Customer Reviews

Lettin Go

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The blues has always suffered academic purists with limited parameters who have to define what true 'blues' are. (They know eveything about the music except how to enjoy it.) Son Seals continues to leap over the experts with his new album, Lettin' Go. Blues experts can concern themselves with where Sonny Boy Williamson bought strings and they miss the point that the blues is about emotions and carrying them over to the audience. (I just saw Son Seals play to a packed house and the room was charged... Standing ovations, calls from the crowd, and women dancing like they were getting paid good money. Like we hear it used to be back in the day.) So, this is the problem with reviewing a true bluesman. It's hard to describe how someone takes you with them by playing guitar and singing. No equivalent catalyst can be described here. Buy the album and listen to Son Seals prove it himself.

I ordered this CD to be delivered with the new Burke book ("Dead and Gone" by Andrew Vachss). Little did I know that the CD would be delivered after my boyfriend/almost fiancé/the first guy in 30 years who was ever nice to me/etc. would be caught cheating on me.

I threw myself into the Blues.

Son spoke from MY heart.

THIS was my introduction to Son Seals.

"Let It Go" I played over and over. Sometimes, you just gotta let it go! It's upbeat beat pulled me out of my doldrums and its message got through to my brain. You listen to this CD enough, and if you've been lied to and cheated upon, you will embrace "Love Had A Breakdown" as you learn to love your freedom instead of hating it. (Does that make sense? I went from crying, to being able to welcome Son's "I no longer want you." That's a far cry from my earlier, "I can forgive you" -- and MUCH healthier.)

I could pick through each song for you, but I think that each person who listens to it will get something different out of it, based on his/her own life experiences. I can honestly tell you that it made me feel better.

I am not a blues connoisseur and indeed have only been listening to the blues for a few years (finding my choices based on amazon.com's recommendations to me, a registered user who buys Andrew Vachss books) -- so I can't critique this as a professional reviewer might. However, I'm a music fan going back as far as I can remember, and I can tell you that this is GREAT. The music wraps itself around the lyrics and the listener is given a package worth opening. Son's voice is the rich, deep green of a forest; it's cool and inviting and you can hear the wild animals in the underbrush even when you can't see them.

Everyone whose heart has been broken should listen to this CD.

Everyone who has a FRIEND whose heart has been broken should listen to this CD.

i have been a fan of son seals since i saw him live in chicago at the wise fools pub in the late 70s and this is one of his best recordings. its too bad he didnt receive the acclaim he deserved but anyone who digs the blues will like this album. dont "burn it" BUY IT, son deserves at least that much. ken

I'm not very observant, apparently. I had held this CD in my hand several time before I noticed that part of Son Seals' left leg is missing. He lost it due to diabetes. A very poignant cover photo, actually, especially considering that this album ended up being his last.

This is Son Seals' first CD for Telarc records. Unfortunately it is also his last album; he has been dead for five years now.
"Lettin' Go" is mostly blues and tough R&B, but there are excursions into other genres, especially gospel and soul. The band is tight and muscular, Al Kooper on Hammond organ, a small horn ensemble, and Son Seals himself churning out liquid fire on his guitar.
His gruff vocals sound even gruffer than usual, and he is in top form on songs like "Bad Blood" and the mid-tempo blues "Give the Devil his Due".

It's a little surprising to hear Son Seals doing the "western swing" of "Rockin' and Rollin' Tonight", though. And if I am to complain a little bit, and I am, as usual, some of these songs are simply too long. The arrangements are not interesting enough to justify seven minutes of "Jelly Jelly" and "Dear Son", and five more songs are over the five minute mark. And both soloing and melodies can seem a bit repetitive and overly familiar at times, especially if you've already heard Son's previous albums.

But, hey, this is still a pretty good blues record. Son's playing hasn't slowed down at all...just listen to his solos "Doc's Blues" and the thumping "Blues Holy Ghost". And "Hair on a Frog" features a great horn arrangement and a funky sax solo, as well as a scorching guitar solo.

