You think you know the rock legends. Then Bob Seger quietly drops a story that makes you see all of them in a new light.
He is back in Detroit in the late 1960s, sitting with a young Glenn Frey. They are just two hungry kids from the scene, trading dreams and guitar licks, when a new sound explodes through the speakers. It is Jimi Hendrix.
Hendrix is not just “good.” He is so far ahead that Seger’s first honest thought is, “Maybe I should be a drummer. Maybe I should just sing.” Glenn Frey, the future co-founder of the Eagles, feels it too. Two future Hall of Famers, both wondering if they should even bother playing guitar anymore.
In a few sentences, Seger sums up what Hendrix did to an entire generation. It is not praise from a fan. It is surrender from a peer. And buried inside the memory is another gem: Frey was in Seger’s band back then, long before “Hotel California” or stadium tours.
Bob Seger on Glenn Frey
One of the clearest examples is the Jimi Hendrix classic “Purple Haze,” released in 1967, right when Seger and Frey were coming up in Detroit.
From the first few seconds, it does not sound like “normal” rock. The guitar is loud, twisted, and strangely beautiful, with notes that seem to bend and float in the air. Today, “Purple Haze” is ranked among the greatest guitar songs of all time for a reason. When you hear that opening riff, it becomes very easy to understand why the room went silent for Bob Seger and Glenn Frey.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Purple Haze (Official Audio)
And if you want to finish the story where it really begins, you need to hear the moment their Detroit friendship turned into real history. Before Glenn Frey moved to Los Angeles, before the Eagles, he was the young guy playing acoustic guitar and singing backup on Bob Seger’s first big hit, “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man.” It is the sound of two future legends still packed into the same local scene, chasing the same dream, on the edge of everything that would come next.