WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.500 Okay, so let's start with a little, I guess, 00:00:02.520 --> 00:00:04.740 a word association game. All right, I'm ready. 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:08.800 If I say the father of the blues, who's the very 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:10.820 first person that pops into your head? Just, 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:12.220 you know, off the top of your head. Oh, well, 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:14.160 I mean, if you're looking at any standard music 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:16.260 history or you've ever been to Memphis, the answer 00:00:16.260 --> 00:00:19.960 is it's W .C. Handy. Exactly. W .C. Handy. That's 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:22.620 the name. The legend, the man behind the Memphis 00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:25.750 Blues. St. Louis Blues. He's got the statues. 00:00:25.929 --> 00:00:27.890 He has the statues. The school's named after 00:00:27.890 --> 00:00:30.469 him. He basically wrote the book on himself as 00:00:30.469 --> 00:00:32.350 the originator. And he was a titan. We're not 00:00:32.350 --> 00:00:35.070 here to, you know, tear down his legacy. He deserves 00:00:35.070 --> 00:00:37.570 a lot of that credit, but. There's always a but, 00:00:37.649 --> 00:00:40.170 isn't there? History's never that clean. Right. 00:00:40.689 --> 00:00:44.009 Because what if I told you that the father of 00:00:44.009 --> 00:00:47.450 the blues title, it might actually belong to 00:00:47.450 --> 00:00:49.869 someone else. Someone who beat Handy to the punch. 00:00:50.049 --> 00:00:54.960 In print. Legally. Publicly. By months. And this 00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:57.100 is where it gets really fascinating. We're talking 00:00:57.100 --> 00:00:59.920 about a figure who was, you know, arguably the 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:02.280 first to publish what we call a real blues composition. 00:01:02.579 --> 00:01:05.459 But he's been almost completely forgotten. Erased 00:01:05.459 --> 00:01:07.480 from the story. I mean, this is a man who wrote 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:11.540 lyrics in 1912 that are still standard blues 00:01:11.540 --> 00:01:16.200 lines today. He was the one who, in a way. told 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:18.879 musicians to slow down and feel the music. But 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:20.519 he didn't live long enough to see it through. 00:01:20.659 --> 00:01:23.079 He died young under mysterious circumstances 00:01:23.079 --> 00:01:25.560 just before the recording boom that would have 00:01:25.560 --> 00:01:28.959 made him a star. So today we are correcting the 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:31.219 record. We're doing a deep dive into the life, 00:01:31.239 --> 00:01:35.159 the music, and the tragic end of H. Franklin, 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:38.079 Baby Seals. The man who might just be the true 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:40.819 forgotten father of the blues. So we've pulled 00:01:40.819 --> 00:01:42.560 together a lot of material for this. We're looking 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:45.090 at... biographical records from old vaudeville 00:01:45.090 --> 00:01:48.069 circuits, music archives, sheet music. And some 00:01:48.069 --> 00:01:50.469 fantastic research from modern blues historians 00:01:50.469 --> 00:01:52.549 who've been trying to put this puzzle back together. 00:01:52.810 --> 00:01:55.549 And the mission is pretty simple. We want to 00:01:55.549 --> 00:01:57.129 introduce you to the man who really stood on 00:01:57.129 --> 00:02:00.129 that bridge between ragtime and the blues. Bridge 00:02:00.129 --> 00:02:02.750 is the perfect word. Genres don't just appear 00:02:02.750 --> 00:02:04.730 overnight. It's not like people went to bed listening 00:02:04.730 --> 00:02:07.010 to ragtime and woke up playing the blues. It's 00:02:07.010 --> 00:02:09.569 a transition. It's a transition, and Baby Seals 00:02:09.569 --> 00:02:12.050 was right in the middle of it, basically directing 00:02:12.050 --> 00:02:15.110 traffic. So let's go back. Turn of the 20th century. 00:02:15.550 --> 00:02:18.810 Who was H. Franklin Seals? Well, the sources 00:02:18.810 --> 00:02:21.729 we have place his birth around 1880. And he's 00:02:21.729 --> 00:02:23.949 from the South. Yeah, Mobile, Alabama. And that 00:02:23.949 --> 00:02:26.930 geography is really important. Mobile was a port 00:02:26.930 --> 00:02:29.789 city, kind of like New Orleans, a cultural sponge. 