Thursday, March 06, 2008

Goodbye Jeff Healey

When you hear the name Jeff Healey, you might think of a soft radio friendly song called "Angel Eyes" that came out around 1990 or so. I liked the guitar work on the song and liked the rest of the CD even more. That man could play.

Still don't remember him? He was the blind guitarist in "Roadhouse". The blind part wasn't acting - he lost his eyes at an early age to cancer.

Don't go thinking that blindness made him a physically boring performer. I didn't catch him jumping around or duckwalking, but when I saw him live in Peoria in the early 90's he got up and wandered around the stage. It was kind of awkward because he ordinarily played his guitar flat on his lap, and he couldn't find his way back to his seat by himself - the bass player would lead him back.

Now via Colby Cosh I hear that Jeff Healey has died at only 41. What a loss.

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