5 were even signed to a label. And I’ll put “2+2” up against the best material either of those bands ever waxed. And you know what? That shit holds up. Decades later even. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

As to why it’s taken THIS LONG to reissue…I am not really sure. I had always heard rumors that Seger is not particularly fond of his earlier songs. I can say that discussions with management have been ongoing over the past seven years. Bob even mentioned Jack/TMR in an interview (Uncut? Record Collector? Someone find it for me please), us wanting to release “2+2” that I’m still kinda in shock that it’s happened. I met Bob once, briefly, in the bowels of the FedEx Forum in Memphis, a blink-and-you-missed it conversation with him in an SUV leaving after a gig, saying I look just like my uncle (?) and me, using my one shot to say “You’ve got to let us put out some of the old stuff on vinyl” and the fact that it’s now happened is still shocking to me as I sit here and type.

Releases like this are my absolute passion. I’ve spent YEARS tracking down all kinds of Seger rarities and oddities. So when in conversation with his management about possible approaches for the single, my ability to pull out the French picture sleeve of the record and say “How about this for the cover?” just makes me feel warm and right inside. (I was also able to pull out the German pic sleeve, which they’d never seen before, but ultimately went unused on our project). When management says they want to put “Ivory” on the b-side and I’m able to proffer up the original Dutch picture sleeve of THAT song for the back cover…this is what I work for. The confluence of my passion and my “job” is a lifetime of rewards…the delineation between “work” and “life” slowly melts away and the whole convolution just turns into…everything. There’s probably a German word for it.

My dad’s good buddy Pete texted me yesterday and told me that him and his armed forces friends would sing this song in unison in basic training. A “well done” from that guy takes on a little extra special meaning given the context. For years, people in Detroit just thought any reissue of any of the System or Last Heard material would never happen. I’d like to think my youthful ignorance is a contributing factor, but ultimately all the credit goes to Seger and his team. I just think Third Man was in the right place at the right time. And for that to happen…we worked really hard to be there.

So whether you’re a fan or not, are begging for the mono or album version of the song, whether my opinion means anything to those reading here or not…take the two-minutes and forty-two seconds it takes to listen to this song and if you’re still not convinced…there’s nothing left for me to tell you.