Say it isn't so! Bob Seger, rock and roll voice of a generation, is considering retirement after his current tour. The gravel-voiced native of Ann Arbor, Mich., is 65 years old and says his health is a prime consideration in his upcoming decision.
I want to know where the years went. It doesn't seem that long ago I was attending my first-ever rock concert and listened to Seger and his Silver Bullet band rock "Katmandu." Ouch, I guess Seger isn't the only one getting longer in the tooth.
Obviously, I'm not the only baby boomer who still thinks of this man as a vital rock and roll icon; his first concert stop of the spring 2011 tour in Toledo, Ohio, played to a sold-out crowd. It's likely that will be the story all along his tour route which will end in May at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Mich.
The first concert lasted more than two hours and included 25 songs, including his newest release, a cover of Tom Waits "Downtown Train." But the years have slowed Seger's pace down a bit, although it's reported his voice was full and strong.
That might be true of many baby boomers; the pace of life is a little slower than it used to be but conviction and commitment are as strong as ever. Like so many Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members, the voice is strong even if the tune seems outdated by today's standards.
Classics, that's what the songs of Seger, Dylan and the Rolling Stones are. Classics endure forever, even if the artists who introduced them fade away. Is it too soon--or too late--for baby boomers to consider what legacy we will be leaving?
The great fortune of health advances and changes in cultural norms have allowed boomers to enter our middle decades thinking less about aging than the generations before us. Fifty-year-old folks still dress and act like our 35-year-old contemporaries.
Perhaps there is still that youthful feeling of immortality in many boomers. But when the icons of our youth begin to pass away from age rather than a drug overdose, or enter retirement, we are suddenly acutely aware of not only the ages of our musical heroes but also of our own ages.
If Bob Seger chooses to retire at the end of this spring tour, it won't be the end of the world. But it will be the end of an era.
Smack dab in the middle of the baby boomer generation, L.L. Woodard is a proud resident of "The Red Man" state. With what he hopes is an everyman's view of life's concerns both in his state and throughout the nation, Woodard presents facts and opinions based on common-sense solutions.
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