Singer-Songwriter Jim Seals Passes Away

Country artist Jim Seal passed away April 17 at his home in Nashville. He was 68.

From his bio:

Jim Seal was first inspired to play music by his father Joe, who had a gig playing a fifteen minute live radio show five days a week as a solo singer and guitarist. Joe was inspired by Jimmy Rogers, who is often considered the father of country music. Jim used to watch his father play at parties and family gatherings and it was Joe who taught Jim his first three chords.
By the time Jim was 13, he played his first gig at a beer lounge in Twenty-Nine Palms, California.  He went up there to play three songs and the folks there enjoyed it so much, they had him play for the full two hours until the bar closed. That was the night Jim knew what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

At the age of 20, Jim began to focus on songwriting, he ventured out to Nashville, got a couple of his songs published by McCloud Publishing, but on returning to Southern California, a friend of his told him about Cliffie Stone, and Jim was able to get his next four songs published in Hollywood by the legendary television personality.

After this, Jim played a gig sharing the bill with a hard rock band called Mirkwood at the Moose Lodge in Norwalk, California. He received a phone call the following Monday, and the entertainment director for the lodge told Jim he wanted him to headline as the only act on weekends, but he wanted Jim to be fronting a full band. Jim took the same long-haired rock and rollers that had just been fired from the gig, took them under his wing and taught them how to play country music. He had to stall the lodge for about a month as the band developed, but by the time of their first gig, these rock and rollers were kicking some real country music. Jim Seal and the Western Revolution was born.

Jim recorded his first album in Nashville, “Jim Seal Sings”, produced by Joe Bob Barnhill. He returned to Nashville two years later and began his working relationship and lifetime friendship with chart-topping songwriter and producer, Byron Hill. These sessions led to Jim’s chart success with “She Loves My Troubles Away” and “Bourbon Cowboy”.

Returning to Southern California, Jim became a regular headliner at the two premier country music venues in Southern California, The Crazy Horse and The Cowboy. Jim Seal has opened up for Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Price, Ray Charles, Juice Newton, Eddie Rabbitt, Tanya Tucker, Donna Fargo and Tommy Cash just to name a few. He currently is living in Nashville, writing and pitching songs and recording material for his fourth album in his home studio. Jim is also very proud to see his son Marc carry on the tradition as the third generation of the Seal musical family. Marc Seal tours the country sponsored by Taylor Guitars and also has his own television show, The Ultimate Guitar Show.