Remembering Son
Seals, Jody Noa & Raful Neal
BLUESMEN LOST
by Eric Steiner
In 2004, we lost
three bluesmen whose contributions to the blues will be felt by many for
years to come.
In December,
Chicago’s “hidden harmonica treasure” Jody Noa lost his battle
with cancer, followed by Son Seals’ death due to complications
from diabetes. Last September, we lost Hoodoo King Raful Neal,
who was a fixture in Louisiana swamp blues for four decades.
While I am very
fortunate to begin another year in the blues, I wanted to take a moment
to honor the memories of Jody, Son, and Raful. Join me in a celebration
of their lives as I hope that you would rediscover the blues through
their contributions.
I have
followed Jody Noa’s star for years, and always dreamed that he’d break
into a national recording contract. I heard that Jody Noa and his Sho’
Nuff Blues Band was the first professional blues band to play the
historic Checkerboard Lounge in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. An
early line up of Jody’s band was a Chicago blues dream team that
included Sammy Lawhorn and John Primer on guitar, Bob “Have Bass Will
Travel” Stroger, and Killer Ray Allison on the drums.
Jody was a regular at
Sopro’s Annual Thanksgiving and Easter Blues Concerts, held at Tommy’s
Place in Blue(s) Island on the far South Side. What’s the best way to
honor Jody’s memory? For me, that’s easy: get back to Chicago and check
out live blues, particularly shows produced by his friends at Sopro
Productions.
On February 27th,
there will be a benefit show at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park,
Illinois, that will help defray some of the costs of Jody’s medical
bills. More info, videos and song samples of Jody’s heartfelt harp is
at
www.4jodynoa.com.
As I get older, I’m
noticing that I have more than a few regrets, and near the top of my
list is not catching Chicago’s “hidden harmonica treasure” live.
I saw Son Seals at
ChicagoFest over 20 years ago and that performance was captured live by
Alligator Records on the GRAMMY-winning Blues Deluxe album that featured
a “Who’s Who” of Chicago blues in the early 1980’s. I wore out three
vinyl copies of that record, largely because I kept returning to Lonnie
Brooks’ soaring through “Sweet Home Chicago” and Son Seals’
lightning-like leads on “Don’t Throw Your Love On Me So Strong.”
My favorite Son Seals
records on Alligator include Midnight Son (1977),
Live - Spontaneous Combustion (1996) and the excellent
Deluxe Edition (2002). What impressed me about Son’s playing
over the years is that it was consistently high-energy blues. He played
his heart out every night, and he was louder than many of his
contemporaries. What impressed me even more was his dogged
persistence. Son was a lifelong diabetic and he continued to tour after
part of his leg was amputated, and he even overcame being shot in the
jaw by his wife during an argument. The couple later divorced.
Raful Neal
was often called “Little Walter of Louisiana,” and while Little
Walter went down to Baton Rouge and lured Buddy Guy to the bright lights
of Chicago, Raful stayed behind to define Louisiana swamp blues. 2001’s
self-titled. The Hoodoo Kings’ on Telarc was one of my
favorite CDs from 2001. The Hoodoo Kings were Eddie Bo, Raful Neal and
Rockin' Tabby Thomas, all New Orleans musical royalty. They released a
great New Orleans blues collection, and when I first heard this CD, I
called that record a “party in a CD case.” To this day, it gets my
guests off their butts and into my living room dance floor.
Raful’s contributions
to the Hoodoo Kings release include some world-class harp, and I hope
that you’d consider picking up this CD, or CDs from his son Kenny Neal
(Kenny’s Deluxe Edition on Alligator or One Step Closer on
Telarc are good places to start). When the Hoodoo Kings played the
Portland Blues Festival a few years ago, I thought about making that
Summer event. I foolishly thought the guys would come around again.
While grieving these
losses is an important part of life, I’d like to think that Jody, Son
and Raful would appreciate it if you'd support your local blues
community and go out to see a live blues show.
Whether you’re
reading this from the greater Chicago area or the Crescent City via the
online edition of each issue we post each month at
www.midwestbeat.com , let’s honor Jody, Son and Raful's
memories by going out and seeing a live blues show.
While I had the good
fortune to see Son Seals tear it up several times, I regret that I
missed experiencing Jody Noa or Raful Neal play the harp in a club or at
a blues festival.
I’ll close by asking
you to support live blues, no matter where you live. Tonight.
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