It all started with a call to Alligator owner Bruce Iglauer  from Wesley Race who was raving about a new find, a young guitarist named Son Seals. He held the phone in the direction of the bandstand, so Iglauer could get an on-site report. It didn't take long for Iglauer to scramble into action. Alligator issued Seals's 1973 debut album, which was followed by six more.

  If anyone could be said to be born into the blues it's Son Seals. His dad ran a juke joint called the Dipsy Doodle in Osceola, AR, where Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Nighthawk, and Albert King played while Seals listened in back. By the time he was 13 he was playing drums for Nighthawk and at 18 he was playing guitar and leading his own band.

  In 1963 he hooked with Earl Hooker while visiting Chicago and then in 1966 played drums behind Albert King. By 1971 he was living in Chicago full time and fronting his own band playing at the Flamingo Club and the Expressway Lounge.

  Seals's jagged, uncompromising guitar riffs and gruff vocals were showcased very effectively on that 1973 debut set, which contained his "Your Love Is like a Cancer" and a raging instrumental called "Hot Sauce." Midnight Son, his 1976 encore, was by comparison a much slicker affair, with tight horns, funkier grooves, and a set list that included "Telephone Angel" and "On My Knees." Seals cut a live LP in 1978 at Wise Fools Pub; another studio concoction, Chicago Fire, in 1980, and a solid set in 1984, Bad Axe, before having a disagreement with Iglauer that that was patched up in 1991 with the release of his sixth Alligator set, Living in the Danger Zone. Nothing but the Truth followed in 1994 and is a worthy addition to his discography.

  Seals sticks close to Chicago these days venturing out only occasionally. Seals recently lost a leg to diabetes but judging from his appearance at this year's Poconos blues festival it hasn't slowed him down a bit.

           Essential Listening

Son Seals: Midnight Son (Alligator): Perhaps his finest record backed by a swinging horn section and in your face guitar. Highlights include "Telephone Angel", "On My Knees and  the jumping "Four Full Seasons of Love."

Son Seals: Live and Burning (Alligator): A smoking live set caught at Chicago's Wise Fool's Pub. Son is backed by a top notch band including saxist A.C. Reed and guitarist Lacy Gibson.

Son Seals: Bad Axe (Alligator): Another strong collection from 1984. Standouts include a pair of covers from Eddie Vinson's "Person to Person" to Little Sonny's "Going Home" as well as some fine originals.