Healey's Widow "Disappointed" By Album Release

10/29/08 1:59pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

The wife of late Canadian musician Jeff Healey says she's "deeply disappointed" by the upcoming three-disc Jeff Healey Band CD/DVD set.

Winnipeg-based Arbor Records plans to release Legacy: Volume One on Nov. 4. It was compiled in collaboration with Tom Stephen, The Jeff Healey Band's former drummer and business manager. Cristie Healey is upset that EMI Music Canada will distribute the record even though the Healey estate notified Arbor about their objections to the disc's release.

"We ask that Jeff's fans please refrain from purchasing this compilation out of respect for Jeff and his family," Healey said in a statement. "This release is NOT authorized or supported in any way by Jeff's estate."

Legacy: Volume One's DVD includes rare performance footage, interviews and music videos. The first CD features The Jeff Healey Band's singles, while the second is comprised of previously unreleased live material.

Healey also says the set is objectionable because her late husband and Stephen didn't have a good relationship in recent years. A press release says that Stephen claims he was owed money and rights to Jeff Healey's music.

Mess Of Blues, the first and only posthumous Jeff Healey album authorized by his estate, was released in March, just after the celebrated guitarist lost his battle with cancer. The estate plans to release other recordings in the future, including another Jeff Healey Jazz Wizards album.

"The estate will ensure that future releases are assembled with the care and attention that they deserve out of respect for Jeff and his fans around the world," Cristie Healey says.

"Other releases, which have not been authorized or approved by the Healey Estate, do not honour Jeff's memory or the legacy of his art, and are merely being released to exploit his name."

Arbor managing director Steve McAuley defended Legacy: Volume One in this statement issued early on Wednesday evening:

“Arbor Records is proudly releasing a wealth of music and video in the spirit and respect of Jeff Healey and the Jeff Healey band. In an effort to share the band’s legacy with Canadian fans and supporters worldwide, [we] stand behind this music and DVD compilation with great pride and satisfaction, and proudly speak to the unified efforts that went into this project. Arbor Records obtained the rights to release this package through the appropriate legal channels and applicable parties involved. In honor of the raw, formulative years of this great Canadian band, we will let the music speak for itself.”

Jeff Healey received posthumous Maple Blues Awards nominations on Tuesday for entertainer, electric artist and guitarist of the year, while Mess Of Blues received a best recording nod. Healey's bandmates — drummer Al Webster, keyboardist Dave Murphy and bassist Alec Fraser — also picked up nominations.

The Maple Blues Awards are handed out annually to Canada's best blues musicians. The awards will be given out on Jan. 19 in Toronto. You can vote for your favourites on the Maple Blues website from Nov. 1 to Dec. 6.