Revisiting Jeff Healey ’ s Rock Roots
On A Newly-Unearthed Album
Baring A Soul
Revisiting Jeff Healey ’ s Rock Roots
By Andrew King
On A Newly-Unearthed Album
As a man and a musician , Jeff Healey had an intangible type of magnetism . People were simply drawn to him .
It probably started , in most cases , with the music – an unparalleled guitar style that granted him mastery over whichever combination wood and wires was in his hands ; the voice that turned a lifetime of trials and triumphs into pure heart . But then , those lucky enough to know him were drawn in by something else – a caring and kind soul whose aura seemed to envelope those around him .
Round up some of his friends – an exercise Canadian Musician had the pleasure of conducting with a host of revered musicians – and ask about Jeff . Whether they were
answering specific questions or , as was the case in a few instances , simply jumped into stories about their late friend , there were two consistencies almost across the board . First , they recalled the moment they first heard him play . Then , it was about his good nature , his sense of humour , and ultimately , the impact he had on their lives and careers .
“ Friendship ” for major touring musicians is often defined as a once-a-year backstage visit , or sharing a beer at a random international airport between criss-crossing flights . But hearing the likes of Steve Lukather or Randy Bachman or Walter Trout talk about their late comrade , it became clear that , with Jeff Healey , “ friendship ” carried a much deeper meaning .
Lukather recalls first meeting Healey at the Pori Jazz Festival in Finland around 2000 . “ It was like finding a long lost brother ,” Lukather shares . “ His warmth , humour , and soul just let out at me and we were instant friends . That doesn ’ t happen very often . It wasn ’ t even the ‘ guitar brother ’ thing ; it was deeper and something I can ’ t explain really . Damn , I miss him .”
Of course , nobody knows Healey ’ s true essence better than his widow , Cristie , and his closest friend for over 20 years , Roger Costa . Jeff and Cristie were married in July 2003 ; Costa stood beside the groom as his best man .
And since Healey ’ s death on March 2 , 2008 at age 41 , the two have co-managed his estate . Much of their work revolves around Healey ’ s longtime association with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind ( CNIB ) and World Eye Cancer Hope ( formerly Daisy ’ s Eye Cancer Fund ). Healey was born in 1966 with eye cancer retinoblastoma , which ultimately robbed him of his sight a little over a year later . Throughout his life , he was a champion for a number of organizations and initiatives , and Costa and Cristie – along with her stepdaughter Rachel and son Derek – have carried on many of those efforts with conviction .
But leading up to what would have been Healey ’ s 50 th birthday in March 2016 , the co-managers of his estate dedicated time and
“ I was completely floored . I couldn ’ t believe what I was hearing . I went in to [ John ] Mayall and said , ‘ You gotta hear this kid , man . This is fucking unbelievable .” Walter Trout , on his first time hearing Healey play
effort to a much different type of project . Set to drop on March 24 th , Heal My Soul is a collection of previously unearthed tracks recorded between 1996 and 1998 that revisits Healey ’ s soulful , southern-fried rock roots in contrast to the jazz and blues stylings of his later years .
While the vast majority of the material stems from those original sessions in the ‘ 90s , there were some parts – namely the drum tracks on several songs – that have since been added . Beyond that , Costa explains how enormous of an undertaking it was finding the best takes from all of the original tapes , piecing them together into 12 cuts from a pool of almost 40 , and then working ( and reworking ) the audio for a cohesive mix that does the original era justice .
From the blazing lead lick that kicks off the high-octane opener , “ Daze of the Night ,” to the stripped-down and sparkling acoustic guitars that anchor one of Healey ’ s strongest vocal performances – featuring stellar stacked harmonies – on “ Baby Blue ,” Heal My Soul easily stands up to anything in Healey ’ s back catalogue . With its release set for the day before what would have been his 50 th , this is something of a posthumous gift from the iconic musician to his hoards of fans the world over – including some of his highest-profile peers .
The Jeff Healey Band released four albums on the now-defunct Arista Records imprint between 1988 and 1995 . The last of those was 1995 ’ s Cover To Cover , a collection that found the band paying homage to the likes of Muddy Waters , Jimi Hendrix , Led Zeppelin , and other influences and preceded the longest dry spell of formal releases in Healey ’ s 20-year recording career .
“ These songs were part of the sessions that would ultimately become Get Me Some , which came out in 2000 ,” Costa shares about Heal My Soul ’ s dozen tracks . “ What was initially supposed to be a regular period of going into the studio , recording some songs , and dropping an album , because of a number of factors , ballooned into four years .”
In that time , the Jeff Healey Band had left Arista , briefly hooked up with Atlantic Records for a stint that ended before anything was actually put out , and ultimately decided to self-release Get Me Some .
“ There were 36 songs , give or take , recorded during that period ,” Costa continues . “ Along the way , various things dropped by the wayside – particularly [ the songs now comprising Heal My Soul ], which , in my opinion , were stronger than anything else Jeff did around that time .”
Costa candidly reveals some of the reasons for that , drawing from stories he ’ d heard and conversations he remembers with his close friend . “ The band was in a rocky state , and Jeff was getting very fed up with the business side of music .” That frustration informed the decision to make Get Me Some the first and only independent release in the Healey catalogue and the last under the Jeff Healey Band moniker before the guitarist began focusing more on pure blues and American jazz in the new millennium .
“ I remember he played me very rough mixes of ‘ Daze of the Night ’ and ‘ Baby Blue ’ shortly after they were recorded ,” Costa recalls almost 20 years later . “ He was over the moon with them . But then as the years went on and Jeff moved beyond the Jeff Healey Band stuff in general , these sessions seemed to be forgotten .”
But Healey kept copies of those recordings until the day he died . “ He just never let go of them ,” Costa says , “ which is really saying
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