Son Seals
Son Seals website
"If you really want to do something that's worth something," says guitarist/vocalist Frank "Son" Seals, "you've got to give it your all. I try to do that every time I play." Ever since his self-titled debut release in 1973 (the third-ever release on the then-fledgling Alligator Records), Seals has always given everything he has every time he picks up his guitar. Both in the studio and in live performance, Seals' feral guitar solos and gritty, passionate vocals make every song he plays his very own. Over the years, Seals has played literally thousands of gigs all over the world, and his unparalleled live performances continue to earn him new fans everywhere he goes.
Just last year the Chicago Tribune called Son's1978 concert recording, Live And Burning (AL 4712) one of the best examples of powerhouse Chicago blues anywhere to be found in the last two decades. Now, almost 20 years and four studio albums since that release, Seals forcefully follows up Live And Burning with his newest recording, Live--Spontaneous Combustion (AL 4846). With a powerful mix of two new Seals originals, four classics from Seals' vast catalog and six well-chosen covers, Seals proves that he's a performer of immense talent and unequalled taste. His booming, soul-drenched vocals and biting guitar solos continually leave his audiences open-mouthed in amazement and screaming for more. "Seals' sound is all Chicago barroom grit...he's unbeatable live," raved Option . Nobody in the business plays with as much grueling intensity.
Recorded June 20, 21, and 22, 1996 at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago in front of a wildly enthusiastic hometown crowd, Live--Spontaneous Combustion finds Seals' ferocious vocals riding above his instantly recognizable guitar playing. From the ominous Landlord At My Door to the funk-filled No, No Baby to the pleading I Need My Baby Back to the romping Crying For My Baby, Son Seals' passionate vocals, scorching guitar playing and commanding stage presence make Live--Spontaneous Combustion a landmark document of rough and raw Chicago blues. Along with rhythm guitarist Justin Smith, keyboardist Sidney James Wingfield, drummer David Russell, bassist Johnny B. Gayden and longtime cohorts Red Groetzinger on tenor sax, alto sax and flute and Dan Rabinovitz on trumpet, Seals' signature style places him in a league with all the great blues masters. "He still blows away the competition," said the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Chicago's finest contemporary blues guitarist," said Guitar World . Seals sings and plays with a blood-curdling intensity, performing every cut like it might be the last time he picks up his axe.
Over 20 years and eight albums ago, Son Seals debuted an original and aggressive style of playing and singing the blues. When he first emerged on Alligator Records in 1973, Seals was hailed by the media as a bright hope for the blues. Robert Palmer, writing in The New York Times , called him "the most exciting young blues guitarist and singer in years." At the time, many young blues players were simply covering the popular blues standards. But Son was an original, writing most of his own material and playing his guitar with a rhythmic intensity matched only by his ferocious vocals.
Son was born in Osceola, Arkansas in 1942 and was immediately immersed into the blues. His childhood home was a few rooms in the back of his father Jim's juke joint, The Dipsy Doodle (famous for blues in the front and dice in the back). As a small child, Son was surrounded by great blues and great bluesmen. With musicians like Sonny Boy Williamson, Albert King and Robert Nighthawk playing within earshot of his bed nearly every night, Son knew the blues before he began walking.
Even with all the great bluesmen around the house, Son's father Jim was his greatest inspiration. Jim Seals had played piano, trombone, guitar and drums, touring with the famed Rabbit Foot Minstrels, the training ground of Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. Because he was such a well-known musician, Jim was able to draw some of the biggest names to perform at his club.When Son decided at an early age to become a musician like his father, Jim made sure Son would learn to do things right. "My father taught me everything from the start," Son recalls. "Tuning the guitar, fingering. Where I wanted to be riffing around all up and down the neck right away, he'd keep me on one chord for hours, until I could feel in it in my sleep. I'd get up the next morning, grab the guitar, and I'd be right on that chord."
Son learned his lessons well. By the time he was 18, Son Seals was leading his own band as a guitarist during the week and playing drums backing up whomever was playing at his father's club on the weekends. He hit the road playing drums with Earl Hooker and soon after that with Albert King (with whom he recorded the seminal Stax album Live Wire/Blues Power ). He moved to Chicago in 1971 and began jamming with everyone from Junior Wells to Hound Dog Taylor to James Cotton and Buddy Guy. After Hound Dog Taylor's debut album hit and he began touring, Son took over Hound Dog's regular weekend gigs at The Expressway Lounge on Chicago's South Side.
Son's 1973 debut recording, The Son Seals Blues Band, established him as a blazing, original blues artist. Son's audience base grew as he toured extensively, playing colleges, clubs and festivals throughout the country. His 1977 follow-up, Midnight Son, received widespread acclaim from every major music publication. Rolling Stone called it "one of the most significant blues albums of the decade."
