JEFF HEALEY
''HEAL MY SOUL''
MARCH 25 2015
51:57
**********
01 - Daze Of The Night 04:00 (Marti Frederiksen, Jeff Healey)
02 - Moodswing 04:08 (Marti Godboo, Ben Richardson, Joe Toole, Gregory Ray Tunis)
03 - Baby Blue 04:06 (Tim Beattie)
04 - I Misunderstood 04:34 (Richard Thompson)
05 - Please 03:42 (Jeff Healey, Arnold Lanni, Stevie Salas)
06 - Love In Her Eyes 04:13 (Marti Godboo, Ben Richardson, Joe Toole, Gregory Ray Tunis)
07 - Temptation 05:02 (Traditional)
08 - Kiss The Ground You Walk On 04:18 (Marc Ferrari, Parthenon Huxley)
09 - All The Saints 05:00 (Traditional)
10 - Put The Shoe On The Other Foot 04:18 (Gwen Collins, Hugh Williams)
11 - Under A Stone 04:02 (Marti Frederiksen, Jeff Healey)
12 - It's The Last Time 04:28 (Marti Frederiksen, Jeff Healey, Joe Rockman)
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Dean Glover/Drums, Percussion
Cristie Healey/Vocals (Background)
Jeff Healey/Bass, Guitar, Vocals
Paul Kehayas/Bass, Guitar, Keyboards
Joe Rockman/Bass
Philip Sayce/Guitar (Rhythm)
Tom Stephen/Drums
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Released on what would've been Jeff Healey's 50th birthday, Heal My Soul is the first collection of unheard original Healey material released in 15 years. These recordings were left incomplete at the time of Healey's death, so it was up to his estate to complete the tapes, and the efforts are relatively seamless: it all sounds like it dates from somewhere in the early 2000s, a period arriving after his hits but before he started exploring hot jazz. In other words, it's guitar-heavy blues-rock, where the songs are sometimes nicely constructed ("Baby Blue," "I Misunderstood") but sometimes feel like vehicles for tasty licks. Because Healey isn't around to spin out more of these tasty licks, there's value to this -- his solos and riffs are vibrant, elastic, and alive -- but the record is best understood as a testament to his talent assembled by family for his fans to cherish.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
What made Jeff Healey different from other blues-rockers was also what kept some listeners from accepting him as anything other than a novelty: the fact that the blind guitarist played his Fender Stratocaster on his lap, not standing up. With the guitar in his lap, Healey could make unique bends and hammer-ons, making his licks different and more elastic than most of the competition. Unfortunately, his material leaned toward standard AOR blues-rock, which rarely let him cut loose, but when he did, his instrumental prowess could be shocking.
See the Light
Healey lost his sight at the age of one, after developing eye cancer. He began playing guitar when he was three years old and began performing with his band Blues Direction at the age of 17. Healey formed the Jeff Healey Band in 1985, featuring bassist Joe Rockman and drummer Tom Stephen. This trio released one single on its own Forte record label, which led to a contract with Arista. The Jeff Healey Band released their debut album, See the Light, in 1988 and the guitarist immediately developed a devoted following in blues-rock circles. Featuring the hit single "Angel Eyes," the record went platinum in the U.S., and while the Jeff Healey Band's subsequent records were popular, none were as successful as the debut.
Among Friends
As the 21st century dawned, Healey began to change his direction. He taught himself to play the trumpet and began to lean toward the kind of traditional 1920s and '30s jazz that had always fascinated him. He released two classic jazz albums, 2002's Among Friends and 2004's Adventures in Jazzland, on his own HealeyOphonic label, and a third traditional jazz outing, It's Tight Like That, which appeared on Stony Plain in 2006. And while he continued to do shows in his earlier blues-rock style, he increasingly gigged with his jazz combo, the Jazz Wizards. In 2008, a month before the release of his last studio-recorded blues album, Mess of Blues, Healey died from cancer. Songs from the Road, a collection of live blues-rock performances from 2006 and 2007, was released by the Ruf imprint in 2009, nearly 18 months after Healey's death. His final studio jazz album, Last Call, was issued by Stony Plain in April 2010. Other archival releases continued to find their way out of the vaults, including Heal My Soul, a record of unheard studio recordings released on what would've been Healey's 50th birthday on March 25, 2016.