00:02:30.189 --> 00:02:32.629 So he's hearing everything. Everything. Opera, 00:02:32.909 --> 00:02:35.569 folk songs, Caribbean rhythms. It was a place 00:02:35.569 --> 00:02:38.169 where... a musician could just soak it all in. 00:02:38.370 --> 00:02:40.990 But he doesn't stay put. He first really shows 00:02:40.990 --> 00:02:43.770 up on the professional radar around 1909. Right, 00:02:43.849 --> 00:02:46.270 in Shreveport, Louisiana, at the Lyric Theater. 00:02:46.530 --> 00:02:48.189 When I read his job description there, I just 00:02:48.189 --> 00:02:51.330 had to laugh. Today, a musician plays an instrument, 00:02:51.449 --> 00:02:54.689 maybe they sing, but Seals, the source, lists 00:02:54.689 --> 00:02:57.330 him as a pianist, singer, songwriter, comedian, 00:02:57.590 --> 00:02:59.590 and dancer. That tells you everything about the 00:02:59.590 --> 00:03:01.669 grind of the Black vaudeville circuit back then. 00:03:01.729 --> 00:03:03.710 You couldn't just be one thing. You had to be 00:03:03.710 --> 00:03:06.340 a jack of all trades. To survive, you had to 00:03:06.340 --> 00:03:08.879 be a jack of all trades. You'd play piano for 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:10.699 the other acts, then jump up and do your own 00:03:10.699 --> 00:03:13.560 comedy bit, then a dance, then a song. You were 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:16.840 the whole show. And he was good. Not just scraping 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:19.620 by, he was directing leading orchestras. A total 00:03:19.620 --> 00:03:22.819 pro. He understood the business of show business. 00:03:23.240 --> 00:03:25.139 Speaking of business, this is where we hit the 00:03:25.139 --> 00:03:29.960 first big wait what moment. It's 1910. Seals 00:03:29.960 --> 00:03:32.819 is in Texas, and he publishes a ragtime song. 00:03:33.210 --> 00:03:34.569 I think I know the one you're talking about. 00:03:34.650 --> 00:03:37.610 The title is Shake, Rattle, and Roll. Okay, let's 00:03:37.610 --> 00:03:39.569 just pause there because I know what everyone 00:03:39.569 --> 00:03:41.889 listening just thought. Big Joe Turner, Bill 00:03:41.889 --> 00:03:45.909 Haley, the 50s rock anthem. It is not that song. 00:03:46.129 --> 00:03:47.930 Definitely not. Musically, it's completely different. 00:03:47.969 --> 00:03:51.969 But Shake, Rattle, and Roll in 1910, that phrase 00:03:51.969 --> 00:03:54.250 was just out there 40 years before rock and roll 00:03:54.250 --> 00:03:56.550 even existed. It's an incredible coincidence. 00:03:56.849 --> 00:03:59.110 But it also shows you something about, you know, 00:03:59.110 --> 00:04:01.550 the vernacular. These phrases, they describe 00:04:01.550 --> 00:04:04.599 movement. Dance, energy, they bubble up in the 00:04:04.599 --> 00:04:06.979 culture for decades before they finally break 00:04:06.979 --> 00:04:09.240 into the mainstream. And the source material 00:04:09.240 --> 00:04:12.879 calls this a ragtime coon song. We should probably 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:15.319 unpack that term. Yes, it's a very jarring term 00:04:15.319 --> 00:04:17.920 for us today, but we have to understand it was 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:21.199 an industry label back then. Publishers, like 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:23.500 the one in New Orleans that put this out, used 00:04:23.500 --> 00:04:27.360 it to categorize this upbeat, syncopated music 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:31.089 from minstrel shows. So... It was the pop music 00:04:31.089 --> 00:04:33.709 of its time. In a way, yeah. It often used caricature. 00:04:33.810 --> 00:04:36.949 But musically, it was the space where a lot of 00:04:36.949 --> 00:04:39.709 brilliant black composers had to work to get 00:04:39.709 --> 00:04:42.629 published. Seals was writing these catchy hits 00:04:42.629 --> 00:04:44.430 within that system. So he's writing, performing, 00:04:44.629 --> 00:04:47.230 directing. But he wasn't doing it all alone. 00:04:47.430 --> 00:04:49.829 Enter baby Floyd Fisher. I love the description 00:04:49.829 --> 00:04:52.269 of her in the sources. A dainty little singing 00:04:52.269 --> 00:04:54.480 and dancing Zubret. That's a classic theater 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:57.939 term. A soubrette is the witty, lively, energetic 00:04:57.939 --> 00:04:59.920 female performer. And they were more than just 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:02.579 stage partners. They were married, a real power 00:05:02.579 --> 00:05:04.800 couple. And they had a brand. Their act was billed 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:07.920 as that classy, coony comedy pair. With a K. 