Jeff Healey
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.
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.
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.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Al Campbell /TiVo
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Discography
43 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Road House (The Lost Soundtrack)
Blues - Released by Arista - Legacy on 7 Jun 2024
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Heal My Soul (Deluxe Edition)
Blues - Released by Mercury Studios on 25 Mar 2016
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
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Mess Of Blues
Blues - Released by Stony Plain Records on 11 Mar 2008
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
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Cover To Cover
Pop/Rock - Released by Legacy Recordings on 13 Jun 1995
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Songs from the Road (Live)
Blues - Released by Ruf Records on 24 Jul 2009
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Songs From The Road
Blues - Released by Stony Plain Records on 24 Jul 2009
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Live at Montreux 1999
Blues - Released by earMUSIC Classics on 25 Apr 2005
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Live At Montreux 1999 (Live)
Rock - Released by Mercury Studios on 25 Apr 2005
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
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Get Me Some Do Not Use
Blues - Released by earMUSIC Classics on 3 Jul 2000
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Platinum & Gold Collection
Pop/Rock - Released by Arista - BMG Heritage on 12 Jan 2004
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Original Album Classics
Blues - Released by Arista - Legacy on 6 Jan 2012
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
As the Years Go Passing By - Live in Germany
Blues - Released by Zebralution on 22 Feb 2013
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Live at Grossman's - 1994
Blues - Released by earMUSIC Classics on 14 Jun 2011
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
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The Very Best Of
Pop - Released by RCA Records Label on 30 Jun 2003
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -