I was at “A Sound Day” reading Dave’s blog and he talked about Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band’s live album Nine Tonight that this song came off. I had forgotten about this song completely until Dave brought it up. So I give all credit for this post to Dave. It was like finding a long-lost pair of jeans you liked and missed. This song is not one they wear out on the radio as much.
Do you notice what song released around the same time sounds like this? Looks like the Eagles may have heard this version or the original and written the song The Long Run. Rock Critic Dave Marsh called The Long Run a complete ripoff of the 1972 R&B record “Tryin’ to Live My Life Without You” and after listening to them…I do agree they are very similar.
Otis Clay was a soul singer in the 60s and had his biggest hit with this song in 1972. He never could seem to break through…he had a good soul voice. He continued to make music until 2015 and he passed away in 2016.
This one was written by Eugene Frank Williams which Clay recorded a version in 1972 that only peaked at #102 on Billboard and #24 on the Soul Charts. Less than ten years later Bob Seger would take the song to a much higher place.
The song was on Seger’s Nine Tonight live album released in 1981. The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard Album Charts, #6 in Canada, #24 in the UK, and #37 in New Zealand in 1981.
The song was a hit…it peaked at #5 on the Billboard 100 and #11 in Canada.
Trying To Live My Life Without You
… All right, you guys feel funky tonight, ah yeahthis is an old Memphis song, old Memphis songI used to smokeFive packs of cigarettes a dayIt was the hardest thingTo put them awayI drink four or five bottles of wineI kept a glassIn my hand all the timeBreaking those habits was hard to doBut nothing compared to the changesYou put me throughTrying to live my life without you babeIt’s the hardest thing I’ll ever doTrying to forget the love we once sharedIt’s the hardest thing I’ll ever haveAll right, I saidI had the worst reputation in townFor chasing all the women aroundI thought changing my way of livingWas hard to doBut it’s nothing compared to the changesThat you put me throughI’ve done everything I’ve tried to doBut it’s gonna take a miracleTo get me over youTrying to live my life without you babeIt’s the hardest thing I’ll ever doTrying to forget the love we once sharedIt’s the hardest thing I’ll ever haveAll right, I saidI had the worst reputation in townFor chasing all the women aroundI thought changing my way of livingWas hard to doBut it’s nothing compared to the changesThat you put me throughI’ve done everything I’ve tried to doBut it’s gonna take a miracleTo get me over you
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