Jeff Healy RIP

[Hootad Binky]

I first bootlegged Healy in 1987 when his band showed up at Harpo's an old club that used to be here. Healy was playing a very beat-up Squire Strat on his lap, which was a bit different; it allowed him to use his thumbs to bar chords so that his other four fingers could grasp and tap the strings with much greater breadth. It's technically a better method.

Anyway, he was an incredible lead blues guitarist. I recorded him several times.

Jeff Healey 'one of Canada's greatest talents': Bryan Adams

TORONTO — The tributes to jazz and blues guitarist Jeff Healey are pouring in.

Rock star Bryan Adams is calling the guitar wizard "one of Canada's greatest talents" while fans are filling the blogosphere with testimonials and condolences.

Healey passed away Sunday at age 41 after a long battle with cancer that robbed him of his sight when he was a baby.



The guitar aficionado rose to stardom as the leader of the Jeff Healey Band, a rock-oriented trio that garnered international acclaim and platinum record sales with the 1988 album "See the Light."

Healey's guitar prowess was characterized by a unique playing-style that saw him lay the instrument across his lap.

It led him to share stages with such rock luminaries as George Harrison, Stevie Ray Vaughan and B.B. King.




"Jeff was one of Canada's greatest talents, it is a huge regret to have to say goodbye," Adams said Monday in a release.

"Wherever you are Jeff, we remember rocking with you."

Jeff Healey, who died on Sunday at the age of 41, was one of the world's most instantly recognizable guitarists--even to those who had never seen him play. As singular a figure as he cut on stage, with his lap-steel playing style and his Hendrixian theatrics, he was even more distinctive on record. Blues and jazz guitarists everywhere stand in awe of the purity of his tone, the ease and freedom which which he navigated the fretboard, and the powerful string-bending his perpendicular approach made possible. His technical gifts made it possible for Healey to inject vigour into the most threadbare rock covers and blues standards. Sometimes, listening to him play an old Dylan or Beatles or Clapton number, you almost wondered whether he was paying tribute or making fun.

Colby Cosh on Jeff Healey - Full Comment

Playing "See the Light" (on that Squire Strat)

Jeff Healy Live In Halifax - Part 3 - Blue Jean Blues

Playing with Stevie Ray Vaughan:

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Healey - Look at Little Sister

Healey long ago abandoned the life of full-time soft-rock balladry and music video that had once made him an international celebrity. This, too, was the insolent gesture of a hero. Aware that life was short, and that his might be shorter than most, he stopped mining for gold records and reinvented himself as a club owner and multi-instrumentalist. He dedicated himself to traditional jazz, the musical equivalent of taking holy orders, but never became too highbrow to plug in and kick out the jams for the occasional rock audience.

He became a leading collector of pre-war vinyl jazz sides, and was not afraid to take them out of storage and share them with radio listeners. He mentored countless younger artists, and indeed probably plenty of older ones. And although he had spent much of his life trying to get people to see him as something other than a blind guy with a guitar, he did not shirk from lending his talent and his resources as a club proprietor to the cause of the blind and vision-impaired. In short, our country has lost an exemplary artist and citizen. Whether you're a particular fan of Jeff Healey, or just a Canadian, it is hard to fathom that he is not on a stage somewhere even now, thrilling another crowd.

TheStar.com | entertainment | Jeff Healey dies at 41 from cancer
The Canadian Press: Jeff Healey 'one of Canada's greatest talents': Bryan Adams

[davearn]

And another legend passes into the dark beyond...

[Marmite the Dog]

A damn fine guitarist. A real shame.

[nedwalk]

i only found out today myself, i too am saddened at the loss of such a great talent so young, i married my wife to the tune 'love you too much'..
i think i,ll annoy the neighbours with a rockin weekend with jeff slammin the house loud and proud..RIP mr heally and thank you