Performing professionally since the age of 13, Frank "Son" Seals began as a drummer before taking up the guitar. Seals father ran the Osceola, Arkansas juke joint, the Dipsy Doodle Club, where Son was first exposed to Sonny Boy Williamson and two of his early mentors, Robert Nighthawk and Albert King. By age 13, Seals began drumming for Nighthawk, but by the end of the 1950s, he began fronting his own band in Little Rock and had switched over to guitar.
Over the course of the next 10 years, Seals honed his chops with the likes of Earl Hooker and Albert King, developing a penetrating style that synthesized the grit and emotional pitch of the early blues with elements of rock, R&B, swing, and funk. Seal's unique style reflected his background as a drummer, with his dense biting leads incorporating strikingly original percussive elements.
Following the death of his father in 1971 Seals relocated to Chicago, where his career began taking off. He began jamming around town with Hound Dog Taylor and Howling Wolf Jr. and played with blues greats like Buddy Guy, James Cotton, and Junior Wells, before leading his own band, establishing a reputation as one of the hottest guitar players around.
It was during this time that he caught the ear of Bruce Iglauer of the blues label Alligator Records, while performing at the Flamingo Club. Seals' debut album, The Son Seals Blues Band, was released in 1973 to widespread critical acclaim and it, along with the 1976 follow-up, Midnight Sun, remain two of the greatest albums ever released by the label.
A culmination of years of experience, Seals' raw, uninhibited leads are strikingly emotive, closely in tune with the beat and generally tougher sounding than any blues guitarists of the era.