Every once in a while there’s a week that goes by that is blessed with great conversations.
Somewhere down that road, I decided that instead of choosing one interview over the other, why not have them both share the podcast.
March 2, 2008, was the day gifted singer/songwriter and truly remarkable man Jeff Healey lost his battle with cancer.
We had a great long-distance friendship. Every time we reconnected, we fell into an easy chatter that always ended up in laughter. Good man.
His loss gutted me. Still am.
Roger Costa is the co-administrator/archivist of The Estate of Jeff Healey.
He’s currently leading the production team shooting the documentary
See the Light: The Jeff Healey Story.
That film and my interview with Roger will come later this year or early 2025.
In the meantime, I wanted to remember Jeff on March 2 with someone who knows him well. Roger Costa.
Harry Hertscheg
Harry Hertscheg is a regular listener to this Podcast. He listens to it while biking through busy Vancouver traffic to and from work.
Work is being executive director of the hugely successful VanWineFest which is just wrapping up.
Almost 20,000 wine fans have attended seminars, winemakers dinners and large and small tastings.
The feature region is Italy. 71 Italian wineries sent their best.
Next year the feature region is the USA.
Here’s a conversation with the completely engaging and informative Harry Hertscheg.
It’s just a first step into another month but the possibilities are endless.
Warmth, Spring, longer days, lighter brighter footwear, all things going green.
The Stew brings two hours of the promise of March
And a remembrance of Jeff Healey, who died March 2, 2008. The day he lost his battle with cancer.
Blind almost at birth, Jeff learned the secrets of playing guitar when he decided to lay his guitar down on his lap and literally attack the strings with all fingers.
Our guest is Roger Costa who’s the co-administrator and archivist of the Estate of Jeff Healey.
Currently, he’s producing See the Light. The Jeff Healey Story. All these years later, still an amazing story.
We surround the brief interview with new music from Dan Mangan, Corb Lund, and former Carolina Chocolate Drops bandmates Dom Flemons and Rhiannon Giddens.
We start The Stew with All Over Now by Rod Stewart and Faces and 2 hours later finish The Stew with the same guys. Both tracks live and both on vinyl.
From a family in the deep south that grew cotton. Sam would work in the fields with African American pickers. They brought their songs with them and Sam grew to love the music.
He worked his way through radio and played a mix of black and white music that he loved.
When he started Sun Records in Memphis..it made perfect sense that he would record Jr Parker, Howling Wolf, and Charlie Rich side-by-side.
Then he went looking for a white singer who shared his love of black music and found him in ELVIS.
When I had the opportunity to visit Sun Records Studio…I just sat there and tried to imagine the history bouncing off the walls
So years later, I find myself at the opening of the Rock Hall of Fame in Cleveland in 1995. Sam Phillips is being inducted and comes into the press room to speak with journalists and reporters as a group.
I waited until the very last question and asked him this question…
“Sam. They have recreated your studio here in the Hall. But how do they recreate the magic, the creative juice that connected in your original rooms? The incredible spark that happened between you and Elvis. How does that get captured here?”
His answer just blew me away… The other voice you hear is Mary Wilson from The Supremes.
The other guest visit is with Colin James and Jeff Healey…many years ago at MuchMusic in Toronto.
Just jamming in the studio. A Jimmy Reed song. I told the guys I’d give them 5 bucks each if they worked my name into the lyrics.
A Great jam, both guys solo on their acoustic guitars – Five bucks later it’s followed by a giggle.
This was pure magic..still is!
Here’s the long weekend music list – goes well with burgers.
OH…the Podcast is Cheech and Chong. Years ago, back in Vancouver where it all started for them.
Much Music in the 70’s and 80’s was a place of magic, where anything could happen and DID happen.
For Example…
I was able to convince my fellow West coaster Colin James to sit in with Jeff Healey to riff on a couple tunes.
BUT…if they worked my name into the lyrics they got 5 bucks EACH!
This is fine music with a great vibe. I treasure it.
Enjoy!
-TDM