Son Seals
On the strength of Midnight Son, Seals began what would become two decades of regular tours of Europe, and he even did a national television ad for Olympia beer. His next album, Live and Burning, captured Son at the height of his powers, delivering a ferocious live set to his hometown Chicago audience. His following two albums, Chicago Fire and Bad Axe, found Son experimenting with more jazzy arrangements and varied horn parts while maintaining his raw guitar picking and passionate, growling singing style. After a seven year recording hiatus, Son returned in 1991 with his most socially conscious album, Living In The Danger Zone. With the addition of Red Groetzinger, whose sax and flute playing and arranging skills added many new dimensions to Son's music, Son reestablished his national reputation. Seals' next album, 1994's Nothing But The Truth, found Seals' guitar and voice as strong and emotive as ever. "Excellent modern blues," exclaimed Blues & Rhythm. Musician declared, "Performances of the most profound emotion...one of the genre's most soulful exorcists."
Son's reputation as a fierce live performer and an original songwriter has taken him from playing in small clubs to headlining international blues festivals.While he has chosen to limit his touring outside of Chicago, Seals can usually be found playing one of the city's premiere blues hangouts, taking his loyal fans on a musical journey through the good times and the bad heartaches that are the blues. When he sings and plays, you can feel the passion, the grit, and above all else, the deep emotion embedded in his music. Now, with Live--Spontaneous Combustion , people everywhere can feel the heat and hear the power of the legendary Bad Axe testifying the blues to his devoted congregation of hometown believers.
Reviews:
"Seals' guitar style is built on soul, speed, intensity and an unflagging sense of timing and blues invention. [He'll] take a note and torture it, attacking a lick and repelling it five different ways, building power as he goes."
-- Guitar World
"Seals, always the most brooding of Chicago bluesmen, reaches down and pulls up performances of the most profound emotion...one of the genre's most soulful exorcists."
-- Musician
"Seals' sound is all Chicago barroom grit, just as much rhythm as blues, with a little rock 'n' roll and a lotta soul. He's unbeatable live. Nobody in the business plays with as much grueling intensity."
-- Option
"Seals' tough vocals and emotional guitar resonate with the power of his blues...soaring guitar runs, passionate vocals...contemporary Chicago blues by one of its premier practitioners."
-- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"His deep, gruff, hard-edged voice perfectly matches the acid bite of his bad ax, which sometimes moves up into Albert Collins overdrive, sometimes down for a peck of chicken scratch. His guitar work is searing and expressive...he strikes with no-holds-barred ferocity."
-- Down Beat
"Hard-driving...smoldering...boisterous...explores the boundaries of modern blues guitar ... growling, aggressive vocals...forceful, slashing guitar playing."
-- Blues Revue
"Seals is responsible for the most challenging, ambitious Chicago blues going....Ominous vocals, jazzy fluidity and dashes of the blaring rhythm-and-blues horns that are his trademark. Seals guitar playing is always expressive...he still blows away the competition."
-- Philadelphia Inquirer
"A bluesman with conviction. His vocals are rough and gritty...searing guitar work. Seals wears his emotions on his sleeve and packs a powerful punch with his playing and singing."
"Searing and expressive...Seals strikes with no-holds-barred ferocity"
-- Down Beat
"Seals carves guitar licks like a chain saw through solid oak and sings like a grainy-voiced avenging angel."
-- Guitar World
Live - Spontaneous Combustion
All songs by Son Seals, Eyeball Music, BMI, except as noted
Son Seals, Guitar and Vocals
Red Groetzinger, Tenor Sax, Alto Sax and Flute
Dan Rabinovitz, Trumpet
Sidney James Wingfield, Keyboards
Justin Smith, Rhythm Guitar
Johnny B. Gayden, Bass
David Russell, Drums
Recorded June 20-22, 1996 at Buddy Guy's Legends, Chicago, IL
Produced by Son Seals and Bruce Iglauer
Recorded by Timothy Powell, Metro Mobile Recording, Glenview, IL
Assistance by Dan Glomski
Mixed by David Axelbaum at Chicago Recording Company, Chicago, IL
Assistance by Jeff Lane, Dave Kresl, and Dennis Tousana
Additional mixing by Jeff Lane
Premastering by Dan Stout at Chicago Recording Company, Chicago, IL
Mastered by Bruce Iglauer and Jay O' Rourke at Monster Disc, Chicago, IL
Packaging by David Forte and Matt Minde
Live sound at Buddy Guy's Legends by Dave Katzman
Piano module courtesy of Pegasus Recording, Glenview, IL
Photos by Dan Silverman
Band photos by Noel Grigalunus, Dan Silverman and Randy Anglin
Special thanks to Eric Maxen and the entire staff of Buddy Guy's Legends and to Laura Wells.
Son Seals Live - Spontaneous Combustion
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