Postby WildcatOne » Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:08 pm
For anyone to have their name included in conversations that checkmark Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, Billy Gibbons, Eric Johnson, Vernon Reid and Jeff Beck says enough about the level of talent being bantered about, but that is exactly where Jeff Healey fits. Unique in many ways...his style of playing was as unorthodox as anything I'd ever seen...and yes, I saw it. He didn't. He just produced the most amazing, soulful tones out of the same kind of guitar that a million other guys play but not many of them could hold a candle to the optimized sound that guy got...sitting in a chair, with the guitar facing upward on his lap, fretting it upside-down and from the opposite direction of conventional technique. If I said "Go Figure", I'd be asking you to take everything you know about guitar playing and turn it inside-out, upside-down and backwards, then try playing that way and see what happens. No fair peeking, either. I tried it, and I sucked. The man was beyond amazing; he was to be left alone and just admired. We are not likely to witness another talent of his magnitude again...I feel lucky to have been around for what fleeting glimpses I did get of his artistry. He was one human being who more than overcame the hand he was dealt and turned his special gift into a gift for us. God rest Jeff Healey. Somehow the world just isn't quite as pretty anymore. WC1
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