LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APR 28, 2020…It was April 28,1980 and Bob Seger released the single ‘Against the Wind,’ the title track from the album of the same name, and the second single from the record. Here’s what Bob Seger had to say about the making of ‘Against the Wind’: “My old friend Glenn Frey of the Eagles had an idea that our guitarist Drew Abbott should play along with the piano solo. He and I then went out and did the background vocals together. The line ‘Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then’ bothered me for the longest time, but everyone I knew loved it so I left it in. It has since appeared in several hits by other artists, so I guess it’s OK. The only thing that bothered me about that phrase was the grammar. It sounded grammatically funny to me. I kept asking myself, ‘Is that correct grammar?’ I liked the line, and everybody I played it for – like Glenn and Don (Henley) – were saying, ‘That’s the best line in the song,’ but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t right. But I slowly came around. You have to understand that songwriters can’t punctuate anything they write. I work in such a narrow medium that I tend to second-guess things like that. As a matter of fact, I’ve seen that line in a few other songs since I came up with it, so I guess it was okay after all.” Don Henley and Glenn Frey both sang background vocals on ‘Against the Wind’.
Seger won the 1980 Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal Grammy award for this song.
Here’s a great quality version ‘Against the Wind’ featuring Seger jamming with Jason Aldean