I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES— an exhibition entitled Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica— featuring 350 works (from the 1920s to the present) from artists on four continents: Africa, North and South America, and Europe — opens at the the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois this coming Sunday, through March 30th.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #1 is the final NYT column by Paul Krugman (who has revived his Substack account, free for now) — on how things have changed in the past twenty-five years — and this should be a free download.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Felix the Cat - a Canadian kitteh who went missing 100 days ago to escape a wildfire in the Alberta Rockies ... now reunited after a woman who had seen Felix on her security camera alerted his family.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #2 is this essay in The American Prospect (written before the election) on how blue states should use their influence not only for their own benefit … but which could also help like-minded residents in red states.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Marigold the Cat— who had been part of a (now) closed-down kitten testing lab at the University of California, Davis (and previously known only as #11-245, tattooed inside both of her ears) — finally in a real home.
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz.
SATURDAY’s CHILD is named Bobo the Cat— appropriately for his 99th birthday …. Dick Van Dyke’s cat (who had gone missing in the wildfires) was waiting for Dick and his family when they returned home. Nice birthday present!
YOUR WEEKEND READ #3 is this essay by Robert Kuttner in The American Prospect on how UnitedHealthcare became so large … due to a major endorsement.
MOTHER-DAUGHTER?— two UK television stars: Lynda Rooke (Coronation Street) and Sara Vickers (Endeavour).
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… sometime in the 1980’s, the opening act for the Buddy Guy-Junior Wells band was a guitarist I knew only slightly, Son Seals— yet his show was as good as the headline act. (Plus, he even had a guest appearance by Johnny Winter). After learning of his death twenty years ago, I wondered why he had not become a bigger star on the blues scene? It turned out he had some misfortunes along the way, yet is worth a second look.
Born as Frank Seals in Osceola, Arkansas in 1942, he was one of fifteen children of Jim Seals, who owned a juke joint named the Dipsy Doodle club. Major blues stars performed there, such as Sonny Boy Williamson, Albert King and Robert “Nighthawk” McCollum (who even coaxed a thirteen year-old Son Seals to play drums for him).
Eventually Son Seals focused on guitar, and formed a local band with his brother-in-law Walter Jefferson. A talent scout from Little Rock came to see Walter Jefferson but was turned down — and instead, offered a gig to Son Seals. He then fronted his own bands in the state capital, with some regional success.
Seals had a jagged style of guitar, along with some gruff vocals — and even had a touch of country music, the result of sitting in with Johnny Grubbs when he played at the club Son Seals’ father owned. In time, he evolved into a more smooth stylist with horn players in his band in future years.
After the death of his father in 1971, a twenty-nine year-old Son Seals moved to Chicago and quickly found work at Big Duke’s Flamingo on the west side of town. An aide to Alligator Records founder Bruce Iglauer heard him there, calling his boss and holding the phone up to take in the sound. Seals was signed to Alligator, releasing his debut album in 1973 and would release six more on the label.
Some of his most popular songs on the blues charts include Your Love is Like a Cancer, Hot Sauce and Telephone Angel. One of his most popular albums was a 1996 live recording at Buddy Guy’s Legends club.
Yet fate often intervened in his life, as he survived the loss of all but one of his fourteen siblings before the age of sixty. He suffered from bad manager contracts, was shot in the jaw in 1997 by his ex-wife (requiring reconstructive surgery) and suffered from diabetes throughout his adult life: to the point that a leg was amputated in 1999. What’s more, he lost many of his belongings in a house fire (on a night he was performing) and had several guitars burglarized in his next home. Small wonder his career often stalled.
He did regroup and release a final 2000 album on Telarc, and confined his touring to metro Chicago. He was befriended by guitarist Jimmy Vivino (who was Conan O’Brien’s bandleader) who often backed him, and the band Phish performed his song Funky Bitch, inviting him to perform with them when they played in Chicago.
His final recording was on a 2002 tribute album to Bo Diddley (performing My Story) before his death in 2004 of complications from diabetes at age sixty-two. He received W.C. Handy awards in 1985, 1987 and 2001, was nominated for a 1981 Grammy and five years after his death was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
Of all of his work — this is my favorite (with a nice horn section, too).