Reception and Legacy
Back in '72 only reached 188 on the US charts and has since faded into obscurity. Even so, the album and its supporting tour mark the beginnings of Seger's long-time relationships with future Silver Bullet Band saxophonist Alto Reed, powerhouse female vocalist Shaun Murphy, and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave the album 4.5/5 stars, calling it "not only the finest of early-'70s albums but one of the great lost hard rock albums of its era," and "a testament to great rock & roll, thanks to Seger's phenomenal songwriting and impassioned playing." (Oddly, despite calling Back in '72 Seger's best of the era, Erlewine assigned Seger's subsequent album Seven a full 5/5 stars.)
Despite being a fan favorite by many die-hard Seger fans, and including classic live staples and radio hits such as "Neon Sky", "I've Been Working" and the original studio version of the epic live ballad "Turn the Page", this album has never been reissued and is extremely rare to find on any format, even as a bootleg. However, the Allman Brothers cover "Midnight Rider" which appears on the album was later released on Seger's compilation record Early Seger Vol. 1 in 2009. The song was remixed and remastered from the original vinyl LP version, and it was shortened by fading out at the end. The original version did not fade out but instead broke down to where Seger "scat sang" before the final beat.
In 2005, shortly after the reissue of Smokin O.P.'s, there were rumors of the album to be reissued onto a CD. Seger denied these rumors saying that he did not like the vocals on the album and probably will not release it for quite some time. This marks the album as an extremely rare and unheard of Seger gem much like 1969's Noah and 1971's acoustic solo album Brand New Morning which Seger has also often stated that he may never reissue.
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