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:10.300 Of course, with a K. But what's amazing is their 00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:12.579 career path. In 1910, they're in Texas, a good 00:05:12.579 --> 00:05:15.600 regional circuit. But by 1911... They break out 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:19.540 big time. The list of cities is just wild for 00:05:19.540 --> 00:05:22.300 that era. New York, Chicago, Philadelphia. And 00:05:22.300 --> 00:05:24.480 that is a huge deal. Getting out of the southern 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:26.600 Chitlin circuit and into those major northern 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:29.319 hubs, that's the big leagues. It tells you they 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:31.459 were polished, they had crossover appeal. So 00:05:31.459 --> 00:05:34.139 it's 1912, they're touring the north, they're 00:05:34.139 --> 00:05:37.579 successful, they're famous, and Seals decides 00:05:37.579 --> 00:05:40.459 to publish a new song. Something different from 00:05:40.459 --> 00:05:43.459 that upbeat ragtime. This is the moment. August 00:05:43.459 --> 00:05:46.639 1912, St. Louis. He publishes Baby Seals Blues. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:48.759 Now let's look at the calendar. This is the whole 00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:51.519 Father of the Blues debate in a nutshell. Because 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:53.920 W .C. Handy's The Memphis Blues is the one that 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:56.339 gets all the credit. But the dates are the dates. 00:05:56.560 --> 00:05:59.860 Seals publishes in August. Handy publishes in 00:05:59.860 --> 00:06:02.740 September. Seals beat him to the press. He did. 00:06:02.899 --> 00:06:05.699 Okay, so he's first. But I can hear the skeptic 00:06:05.699 --> 00:06:08.060 saying, was it actually the blues? Or was it 00:06:08.060 --> 00:06:10.040 just a ragtime song where he slapped the word 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:12.220 blues on the title to sell it? And that is the 00:06:12.220 --> 00:06:14.620 absolute key question. The answer isn't in the 00:06:14.620 --> 00:06:17.040 title. It's in the instructions printed on the 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:18.879 sheet music. The instructions for the musician. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:22.860 Exactly. Right at the tot, Seals gives a specific 00:06:22.860 --> 00:06:26.500 tempo marking. It says, very slow. Very slow. 00:06:26.620 --> 00:06:30.430 Just two words. But... Those two words are revolutionary. 00:06:30.850 --> 00:06:33.490 Why is that so important? Well, think about ragtime. 00:06:33.870 --> 00:06:36.730 Ragtime was king. It was fast. It was frantic, 00:06:36.730 --> 00:06:39.850 syncopated, music for dancing. It was all about 00:06:39.850 --> 00:06:43.230 energy. But the blues? The blues is a drag. It's 00:06:43.230 --> 00:06:45.949 heavy. It's about a feeling, not just movement. 00:06:46.189 --> 00:06:49.550 So by writing very slow, he's telling every piano 00:06:49.550 --> 00:06:51.870 player out there, hey, stop. This isn't for dancing. 00:06:51.970 --> 00:06:54.959 This is for feeling. Precisely. He is codifying 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:57.839 the genre on paper. He's taking that feeling 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:00.300 from the juke joints and field haulers and putting 00:07:00.300 --> 00:07:02.819 it into formal musical notation. He's saying, 00:07:02.860 --> 00:07:05.019 this is something different. And then there are 00:07:05.019 --> 00:07:06.800 the lyrics. I was reading them. And honestly, 00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:09.699 if you didn't tell me this was from 1912, I'd 00:07:09.699 --> 00:07:11.819 guess it was a Muddy Waters song from the 50s. 00:07:12.040 --> 00:07:13.959 They're shockingly modern, aren't they? Unbelievable. 00:07:14.019 --> 00:07:16.860 Here's the first verse. I got the blues. Can't 00:07:16.860 --> 00:07:18.899 be satisfied today. I got them bad. Want to lay 00:07:18.899 --> 00:07:21.199 down and die. I mean, that is it. That's the 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:23.120 core sentiment of the blues right there. Can't 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:25.339 be satisfied. And then there's the line that 00:07:25.339 --> 00:07:27.540 just blew my mind. Woke up this morning about 00:07:27.540 --> 00:07:30.220 half past four. Somebody knocking at my door. 00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:32.660 Woke up this morning. It's the ultimate cliche. 