Customer Reviews

Son Seals Blues Band

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4 star:		(1)
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Originally issued in 1973 on Bruce Iglauer's then-new Alligator label, this is the late, great Frank "Son" Seals' debut album, a supremely rough, tough affair with some stinging lead guitar playing, tougher and less polished than Stevie Ray Vaughan and at least as gritty as Johnny Winter and Buddy Guy.

Son Seals mines classic Chicago blues grooves on the swinging "Look Now, Baby" and the slow "Cotton Pickin' Blues", and other highlights include the grinding (and thoroughly unsentimental) "Your Love Is Like A Cancer", the fiery "Mother-In-Law Blues", a genuine blues in the vein of Elmore James, and the funky "How Could She Leave Me". But there are really no weak tracks here at all, just forty minutes of slashing guitar playing and raw bluesy goodness played by the stripped-down four-piece band (Seals, bassist John Riley, drummer Charles Caldwell, and organ player Johnny "Big Moose" Walker").

These compositions are less influenced by soul and rock than Seals' albums would be just a few years later, so there are more traditional A-A-B-arrangements here than on his other records, and his lead guitar playing is sharp as shards of broken glass, as gritty as anything you'll ever hear on a 70s blues record. And while "The Son Seals Blues Band" is perhaps not as instantly memorable as the best work of Muddy Waters or Howlin' Wolf, it is a very enjoyable record even without an obvious replacement for "Hoochie Coochie Man"!

This is Son Seals best album. The recording is wonderful, providing the clarity of a studio recording and the raw sound of a live recording. Son Seals burns the guitar through some excellent blues numbers along with a powerful backup band. Play this one loud. This is a treasure for both blues and rock fans.

"Your love is just like a cancer, woman, eating away my life." Yikes! It doesn't get much more raw than that. This stripped-down, loose album is Son Seals' first and best. Still the place to start to get to know this great blues artist.

This is one of those c.d.'s that will blow your mind the first time you hear it. It is raw Chicago blues with a heavy B-3 organ. It is his rawest, and in my opinion, best c.d.

For me,Seals was a great guitarrist,and the way he plays,makes me remember the Hendrix style.This album is a good vision of this Hendrix style,Seals improve in your work! A gem of blues-rock linkage!

In 1973 when Disco was taking over one man had the audacity to start a Blues career when the scene for this art form was in hibernation! Maybe inspired more so, he and his band of Blues Rebels cranked out some of the fiercest raw, gritty, music the country had every heard! After the smoke cleared, who was left standing? The Son Seals Blues band of course! One of my favorite tunes is "Your love is like a cancer" due to it's raw and funky edge (You can almost smell the funk through the speakers!)... .

This is a great electric blues album. The playing is raw, with just a hint of the Texas sound, and funky at times. The driving bass stands out in most tracks, and Son Seals guitar solos are smooth and cool. If it were playing in a club you'd be up and dancing in no time. I'll be getting some more Son Seals soon.

Son is the real deal and this disc is the culmination of years of experience, and that is what the Blues are all about, Life and living experience! Just saw Son live in Grand Rapids, MI last week, he is still one of the hottest blues artists out of Chicago.

he singa as if he has a hard life. you can feel it in his words. what he sings comes from his soul, deep down.