JEFF HEALEY – Heal My Soul (2016)
This last week of March 2016 marks the release of “Heal My Soul” – the extraordinary lost album from the late, super-talented JEFF HEALEY which has never been heard before by the public. March 25th of this year would have seen Jeff turn 50 years old and this album begins the celebration of a milestone year for a true musical icon.
“Heal My Soul” is the first album of new songs recorded by Jeff Healey in over 15 years, a 12-track posthumous CD from the Canadian superb musician.
Under the direct supervision of the Jeff Healey Estate these tracks were painstakingly restored and brought to life bringing into focus Jeff’s unique and special gifts as an artist.
Healey is remembered as one of the most outstanding guitarists and performers of the past 30 years. He lost his sight during early childhood due to retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer. Playing guitar since the age of three, he developed the distinctive lap-style guitar technique that helped bring him international attention by his late teens.
A Grammy nominee and JUNO Award winner, his five releases with The Jeff Healey Band totaled millions of sales worldwide. Over the course of his career, he also shared stages and earned the admiration of countless other musicians including B.B. King, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, George Harrison, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the Allman Brothers Band.
In a joint statement, Jeff Healey Estate Co-Administrators Cristie Healey and Roger Costa said, “Heal My Soul is a project that we have wanted to tackle for years. A ‘lost’ album, it contains material recorded during one of the most creative periods in Jeff’s rock career. Until now, it has never seen the light of day.
Jeff was very proud of this work and it features some of the most powerful and impassioned performances he ever committed to record. With complete creative control we’ve laboured hard, tracking down recordings, identifying the right performances, restoring them to their proper stature and mixing and mastering them from the ground up”.
There is everything you’d want from a Healey album. From full on rockers (‘Moodswing’, ‘Please’), atmospheric bluesy ballads (‘Baby Blue’, ‘I Misunderstood’), to full on shred attack (‘Temptation’, ‘Daze Of The Night’).
‘Temptation’ is a firm favorite on this album. It’s just so damn dirty, rocking. From the solo to the vocal it’s Jeff at his finest and cements how much of a talent was truly lost when this young legend passed away.
To say he’s missed is an understatement but he’s certainly not forgotten and to be suddenly handed a release of brand new tracks to celebrate the 15th anniversary of his untimely death is purely magical.
This is no more evident than on the track ‘Put The Shoe On The Other Foot’ with its immense guitar sound that is signature Jeff. A groove so funky it should be illegal, and the solo features some amazing wah-wah work that his foot must have thought it was pumping up an air bed. Coupled with a vocal performance that is second to none, this produces 5 minutes of pure orgasmic power.
The music on “Heal My Soul” captures Healey in full flight, displaying the virtuosity that made the Toronto native one of the most revered musicians in the world during his all-too-brief lifetime.
There isn’t a bad weak song on the CD. It’s a true new full album, not a cash-in, it’s 100% a celebration. It really does show that Healey enjoyed what he did during these recordings. The whole album is a joy.
“Heal My Soul” is a treasure trove of Jeff Healey material, it’s like receiving a letter from a long lost friend and a fitting testament to the great man himself.
HIGHLY Recommended.
01. Daze Of The Night
02. Moodswing
03. Baby Blue
04. I Misunderstood
05. Please
06. Love In Her Eyes
07. Temptation
08. Kiss The Ground You Walk On
09. All The Saints
10. Put The Shoe On The Other Foot
11. Under A Stone
12. It’s The Last Time
BUY IT !
www.amazon.com/Heal-My-Soul-Jeff-Healey/dp/B01AOL7LAQ
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