Deluxe Edition [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Son Seals

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 22, 2002)
• Original Release Date: January 22, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Alligator Records
• ASIN: B00005UF1X
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #73,146 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Indie Music > Blues > Electric Blues Guitar

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
After delivering an electrifying jolt to "I Believe to My Soul," the Ray Charles classic that opens this best-of collection, Son Seals's guitar proceeds to sting, soar, and swagger through the rest of this 15-cut, career-spanning anthology. Though his vocals are gruffly serviceable, lacking range and nuance, and much of his material is derivatively generic, Seals pulverizes like a force of nature whenever his guitar surges to the fore. In the studio, the Arkansas-raised, Chicago-based bluesman echoes Otis Rush on "Your Love Is Like a Cancer," Albert King on "Buzzard Love," and B.B. King on "Telephone Angel." The bandstand is where Seals truly comes into his own, with the live recordings of "Don't Pick Me for Your Fool" and "Hot Sauce" giving him the chance to stretch and sizzle. In addition to a judicious selection of highlights from his catalogue, the anthology includes the previously unreleased "Life All By Myself," an outtake from his 1973 debut. --Don McLeese

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2 stars. A great collection of gritty contemporary Chicago blues, December 5, 2004

By	Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

The self-styled "bad axe", Frank "Son" Seals, was one of the mainstays of 1970s Chicago blues, and this fine collection gathers some of the highlights from his 23-year stay with Aligator Records.

Born in 1942, Seals was supposedly raised in the back room of his guitar-playing father's juke joint in Arkansas, and he has played and toured with men like Earl Hooker an Albert King before releasing his self-titled solo debut in 1973, "The Son Seals Blues Band".
This disc is a fine place for newcomers to start, drawing from all eight of his Alligator releases. The opening track, Ray Charles' "I Believe To My Soul" reinterpreted as a raw blues grind, is one of the best songs here...Seals plays sizzling lead guitar backed by a juicy horn ensemble, and his huge, guttural roar of a voice was a tremendous asset.

There is plenty of gritty, knife-edged blues guitar here, and songs like
the mid-tempo groove "Don't Pick Me For Your Fool", the genuine slow blues "Telephone Angel", and the merciless "Your Love Is Like A Cancer" all rank among Seals' finest, as do the thumping soul-blues swagger "Before The Bullets Fly". And Seals does his best Elmore James on a searing live "I Can't Hold Out".

Several of the many terrific songs from Seals' two best studio albums, "Nothing But The Truth" and "Midnight Son", are missing, sure, but that's the way compilation albums are...and besides, you can just go get those two as well, you cheapskate! And pick up his debut album and the two live ones as well, now that you're at it.

The great Son Seals passed away in late 2004. He was one of the toughest, most sincere performances working on the Chicago scene, and this, again, is an excellent way to get acquainted with his music. It's not everything you could ever want from Son Seals, but it is a really enjoyable way to spend 65 minutes.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All Blues No Filler, September 9, 2004

By	James A. Dean (Arlington, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Son Seals is an awesome guitar player, not the pyrotechnic type, but the quintessential blues type. This is a great overview and primer for his entire career. You will be hard-pressed to buy a better blues cd. This is old school blues, but you can still learn something from listening to it. Very highly recommended.