Search - Son Seals :: Spontaneous Combustion

Fine, tough blues and soul from a legendary performer

Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 06/04/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Recorded at Buddy Guy's "Legends" club in 1996, this album finds Frank "Son" Seals on top form playing his gritty, soul-flavoured blues. His guitar tone is hard and nasty as always, as is his raw, guttural voice, and "Spontaneous Combustion" features tough live performances of some of his best songs.



Son Seals is backed by a four-piece band and a small horn ensemble...the latter is generally a nice addition, except for a couple of songs where they should have just clapped their hands or something. And keyboardist Sidney James Wingfield goes back and forth between the organ and the piano, and while I would have preferred him to remain at the piano and stay away from the somewhat artificial-sounding organ, these occational minor glitches are far from enough to spoil the fun here. Seals himself sound in tip-top shape, laying down potent versions of "Don't Pick Me For Your Fool", "Every Goodbye Ain't Gone", the classic "Don't Lie To Me", and a couple of other career highlights, including a funky and newly horn-augumented take on the merciless "Your Love Is Like A Cancer" from Seals' eponymous 1973 debut LP.



On Seals' original "I Need My Baby Back" and Jimmy Reed's "The Sun Is Shining", Wingfield contributes a smoking piano part, and Seals' lead guitar bites and cuts all the way through. Casual listeners may feel that a bit more variation in arrangements and approach would have been nice, but it's hard to fault what is here. This is genuine, rough, tough Chicago blues, and fans of Son Seals will not be disappointed."