Jeff Healey – See The Light

I had another Jeff Healey song already written up called Angel Eyes. I still have it ready to go but then my friend Deke blew those plans all to hell (thanks Deke). He sent me this song by Healey on the Johnny Carson show. I knew Healey was a great guitar player and I say that in my Angel Eyes post that you will see one day…but I never knew he was THIS.

I sent the Carson clip to my friend Ronald. He is a guitar player that I have played with most of my life. He was as blown away as I was. He would be hard to copy because of the way he played. 

I’ve heard some of his songs off and on but never really dived into his catalog. This song is the title track from Jeff Healey’s debut album, See the Light, released in 1988. The album broke him through internationally with help of the hit Angel Eyes. The album peaked at #25 in Canada, #22 in the Billboard Album Charts, #17 in New Zealand, and #58 in the UK in 1988. 

He lost his sight to retain retinoblastoma as an infant, he was a self-taught guitar player who developed a totally different way of playing the guitar. He used a lap-style approach that allowed him to bend notes in ways few others could. He had so much leverage in fretting the guitar like he did. 

Healey was adopted and raised in Toronto, where he developed a passion for music. He formed The Jeff Healey Band in 1985 with Joe Rockman and Tom Stephen. The band gained recognition in Toronto’s blues scene before being discovered by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert Collins. He would release 5 albums with The Jeff Healey Band and also played with the Jazz Wizards. 

See The Light

Can you see the light,
Can you see the light of need shinin’ in my eye?
Can you see the light,
Can you see the light of need shinin’ in my eye?

Well, you know I need you baby,
And I sure ain’t gonna tell you no lie

Can you see the light,
Can you see the light of want shinin’ on my face?
Can you see the light,
Can you see the light of want shinin’ on my face? hey

Well, you know I want you, mama,
Come on, we’ll get from this place, now
Look out!, yeah!

Can you see the light,
Can you see the light of love shinin’ from my heart?
Can you see the light,
Can you see the light of love shinin’ from my heart?
Yeah

Well, you know I love you, baby,
An’ I sure want to give this thing a start, Lord!
Can you see the light?
Can you see the light?
Can you see the light?, say!
Can you see the light, yeah?

…

Unknown's avatar

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

56 thoughts on “Jeff Healey – See The Light”

  2. Awesome post! I’m glad I threw a wrench into your plans haha… in a good way though. Jeff was something else as what a wicked talent he was and that Carson performance proves it!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you man… oh yea but that is alright….I’ve watched that since we talked about it over and over again. I can’t imagine playing a guitar like that

      Like

      Reply

      2. lol…like most of the time I have a boring story…please forgive me. Around 1990 or sometime….a childhood friend of mine Paul…and I went over to visit another friend’s house named Kenny. His wife did NOT like Paul and I. We rearranged their wooden reindeers in their front yard before Christmas doing…uh pornographic things lol. Anyway…Kenny had that movie and we stayed and watched it…while his wife would NOT come out of their bedroom lol. I’ll never forget it! To this day I don’t know if I’ve talked to her.
        Thats probably the first time I saw Healey! For some reason I never knew he could play this damn good. I saw a clip of SRV and Healey…man it was good.

        Liked by 2 people

  5. Pingback: Jeff Healey – See The Light – MobsterTiger

  6. Wow, he really tore up the Carson show. I knew “Angel Eyes” of course, but the only CD of his I bought was Cover To Cover, which is a covers album, of course. What a shame that he died so young. Time to look into more of his stuff.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. I’m amazed at all the great blind musicians. Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Jose Feliciano, Clarence Carter, all the great blind Blues players, the list goes on. They certainly must get gifts on another level in exchange for their sight to do what they do or did.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Yes they all did…you are right. I use to complain when we played a theater because there wasn’t much light where you could see your neck on your guitar…now I wouldn’t say a thing. They all play by feel…which is the way I like hearing it…not just technique…although Healey had a different technique than anyone else.

        Like

    1. Angel Eyes was a huge hit…. but yea…you brought up a good point about the slide…he got so much leverage using his fingers like that…I can’t imagine playing a guitar like that.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      2. I know the one you were talking about. I heard it first in a bar we were playing at on the jukebox. There is a clip on YouTube of Healey playing with SRV….it’s something special.

        Like

  11. A Canadian classic, the song was well-known up there. The king of modern Canadian blues, I’d say, he got respect from bluesmen around the world not just at home. I knew he played the guitar flat on his lap but didn’t realize it directly altered his sound but I guess that makes some sense

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I had no clue Dave it was known up there…I never heard it. Oh…when his guitar was like that…he could get leverage regular guitar players wouldn’t get…at least that is what I think. Deke also sent me something with him playing with SRV.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. that likely makes sense, and you’re the guitarist! As some have pointed out his appearance in ‘roadhouse’ really helped make him known far and wide. He had a huge collection of old blues and jazz records, a lot of them 78s I’m told and hosted a radio show about that in the years leading upto his death.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. It’s so sad that he went so early in life…we all get there but I wish he could have been around a lot longer. I saw him in Roadhouse but didn’t take not of it much at the time for some reason.

        Like

  13. One of my favorites. I got to see him in Vancouver at a small bar in 1984/5, before he made a “splash” in “Roadhouse” in 1989. A very noisy bar normally, but that night, after he was led onto the stage, sat down with his guitar on his lap and played his first notes, the place went silent, mostly because everyone in there, myself included, all had are mouths hanging open in disbelief at what we were hearing and seeing. That was 40 years ago and I remember it as if it was yesterday. Yes, thanks Max!

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. Thanks so much for the comment! I never got to see him but I found out about him in a bar. We were playing and in between sets the jukebox would play and Angel Eyes was huge at the time…but I would have rather found out like you did. I can’t imagine seeing him for the first time….shock and awe.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. CB…I was blown away with his skills. All I really knew was the hit…that hit was a strong one but this…this is just badass….

      Like

      Reply

  16. Jeff Healey was an incredible guitarist. I got my hands on that album, “See the Light,” when it came out and taped it on music cassette. His guitar playing on some of his songs sounds like a Jimi Hendrix reincarnation! And his playing style was just unbelievable – damn! So sad he left this world so early.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Yes he left way too early! The way he played was just incredible…he could bend notes so well using that method he made up.
      I never knew much about him other than the hit single off of that album…Angel Eyes.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. That is awesome…sounds great. I saw it once but it didn’t sink in on how great he was for some dumb reason. The Carson clip…it just clicked with me for some reason.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Oh cool on the birthday! Thanks for stopping by and checking it out John…I knew you had to like this…or him rather.

      Like

      Reply

    1. I thought about that last night! About the eyes…Well you figured it out way before me. I loved Angel Eyes and knew he was really good…but I was knocked out by this.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  22. Pingback: Jeff Healey – Angel Eyes – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Leave a reply to Carl Benson, Jr. Cancel reply