Tuesday August 30, 2022 “Angel Eyes” The Jeff Healey Band
Today’s angel offers a bit of irony with a song about angel eyes, co-written by John Hiatt for a blind guitarist.
What made Jeff Healey different from other 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 other guitarists.
Healey lost his sight at the age of one, after developing eye cancer and began playing guitar when he was three years old. He formed his first band Blues Direction at the age of 17. Healey formed the Jeff Healey Band, a trio, in 1985, and released one single on its own Forte record label, which led to a contract with Arista. The Jeff Healey Band’s debut album, See the Light, in 1988 featured today’s “Angel Eyes”.
See the Light would sell over one million records and “Angel Eyes would be a top five hit in the US and whilesubsequent albums would fare relatively well Healey switched musical directions and headed oug of pop/blues/rock and shift into jazz. He would release several jazz albums and would eventually create a new band, the Jazz Wizards.
Sadly, a month before the release of his 2008 album Mess of Blues which signaled his return to blues oriented rock, Jeff Healey passed away as a result of cancer.
Stay safe and well…and enjoy this fine top ten tune.