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:35.360 It's the once upon a time of every blues song 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:38.079 ever written. It really is. B .B. King sang it. 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:40.540 It's in the theme song for The Sopranos. It is 00:07:40.540 --> 00:07:43.220 the opening line. And here's Baby Seals putting 00:07:43.220 --> 00:07:47.279 it on paper in 1912. So did he invent it? Or 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:49.360 was he just the first one to write it down? And 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:51.899 that's the beauty of folk traditions. He probably 00:07:51.899 --> 00:07:54.360 didn't invent it in a vacuum. It was a phrase 00:07:54.360 --> 00:07:57.439 people used. But he was the one who saw its power, 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:01.319 put it to music. And sold it. He commercialized 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:03.519 the oral tradition. You packaged the culture. 00:08:03.860 --> 00:08:06.860 Exactly. And he did it with serious help. We 00:08:06.860 --> 00:08:08.959 should mention the arranger. Artie Matthews. 00:08:08.980 --> 00:08:12.279 A huge name in the ragtime world. The fact that 00:08:12.279 --> 00:08:14.519 Seals partnered with a heavyweight like Matthews 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:17.240 tells you this was a top -tier professional production. 00:08:17.579 --> 00:08:19.639 And it wasn't a flop. This song sold. Oh, it 00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:22.319 sold well. The sources are clear. By late 1912, 00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:25.040 it's being arranged for full bands. By 1913, 00:08:25.100 --> 00:08:27.019 the newspapers are calling him a famous blues 00:08:27.019 --> 00:08:30.439 writer. A title that literally didn't exist a 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:32.779 couple of years before. And he owned it. The 00:08:32.779 --> 00:08:35.399 song had a life of its own. It got into the repertoire 00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:38.580 of other musicians. Even Jelly Roll Morton played 00:08:38.580 --> 00:08:41.799 Baby Seal's blues. And I saw a note about a yodeler. 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:45.240 Yes. A popular vaudeville yodeler named Charles 00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:48.980 Anderson recorded it in 1923. So the song made 00:08:48.980 --> 00:08:52.159 it onto a record. The song did, even as its composer 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:54.379 was starting to fade from history. But Seals 00:08:54.379 --> 00:08:56.659 wasn't just an artist. He was really active in 00:08:56.659 --> 00:08:58.720 the community, it seems. He was. He was a regular 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:01.179 correspondent for the Indianapolis Freeman. Which 00:09:01.179 --> 00:09:03.460 was basically the billboard for the black entertainment 00:09:03.460 --> 00:09:06.159 world. It was. The fact that he was writing in, 00:09:06.179 --> 00:09:09.659 reporting on what was happening, it shows he 00:09:09.659 --> 00:09:12.279 had a business mind. He was trying to be a leader 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:14.519 for other Southern performers. So let's recap. 00:09:14.990 --> 00:09:18.769 It's 1913, 1914. He has a hit song. He's a famous 00:09:18.769 --> 00:09:21.590 act with his wife. He's touring nationally. He 00:09:21.590 --> 00:09:24.409 has this new title, Fantas Blues Rider. It sounds 00:09:24.409 --> 00:09:26.409 like the beginning of a long, amazing career. 00:09:26.509 --> 00:09:29.070 He's perfectly positioned. But this is where 00:09:29.070 --> 00:09:31.850 the story turns. And it turns so, so quickly. 00:09:32.149 --> 00:09:35.289 We know that in 1912, they're everywhere. Nashville, 00:09:35.509 --> 00:09:37.950 Jacksonville, Harlem. Top of the bill. We're 00:09:37.950 --> 00:09:39.970 at their peak. But then the source just says, 00:09:40.070 --> 00:09:43.629 by 1915. And partnership is over. Suddenly, Seals 00:09:43.629 --> 00:09:45.929 is working as a solo act. And we just don't know 00:09:45.929 --> 00:09:47.610 why. The records don't say if it was a divorce, 00:09:47.789 --> 00:09:50.190 a creative split, nothing. The classy pair is 00:09:50.190 --> 00:09:52.590 just gone. And he's not in New York anymore. 