Ain't that the blues: Two dead Arkansans make the Blues Hall of Fame cut
"Baby Please" at Buddy Guy's Legend in Chicago.
The late Son Seals is among the inductees slated to go into the Blues Hall of Fame this year.
Born in Osceola, Seals grew up in the blues. Literally. His father, a former member of the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, owned a juke joint, with one of the best juke joint names ever — the Dipsey Doodle. Everybody played there. Albert King. Robert Nighthawk. Sonny Boy Williamson II.
As a teenager, he toured as a drummer with guitarist Earl Hooker. At 18, he played on Albert King's towering "Live Wire/Blues Power" (seriously, buy it).
In 1971, he moved to Chicago, where he eventually took over Hound Dog Taylor's weekend gig at the Expressway Lounge. His first album, "The Son Seals Band," on Alligator Records was a hit in 1973, and he started touring the country round. He won a WC Handy Award in 1985.
More recent years weren't as good to him. A diabetic, he had have a leg amputated below the knee in 1999. Two years later, his ex-wife shot him in the face while he was asleep (and you thought Al Green's hot-grits on the chest were bad?). Later, a fire destroyed his motor home and someone stole his custom guitar.
He died in 2004 from complications surrounding diabetes.
Bio info courtesy of the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
Shew!
Here's another pretty awesome YouTube clip. (Please, PLEASE watch at least the first minute of the one above; there's some amazing dancing. With poorer sound, but way better dancers. "Arkansas Woman.")
ALSO: Louis Jordan's song "Caldonia" is among the tracks going into the Hall.
For your streaming pleasure:
