Son Seals

Full Name: Son Seals

Born Frank Seals, Jr., “Son” Seals taught himself to play drums and guitar while living in rural Arkansas. His father owned a club and Seals honed his chops backing up whoever was playing. He was lucky enough to tour with blues legends Earl Hooker and Albert King before moving to Chicago in 1971 and recording his first album in 1973. In the interim, he played with Junior Wells, James Cotton and Buddy Guy. Seals has played thousands of shows around the world. Long lauded by fans but shunned by critics, Seals finally received the acclaim he deserved when he was named Chicago Blues Entertainer of 1997 at the Chicago Music Awards.
In Phish circles, Seals is best known as the composer of longtime cover “Funky Bitch.” Members of Seals’ band first joined Phish for the song on 7/10/97. He came back in Oswego on 7/17/99 for another rendition of the song, as well as the debut of “On My Knees.” Finally, on 10/3/99, Seals joined Phish and Sugar Blue for “Funky Bitch” and “Messin’ With the Kid.” In 2001, he covered “Suzy Greenberg” for Sharin’ in the Groove: Celebrating the Music of Phish.