Aside from being a dedicated blues man, we also learn that Son's style of guitar playing and his voice were unique to him. He was primarily self-taught, although his father was the one to introduce him to music. Funny enough, he was called Son because of his close relation to his father, in spite of being the youngest of thirteen children.
His voice is what some refer to as dark and smoky, as there is a certain quality to it that makes every subject serious somehow. But he also gives off a certain energy that felt like a burst of sunshine able to wipe away the clouds brought on by what ever topic he was singing about.
While the documentary aspect of the film was interesting and informative, the concerts were far from satisfying. On the first song of the first one, Rooster Blues, you can barely make out Son's vocals and the same went for the House of Blues gig where the sound was just muddy. These were somewhat redeemed by the quality of the recording at the Chicago Blues Festival, which was pristine. Unfortunately, it was also near the end of his life and career, and his indomitable will had taken quite a beating because of the diabetes that had taken his leg.
According to everyone that knew Son, he died because he probably felt like he could no longer go on stage and perform. At one point in an interview he as much says that, when he says once this is no longer any fun for me, you won't see me.
A Journey Through The Blues: The Son Seals Story attempts to tell the story of Son Seals in words and music. While the words are quite effective, the concert footage does not do him justice. Part of that stems from the fact that the sound on the DVD is only 2-channel stereo, which doesn't allow for clean presentation. Watch the documentary part of the movie to learn about the man, but go out and buy one of his re-mastered CDs to learn about the music.
Article comments
1 - chuck
It is a damn shame how routinely diabetes takes our blues stars away from us (and their loved ones) far too soon.
As a diabetic who has a younger brother that is already down to two knees, pardon me while I do some preachin' on some hard lessons learned about diabetes. If you know of blues musicians with the disease, plead with them, hound them (if you have to) to get it under control as much as possible. Imo the medical community doesn't do enough un regards to preventive medice. When I meet other folks with diabetes, I routinely ask them if they are "low carb," and most of them look at me puzzled. Carbs tun into sugar in your body. That load is hard on diabetics, so the less the better. Also stress exercise, just walking briskly is fine. Get them to test their blood glucose levels before and then after a good walk.
That will usually cause a light to go off in their head (or their spouses), and at least give them some inspiration.
Sorry, I could go on and on, but the idea is that we need to use our access of the web to help get some good information into the hands of our sick blues muusicians who need it...that's one way to really "keep the blues alive!"