Blues Singer - Guitarist Son Seals Dies at 62

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Blues singer-guitarist Son Seals, one of the most distinctive voices to emerge in the genre during the 1970s, died Monday in Chicago of complications from diabetes. He was 62.

Seals helped establish Chicago-based Alligator Records as the era's premier blues label with a run of albums featuring his tough songs, brooding vocals and spikey guitar work. He won three W.C. Handy Blues Awards, and received a Grammy Award nomination in 1980 for his work on the live compilation ``Blues Deluxe.''

Born in Osceola, Ark., Seals learned guitar from his father, a former minstrel show performer and juke joint operator. He initially established himself professionally as a drummer, working with guitarist Earl Hooker and appearing behind Albert King on the 1968 Stax album ``Live Wire/Blues Power.''

Seals moved to Chicago in 1971 and began fronting his own groups on the city's South Side. Signed to Alligator, he made an immediate impression with his impassioned 1973 debut ``The Son Seals Blues Band.'' After the release of its 1977 sequel ``Midnight Son,'' the New York Times called Seals ``the most exciting young blues guitarist and singer in years.''

Seals had a tempestuous relationship with Alligator and its founder-owner Bruce Iglauer, who also managed him; he departed the label in the mid-'80s, but returned to the fold in the '90s. His last album ``Lettin' Go'' was cut for Telarc in 2000.

He toured widely, despite the loss of a leg to diabetes. Late in his career he opened several shows for the jam band Phish, who covered his song ``Funky Bitch.''

Seals is survived by his sister Katherine Sims and 14 children.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Sad news...I always loved those first two albums The Son Seals Band with that modern blues classic - Your Love Is Like A Cancer and spent a lot of nights groovin' to his classic second album Midnight Sun......RIP


ROCKMAN

Yes, he was one of the greats.

Really like his drumming on that Albert King album.

On Live and Burning he does an exceptional version of the E James tune "I Can't Hold Out". I'm not sure whether guitarists call it tone or technique, but Seals put a real ballsy sound into his lead lines--it wasn't just that the tone was fat and distorted; the _left_-hand work sounded like it was done with hammers. Also, a great blues voice.

I used to play Son's early Alligator LPS back in the seventies - but I actually grew a little weary of his leads - used the same "tricks" over and over again, ad nauseum. But, I am saddened to learn of his untimely death. RIP.