''Smokin' O.P.'s'' is the fifth studio album by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

singer-songwriter

Bob Seger Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is a retired American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded with the groups Bob Seger and the Last Heard and the Bob Seger System throu ...

, released in 1972 (see

1972 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1972. Specific locations * 1972 in British music * 1972 in Norwegian music Specific genres *1972 in country music * 1972 in heavy metal music * 1972 in jazz Events *Janu ...

). It marked Seger's return to

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

, after the sonic departure of his previous album, '' Brand New Morning''. The album was reissued on CD by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

in 2005. It is currently the earliest Bob Seger album available on CD. The cover art is a parody of the

Lucky Strike Lucky Strike is an American brand of cigarettes owned by the British American Tobacco group. Individual cigarettes of the brand are often referred to colloquially as "Luckies." Name Lucky Strike was introduced as a brand of plug tobacco (chew ...

cigarette logo. ''Smokin' O.P.'s'' refers to Smokin' Other People's Songs, a derivation on the slang phrase "Smoking O.P.'s" meaning to smoke other people's cigarettes exclusively (never purchasing your own for consumption). Most of the tracks on this release are covers of songs written by other artists. The album cover was created by Thomas Leroy Weschler, who was Seger's road manager at the time. The cover was inspired by an advertisement for Lucky Strike cigarettes. Weschler also went on to co-write ''Traveling Man: On the Road & Behind the Scenes with Bob Seger''. The first pressings have a poem from Bob Seger, with an insert listing contributing musicians, but subsequent issues have the poem omitted and replaced by the insert information. "If I Were a Carpenter" and "Hummin' Bird" were recorded and mixed at RCA Studios, Toronto, Canada.

Track listing

Personnel

*Bob Seger – guitar on "If I Were a Carpenter" and "Jesse James", piano on "Someday", vocals * Jack Ashford – percussion,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

Eddie "Bongo" Brown Edward James "Bongo" Brown (September 13, 1932 – December 28, 1984) was an American percussionist known for his work with The Funk Brothers, Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 to 1972. ...

– percussion,

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...

*Mike Bruce – guitar *Jim Bruzzese – tambourine on "If I Were a Carpenter" *Chrystal Jenkins and Pam Todd – vocals on "Hummin' Bird" and "Jesse James" *Skip Knapé – organ, keyboards, bass pedals; piano on "Hummin' Bird" * David Teegarden – drums,

maraca A maraca ( , , ), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas, also known as tamaracas, were rattles of d ...

marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

*Al Yungton – string arrangement on "Someday" ;Production *Producer: Punch Andrews *Engineer: Jim Bruzzese *Assistant engineer: Greg Miller *Mixing: Jim Cassily, Mabel Louise Smith, Thomas Weschler *Photography: Thomas Weschler, Peter Lumetta *Cover Design: Thomas Weschler

Charts

Album – ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' (United States) Singles – ''Billboard'' (United States)

References

{{Authority control 1972 albums Albums produced by Punch Andrews Bob Seger albums 1970s covers albums Reprise Records albums