Blues Society of Western PA - Newsletter

I must admit that I was not familiar with Jeff Healey as a blues artist but I became aware when the news media reported his premature death due to the reoccurrence of a life long illness. The Mess of Blues CD is Jeff’s only recording of blues music. The title hints that the CD contains blues songs but the title actually refers to the song, “Mess O Blues,” on the CD that was first recorded by Elvis Presley. Mess of Blues contains only a couple of blues songs with blues-rock numbers rounding the rest of the recordings but most of the selections are excellent.
The band is the house band at Healey’s in Toronto, Canada … and what a house band they are with a lot of nice piano and organ work by Dave Murphy. These guys are tight and the recording quality is excellent.
There are four live cuts with a smoking, “I’m Torn Down” opening to an enthusiastic audience to start things off. Jeff’s guitar work is excellent through out and his tone is reminiscent a little of Eric Clapton. The best slow number on the CD is “How Blue Can You Get” with some extended guitar solo work. It really starts to cook during and after the solos when the group kicks it into a higher gear. Another notable song is “Sugar Sweet” which is an outstanding dance number followed by “Jambalaya” (on old Hank Williams tune) which has the same dance groove. Some nice bass work on “Sugar Sweet” distinguishes this version from previous recordings by Muddy Waters and Freddie King. The other notable songs on this CD are “Sittin On Top of the World” (originally recorded by Cream) and a high octane version of “Shake, Rattle and Roll.” It is the best version that I have heard.

Overall this is an excellent finger snapping, foot tapping CD. I recommend it highly. I definitely rate this CD a 5 (out of a possible 5).

– Ray Rak