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WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
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''HEAL MY SOUL''
MARCH 25 2015
51:57
**********
01 - Daze Of The Night 04:00 (Marti Frederiksen, Jeff Healey)
02 - Moodswing 04:08 (Marti Godboo, Ben Richardson, Joe Toole, Gregory Ray Tunis)
03 - Baby Blue 04:06 (Tim Beattie)
04 - I Misunderstood 04:34 (Richard Thompson)
05 - Please 03:42 (Jeff Healey, Arnold Lanni, Stevie Salas)
06 - Love In Her Eyes 04:13 (Marti Godboo, Ben Richardson, Joe Toole, Gregory Ray Tunis)
07 - Temptation 05:02 (Traditional)
08 - Kiss The Ground You Walk On 04:18 (Marc Ferrari, Parthenon Huxley)
09 - All The Saints 05:00 (Traditional)
10 - Put The Shoe On The Other Foot 04:18 (Gwen Collins, Hugh Williams)
11 - Under A Stone 04:02 (Marti Frederiksen, Jeff Healey)
12 - It's The Last Time 04:28 (Marti Frederiksen, Jeff Healey, Joe Rockman)
**********
Dean Glover/Drums, Percussion
Cristie Healey/Vocals (Background)
Jeff Healey/Bass, Guitar, Vocals
Paul Kehayas/Bass, Guitar, Keyboards
Joe Rockman/Bass
Philip Sayce/Guitar (Rhythm)
Tom Stephen/Drums
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Released on what would've been Jeff Healey's 50th birthday, Heal My Soul is the first collection of unheard original Healey material released in 15 years. These recordings were left incomplete at the time of Healey's death, so it was up to his estate to complete the tapes, and the efforts are relatively seamless: it all sounds like it dates from somewhere in the early 2000s, a period arriving after his hits but before he started exploring hot jazz. In other words, it's guitar-heavy blues-rock, where the songs are sometimes nicely constructed ("Baby Blue," "I Misunderstood") but sometimes feel like vehicles for tasty licks. Because Healey isn't around to spin out more of these tasty licks, there's value to this -- his solos and riffs are vibrant, elastic, and alive -- but the record is best understood as a testament to his talent assembled by family for his fans to cherish.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
What made Jeff Healey different from other blues-rockers was also what kept some listeners from accepting him as anything other than a novelty: the fact that the blind guitarist played his Fender Stratocaster on his lap, not standing up. With the guitar in his lap, Healey could make unique bends and hammer-ons, making his licks different and more elastic than most of the competition. Unfortunately, his material leaned toward standard AOR blues-rock, which rarely let him cut loose, but when he did, his instrumental prowess could be shocking.
See the Light
Healey lost his sight at the age of one, after developing eye cancer. He began playing guitar when he was three years old and began performing with his band Blues Direction at the age of 17. Healey formed the Jeff Healey Band in 1985, featuring bassist Joe Rockman and drummer Tom Stephen. This trio released one single on its own Forte record label, which led to a contract with Arista. The Jeff Healey Band released their debut album, See the Light, in 1988 and the guitarist immediately developed a devoted following in blues-rock circles. Featuring the hit single "Angel Eyes," the record went platinum in the U.S., and while the Jeff Healey Band's subsequent records were popular, none were as successful as the debut.
Among Friends
As the 21st century dawned, Healey began to change his direction. He taught himself to play the trumpet and began to lean toward the kind of traditional 1920s and '30s jazz that had always fascinated him. He released two classic jazz albums, 2002's Among Friends and 2004's Adventures in Jazzland, on his own HealeyOphonic label, and a third traditional jazz outing, It's Tight Like That, which appeared on Stony Plain in 2006. And while he continued to do shows in his earlier blues-rock style, he increasingly gigged with his jazz combo, the Jazz Wizards. In 2008, a month before the release of his last studio-recorded blues album, Mess of Blues, Healey died from cancer. Songs from the Road, a collection of live blues-rock performances from 2006 and 2007, was released by the Ruf imprint in 2009, nearly 18 months after Healey's death. His final studio jazz album, Last Call, was issued by Stony Plain in April 2010. Other archival releases continued to find their way out of the vaults, including Heal My Soul, a record of unheard studio recordings released on what would've been Healey's 50th birthday on March 25, 2016.
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
********************

