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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Larry Hoover on March 3, 2008, at 22:53:19
R.I.P. N. Jeff Healey
March 25, 1966 March 2, 2008, 41 years younghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJh3KaIKDAw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYz_LHKrgDY&feature=related
Respectfully,
Lar
Posted by tina on March 4, 2008, at 8:47:30
In reply to while his guitar sadly weeps, posted by Larry Hoover on March 3, 2008, at 22:53:19
Very sad. He was just too young.
Posted by Phillipa on March 4, 2008, at 12:42:34
In reply to Re: while his guitar sadly weeps, posted by tina on March 4, 2008, at 8:47:30
Asked Greg to watch and he's much younger than me and doesn't know him either. Could you fill us in thanks ans sorry. Phillipa
Posted by Kath on March 4, 2008, at 19:40:24
In reply to while his guitar sadly weeps, posted by Larry Hoover on March 3, 2008, at 22:53:19
How very very sad.
Kath
Posted by Phillipa on March 4, 2008, at 19:43:04
In reply to Re: while his guitar sadly weeps, posted by Kath on March 4, 2008, at 19:40:24
Since I posted earlier on this thread a guy I e-mail with said he was blind had a family and cancer from age l any truth in that? Thanks Phillipa
Posted by Kath on March 6, 2008, at 16:46:41
In reply to Re: while his guitar sadly weeps » Kath, posted by Phillipa on March 4, 2008, at 19:43:04
> Since I posted earlier on this thread a guy I e-mail with said he was blind had a family and cancer from age l any truth in that? Thanks Phillipa
******I believe he became blind around 3 due to cancer. (That's what I heard on the radio on Monday.) I think he died of cancer.
He went to the School for the Deaf in Ontario. He married & has, I believe, 2 children. He was a VERY successful musician. Has a club in Toronto. Was a frequent radio guest on the local jazz station, I believe.
I think all the above is factual.
41 - what an early age to die.
:-( Kath
Posted by Phillipa on March 6, 2008, at 21:26:46
In reply to Re: while his guitar sadly weeps » Phillipa, posted by Kath on March 6, 2008, at 16:46:41
Kath thanks for the confirmation. Phillipa
Posted by Larry Hoover on March 7, 2008, at 9:38:31
In reply to Re: while his guitar sadly weeps » Kath, posted by Phillipa on March 4, 2008, at 19:43:04
> Since I posted earlier on this thread a guy I e-mail with said he was blind had a family and cancer from age l any truth in that? Thanks Phillipa
Sorry it took so long....most of the time, I'm unable to post.
Jeff Healey was born with retinoblastoma, a cancer arising from the cells that create the light-sensitive cells at the back of the eye. He had his eyes removed when he was about 1 year old. Unfortunately, as it turns out, they didn't get it in time.
When he was about 3, he started playing his father's guitar. He developed his own method of doing so, laying it on his lap, and fingering the strings on the fretboard from above, unlike any other guitar player ever. Jeff would try to copy songs by bands that had as many as three guitar players, without realizing that what he was hearing was created by six hands. Sometimes he succeeded.
At 17, he was "discovered" by Stevie Ray Vaughn. There's an amazing video of them playing, on youtube. Anyway, this blind kid, with the freaky style of playing, was simply amazing. He would stand up, doing a solo on this heavy electric guitar, seemingly glued to his lap (I don't know how he could hold it like that), wander around the stage, and then drift back and sit down on his chair again. He never missed the chair. He just knew where it was.
He also taught himself to play trumpet, and other instruments, with great accomplishment. He could switch instruments without missing a beat. His trumpet style was also idiosyncratic. He played it out of the side of his mouth. I guess when you've never seen other people play.....
Maybe you need to be a blues/jazz afficionado, or maybe a Canadian blues/jazz afficionado, to have heard of him. <shrug> He had a radio show where he showcased some of the music from his 30,000 jazz album collection. What I'm about to describe totally boggles my mind. He stored these record albums loose, with no jackets. They were lined up on shelves, edge on, right up tight against each other, like a stack, only sideways. Shelf after shelf like this. Yet, he knew where each one was. He could walk into that room, and pull out any album, without fail. He knew who played on it, what they played, who they played with. He obviously couldn't check a label, or what was next to the one he was looking for, or anything like that. He just knew.
Anyway, he had tumours developing throughout his body over the last few years. Chemo and radiation and surgery failed. But he kept playing, both at his club in Toronto (where that young local guitarist (Jimmy Bowskill) I posted about a few months ago was discovered), and on the road. He never failed to smile. He never complained. Most people didn't even know he was sick. He had bookings two weeks before he passed, and more right through next year. He never missed a beat. He never stopped smiling. He was just a wonderful, inspirational man.
Yes, he had two kids, 10 and 3. And a wife who adored him. I hope to attend his memorial service.
Lar
Posted by Phillipa on March 7, 2008, at 18:57:22
In reply to Re: while his guitar sadly weeps » Phillipa, posted by Larry Hoover on March 7, 2008, at 9:38:31
Wow Lar thanks no I am not a music person anymore never was blues. But he must have been incredible. And sorry you can't post. Now that I could help you do since I like to type but how? Thanks again Phillipa
Posted by Larry Hoover on March 18, 2008, at 19:44:25
In reply to Re: while his guitar sadly weeps » Larry Hoover, posted by Phillipa on March 7, 2008, at 18:57:22
> Wow Lar thanks no I am not a music person anymore never was blues. But he must have been incredible. And sorry you can't post. Now that I could help you do since I like to type but how? Thanks again Phillipa
I do appreciate the thoughtful generosity. I really wish it was just about typing. I'm having significant cognitive problems. Sometimes, making sentences is just too hard. Speaking, or typing. I passed a senility test, and the MRI shows no abnormalites, so I haven't had a stroke, and don't have a tumour or other lesion(s). Chronic pain is one hell of a stressor.
Lar
Posted by Phillipa on March 18, 2008, at 20:03:29
In reply to Re: while his guitar sadly weeps » Phillipa, posted by Larry Hoover on March 18, 2008, at 19:44:25
Lar how well I know as just had the surgery and never been so depressed in my life and can't get it together. Any idea what the cognitive problem is from . I mean what do you think it's from? Phillipa glad to see you posted.
This is the end of the thread.
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