H. Franklin "Baby" Seals ( – December 29, 1915) was an American vaudeville performer, songwriter and pianist, whose successful 1912 song "Baby Seals' Blues" was one of the first published

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

compositions, predating

W. C. Handy William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. Handy was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musici ...

's " The Memphis Blues" by several months.

Biography

An African-American, Seals was born in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

, around 1880. He first came to public attention in 1909 as the pianist at the Lyric Theatre in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

. In 1910 his ragtime " coon song" "Shake, Rattle & Roll" (unrelated, except in title, to the later song by

Jesse Stone Jesse Albert Stone (November 16, 1901 – April 1, 1999) was an American rhythm and blues musician and songwriter whose influence spanned a wide range of genres. He also used the pseudonyms Charles Calhoun and Chuck Calhoun. His best-know ...

) was published by Louis Grunewald & Co. in New Orleans. The same year, he directed and performed in shows in Houston and

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

, where he partnered "Baby" Floyd Fisher, described as a "dainty little singing and dancing soubrette". Seals and Fisher were married, performed together as a duo, and in 1911 appeared in shows in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia, demonstrating their wide appeal. Erwin Bosman, "How criticism helped the vaudeville: The spotlight on Franklin "Baby" Seals", ''NoDepression.com'', November 5, 2012
. Retrieved 5 March 2018"Mod Mobile Musician: Franklin "Baby" Seals", ''ModMobilian.com'', 25 February 2011
. Retrieved 5 March 2018 "Baby Seals' Blues" was published in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

in August 1912, with words and music credited to Baby F. Seals, and stating that it was featured by Seals and Fisher, "that Klassy Kooney Komedy Pair". The sheet music stipulated that it was to be played "very slow". The lyrics are similar to those in later recorded blues: "I got the blues, can't be satisfied today/ I got them bad, want to lay down and die/ Woke up this morning 'bout half past four/ Somebody knocking at my door/ I went out to see what it was about / They told me that my honey gal was gone/ I said, bub that's bad news/ So sing for me them blues." The song was arranged by

Artie Matthews Artie Matthews (November 15, 1888 – October 25, 1958) was an American songwriter, pianist, and ragtime composer. Artie Matthews was born in Braidwood, Illinois; his family moved to Springfield, Illinois in his youth. He learned to play p ...

, and seems to have sold well. It rapidly entered the repertoire of other vaudeville performers, including both Jelly Roll Morton and the

yodel Yodeling (also jodeling) is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register (or "chest voice") and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word ''yodel'' is derived from th ...

er Charles Anderson, who recorded the tune in 1923 as "Sing 'Em Blues". By late 1912, the tune had also been arranged for performance by bands, and by 1913 Seals was being noted as a "famous blues writer". It was widely advertised in the ''

Indianapolis Freeman The ''Indianapolis Freeman'' (1884–1926) was the first illustrated black newspaper in the United States. Founder and owner Louis Howland, who was soon replaced by Edward Elder Cooper, published its first print edition on November 20, 1884. H ...

'', with whom Seals regularly corresponded, establishing himself as a spokesman for Southern performers. During 1912, Seals and Fisher performed regularly in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, before a series of engagements in Jacksonville, Mobile, Louisville and Birmingham. They performed with S. H. Dudley's company along the east coast and in Harlem, but by 1915 Seals was working as a solo act.Abbott, Seroff, op.cit. pp.143-144 He died in Anniston, Alabama, in December 1915, of unknown causes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seals, Baby Franklin 1880s births 1915 deaths Year of birth uncertain American blues singers African-American male comedians American male comedians Vaudeville performers Musicians from Mobile, Alabama 20th-century American singers 20th-century American comedians 20th-century African-American male singers