Son Seals - Biography
By J Poet
Blues singer and guitarist Son Seals appeared on the Chicago scene in 1971, already possessing a masterful style marked by his intense vocals and blazing guitar work. He toured relentlessly and made ten great albums in his short career.
Seals was born in 1942 in Osceola, Arkansas. He grew up in a small apartment in the back of the club his father owned, a blues bar called The Dipsy Doodle. He could hear the music of Sonny Boy Williamson, Albert King and Robert Nighthawk through the walls of the bedroom he shared with 14 brothers and sisters. Jim Seals, son’s father, played piano, trombone, guitar and drums, and was a member of the famed Rabbit Foot Minstrels, the band that backed Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith in their early days. When Son told his father he wanted to play music, Jim Seals gave his son lessons on guitar and drums. At 13, Seals was playing drums in the house band at the Dipsy Doodle, and leading his own band on the club’s off nights. By the time he turned 21 he was playing second guitar in Earl Hooker’s band, moving on to the drum chair with Albert King. He made his recording debut on King’s Live Wire/Blues Power (1968 Stax.)
Seals moved to Chicago in 1971 and put together a band. He landed a weekend residency at The Expressway Lounge on the South Side. At an early gig, someone called up Alligator Records owner Bruce Iglauer and held up the phone so he could hear Seals play. Iglauer was impressed and signed Seals in 1972. The Son Seals Blues Band (1973 Alligator) blew away everyone in the blues community. Seal’s almost out of control guitar playing, finely crafted songwriting and passionate, soulful singing made him stand out from other young players. The album included Seal’s standards like "Your Love Is Like a Cancer" and "Hot Sauce." On Midnight Son (1976 Alligator) Seals used a horn section and rave reviews in Rolling Stone and the New York Times introduced him to the rock audience. He started touring internationally and soon earned a reputation as an incredible showman. Live And Burning (1978 Alligator) recorded at the Wise Fools Pub in Chicago was another hit, capturing some of his ferocious on stage energy.
He continued to build momentum with Chicago Fire (1980 Alligator), Bad Axe (1984 Alligator), which won him his first Best Blues Recording of the Year award from the W.C. Handy/Blues Foundation, Living In The Danger Zone (1991 Alligator), Nothing But The Truth (1994 Alligator), and Live--Spontaneous Combustion (1996 Alligator) recorded at Buddy Guy's Legends Club. In 1997, Seals ex-wife shot him in the face, but after several surgeries he was back on the road. In 1999, he lost his left leg due to diabetes and was forced to curtail his touring, but he appeared every week in clubs all over Chicago.
His last album, Lettin’ Go (2000 Telarc) was just as tough as his first, and featured an extended jam with Phish guitar ace Trey Anastasio on Seals’ "Funky Bitch,” a song that had became a staple of Phish’s live concerts. Shortly after making Lettin’ Go, complications of his diabetes began to affect Seals’ health. He died in 2004. Son Seals: Deluxe Edition (2002 Alligator) gives you the best songs from his Alligator recordings.