00:09:52.669 --> 00:09:54.649 He's back in the South. He's in Anniston, Alabama. 00:09:55.049 --> 00:09:58.110 And that's where the story ends. December 29th, 00:09:58.110 --> 00:10:01.950 1915. She dies. Do we know how? Unknown causes, 00:10:02.169 --> 00:10:04.710 is all the record says. And his age. He was about 00:10:04.710 --> 00:10:09.429 35 years old. 35. It's just, it's tragic. He 00:10:09.429 --> 00:10:12.049 helps invent a new genre of music. And just as 00:10:12.049 --> 00:10:14.669 it's taking off, he's gone. And that brings us 00:10:14.669 --> 00:10:16.870 right back to the original question. Why Handy 00:10:16.870 --> 00:10:19.450 and not Seals? Is it really just that simple? 00:10:19.929 --> 00:10:22.149 He died at the wrong time. It's almost entirely 00:10:22.149 --> 00:10:24.789 about timing. Think about what happens just five 00:10:24.789 --> 00:10:27.830 years after he dies. The 1920s. The roaring 20s. 00:10:27.830 --> 00:10:31.019 And the recording industry explodes. Right. Crazy 00:10:31.019 --> 00:10:33.799 Blues by Mamie Smith comes out in 1920 and sells 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:37.600 a million copies. Exactly. And suddenly, record 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:40.399 labels are desperate to sign blues artists. Essie 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:43.080 Smith, Matt Rainey. They become stars because 00:10:43.080 --> 00:10:45.779 their voices are captured on wax. And Seals missed 00:10:45.779 --> 00:10:48.610 it. He missed the boat by five years. If he'd 00:10:48.610 --> 00:10:51.470 lived in 1920, he would have been 40. A seasoned 00:10:51.470 --> 00:10:53.690 pro with a hit catalog. He would have been recorded. 00:10:53.789 --> 00:10:56.090 We could hear his voice today. That is such a 00:10:56.090 --> 00:10:58.049 heavy thought. The line between being a legend 00:10:58.049 --> 00:11:01.029 and being a footnote was just five more years. 00:11:01.289 --> 00:11:03.490 And then look at W .C. Handy. He lived until 00:11:03.490 --> 00:11:07.750 1958. 1958. That's the era of Elvis. Right. Handy 00:11:07.750 --> 00:11:09.629 lived long enough to write his autobiography, 00:11:09.750 --> 00:11:11.830 to give interviews, to shape his own legacy. 00:11:11.990 --> 00:11:15.110 He got to tell his story. Seals never did. So 00:11:15.110 --> 00:11:16.830 you have a guy who wrote Shake, Rattle and Roll 00:11:16.830 --> 00:11:20.629 before rock. He wrote Woke Up This Morning before 00:11:20.629 --> 00:11:22.769 the blues was even a thing. He literally told 00:11:22.769 --> 00:11:26.750 the world to play it very slow. And yet. He's 00:11:26.750 --> 00:11:29.190 a ghost. It is the classic story of history being 00:11:29.190 --> 00:11:31.669 written by the survivors. Seals set the stage. 00:11:31.830 --> 00:11:34.169 He lit the candles. He wrote the menu. And then 00:11:34.169 --> 00:11:36.330 he left before the main course was served. It 00:11:36.330 --> 00:11:38.669 just makes you wonder what else he would have 00:11:38.669 --> 00:11:41.490 written. If he came up with Baby Seals Blues 00:11:41.490 --> 00:11:44.509 in 1912, what would he have been doing in 1925? 00:11:45.019 --> 00:11:47.500 He was an innovator. He was on that fault line 00:11:47.500 --> 00:11:50.539 between old time entertainment and this new, 00:11:50.700 --> 00:11:53.840 deep, personal expression. We lost his perspective 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:55.840 on that evolution. Well, I think we've done our 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:57.960 part to at least put his name back in the conversation. 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:01.299 Absolutely. H. Franklin Baby Seals, a name everyone 00:12:01.299 --> 00:12:03.379 should know. So here's the question I want to 00:12:03.379 --> 00:12:05.659 leave everyone with. We just talked about how 00:12:05.659 --> 00:12:08.620 Seals got erased because he died right before 00:12:08.620 --> 00:12:11.100 the technology, the record player, could make 00:12:11.100 --> 00:12:14.080 him permanent. Right. So how many other firsts? 00:12:14.299 --> 00:12:16.840 in art or in science, are currently credited 00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:20.320 to the wrong people just because the real pioneer 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:22.320 didn't live long enough to stake their claim. 00:12:22.500 --> 00:12:25.139 That's a haunting thought. We listen to the survivors, 00:12:25.340 --> 00:12:28.419 but maybe the ghosts had the better songs all 00:12:28.419 --> 00:12:30.720 along. Something to think about. Thanks for diving 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:31.840 in with us. See you next time.