In their DVD documentary, A Journey Through the Blues: The Son Seals Story, directors Jennifer Gerber (was also the writer) and Peter S. Carlson in a tasteful, honest and often poignant way share the life of one of the great blues players of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, Frank “Son” Seals, a guitarist whose riffs would send a buzz through an audience.  The film features a series of cameo interviews with his friend, actor and fellow artist Steven Seagal, as well as Koko Taylor, blues artist Lonnie Brooks, and Frank Pellegrino who manages the Chicago blues nightclub Kingston Mines. There are also lengthier conversations with his son Rodney and Alligator Records’ Bruce Iclauer with whom he shared a thirty-year friendship.

“Son” Seals’ life sounds like one of the many songs that blues artists sing, his introduction to music came as a child at his father’s juke joint the Dipsy Doodle Club in Osceola, Arkansas, during the 1940’s. The juke joint was staged on the weekends in the family living room, where bands would play, and home brewed whisky would be served. There are glimpses of some great photos from back in the day.

Seals’ inspiration for taking up music came from many sources, his father who played the guitar, as well as the trombone, and a drummer who took the younger Seals under his wing, and taught him how to play the kit. As Seals would describe it later in life, he got “the fever,” for playing the guitar, from listening to the music of blues legends Robert Nighthawk and Albert King.  Seals toured with Nighthawk and backed him on drums.

The guitar captured the imagination of Seals, and as a seventeen year old, he was fronting his own band, playing gigs in Osceola, Little Rock and points in between.

Some of the best parts of the film, of course are the archival interviews with “Son,” before his death in 2004. He puts a humorous spin on the delicate issue of racism, when it raised its ugly head early in his career. The band, not realizing the “whites only,” bigotry of the town they were in, had dinner in the only restaurant they could find open late one night. Seals’ humorous account of what happened next, keeps the issue from becoming a lightening rod, but does serve to remind us of the shame of bigotry.

If the city of Chicago ever needed an ambassador for the blues music scene, it certainly was “Son” Seals, as he revealed in one conversation, “You can find this kind of music (blues), every night of the week, and in more than just one place. Musically, Chicago is the place.”

The challenges of being an artist are presented honestly through the words of Iclauer, Rodney Seals, and “Son” Seals.  Iclauer makes the statement, “If you are lucky, you end up living a middle class lifestyle. If you are unlucky you end up a broke old man.” 

Seals talked about the musical challenges he faced early in his career, “You had to be able to make everybody happy. You had to be able to play everything on that jukebox, (including) Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, Little Richard and Chuck Berry. You had to play it all.”

Throughout the film, phrases such as, “soulfulness of his music,” “hard playing,” “his music was his victory,” and “the guitar was a lethal weapon in his hands,” are used to describe the way Seals approached his music.

Numerous “Son” Seals’ songs are featured throughout the film, including, “Hot Sauce,” (Son Seals Blues Band), “My Life,” (Midnight Son), “She’s Fine,” (Live And Burning), “Dear Son,” (Lettin’ Go), and “Osceola Rock,” (Lettin’ Go).

The DVD comes with a nice little insert that has photos of “Son” Seals and some commentary by producer Peter S. Carlson.

If you know someone who enjoys blues music and likes to dig into the history of blues and the artists who made it, what it is today, then Journey Through The Blues: The Son Seals Story would make an excellent Christmas present.

  Reviewed December 2007

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