Son Seals – Live And Burning – Alligator Records ALCD 4712

This 1992 CD re-release of an original 1978 Alligator Records LP captures the raw, primal, and relentless drive of one of the toughest bluesmen on the Chicago scene at the time, Son Seals.  The nine selections on this collection demonstrate without any qualification whatsoever the ferocity of a Seals performance, along with the frenzied appreciation for his efforts by his loyal blues audience.

Seals’ 1973 Alligator Records debut, The Son Seals Blues Band, signaled that there was a new chief blues performer on the Chicago scene, one whose deep, hard-hitting vocal onslaught was only matched by his burning, slashing, and raw guitar attack.  Seals’ original blues songwriting proficiencies further exponentially added to the great buzz about this new dramatically trenchant performer, one who had to be witnessed in -performance to be appreciated.

That leads us to this dynamical “live” collection, his third for Alligator Records.  Initially cutting his teeth in the small neighborhood blues joints, Seals’ astonishing blues competencies eventually found him moving to the great city’s north side clubs, with this outing being captured at Wise Fools Pub in the 2200 block of N. Lincoln Ave. 

Listening closely to this collection, unfolding before the listener is the full transformation of Seals from a more neighborhood commodity into a full-blown blues stirrer for a greater audience outside of his previous performance venues.  There is an unleashing of a blues freedom that blisters and scalds, as though Seals himself is beginning to realize his newfound torch of a blues consciousness for a whole new generation of enthusiasts.

This blues excursion features A.C. Reed on saxophone, Snapper Mitchum on Bass, Lacy Gibson on guitar, and Tony Gooden on drums, as ideal a band to imprison Seals’ blues muscle if there ever was one.

With this CD you can close your eyes and drift back to when a new era of blues was bursting forth on the Chicago scene, one that will leave you shaking your head at the forceful blues strength that was Son Seals.

Highly-recommended without any qualification!