He had a lot to sing the blues about, Son did. During the course of his life he was shot, his house burned, he lost all but one of his many brothers and sisters, and finally died at 62 years of age due to the same illness that cost him his left foot and part of the leg as well.
Maybe that's why he sounds so sincere. No putting on airs here.

This is not Frank "Son" Seals' best record, but it's certainly good enough. And if you don't already own them, you should go get his three best Alligator albums: "The Son Seals Blues Band", "Midnight Son" and "Nothing But The Truth".
Son Seals played real blues music. He was the real deal.

It's great to have a new Son Seals album. "Lettin' Go" finds our hero plus a new label and minus a leg since his last studio album, 1994's solid "Nothing But the Truth" on Alligator (nobody has earned the right to sing the blues more than Son Seals, with what he's been through the last few years). The liner notes indicate this is the most freedom Son has had in the studio; no one would have been happier than I to say this translated into his best album. That is not, however, the case. "Lettin' Go" certainly is his most diverse album, and at 14 songs and more than 70 minutes, his most generous. But the biggest departures, the old time rock 'n' roll of "Osceola Rock" and the somewhat country influenced "Rockin' and Rollin' Tonight" fall flat. Other, more subtle branching out works better (such as the partially acoustic "Dear Son"), but the best songs, such as "Give the Devil His Due," sound the most like old Son Seals. Son plays well and his voice is decent, but he would have been better served by a more dynamic rhythm section and tougher sound -- as usual for Telarc, the sound of this disc is superficially pristine but lacks warmth and punch. All in all, this is worth having, just do not expect revelations. Maybe next time Son will have an editor in his ear, pull back and play to his strengths.

After they cut off his leg he died anyway, what a horrific story. Love his blues, always had a great band, Chicago blues rules! I have all his CD's, the two live ones are quite excellent.

I am not sure why the previous reviewer gave this CD 3 stars - this CD deserves no less than 5 if you are a blues enthusiast. I have been looking for true blues for a long time. I thought Stevie Ray Vaughan was it, and I loved a lot of his blues. But then, a friend of mine heard Son Seals perform on Conan O'Brien's show and decided to get this CD. He told me I should listen to this one. When I put this CD in to play, I was a goner.

Son is amazing. He plays and sings from his heart and puts all his energy into his performance. I was taken by "Bad Blood". When I heard that song, I knew I'm a fan of Seals for life now. Son gives it his all. His intensity doesn't die as the CD goes on. On the contrary, it grows! I loved "Let It Go". There's some excellent Hammond B-3 work as well as guitar work on "Jelly Jelly". "Love Had a Breakdown" is an excellent track, with very nice horn arrangements which make this track sound like it's "rolling".

This CD has an excellent assembly of musicians. There are a lot of horns on this disc, which makes it richer. I've heard Son's other work after that CD, and there was only one that may top this one, and it's "Alive and Burning", his live performance from 1973. This is live blues like you've never heard before. Son goes ALL OUT and AC Reed is alone for the ride on his sax.

This man is an amazing bluesman, and I have to say he tops BB King, Buddy Guy, and Eric Clapton. He is probably on-par with Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert King on the mastery of his guitar. If you hear Stevie's and Albert's collaboration "In Session", a "live" studio jam, you'll know why I said this - those guys are amazing. Son is right there at the top, though. He deserves BB's fame and reputation. Another thing about Son is that he doesn't recycle the same chords all the time, which seems to be all too common with famous blues guys.

Get it - you will NOT regret it, I promise.

Son finally has made the album he always wanted no holds barred . The band behind him is the best ever including legend al kooper on keyboard and jimmy vivino on guitar.I watched son perform LET IT GO the title track on late nite witn conan obrien and he brought the house down.That track alone is worth the price of the cd.also how rare is ablues album with all original songs not even eric and bb had the guts to do that.Son proves that blus music can be progressive

I

Mr. Seals is singing and playing stonger than ever. If this cd is an example of what's to come from Son Seals from the Telarc label, I can't wait. A truly triumphant recording from a Chicago Blues Master.Brilliant!