Goin’ waaay back today my friends… all the way back to Saturday June 20th, 1987!

It turned out to be a perfect day for the season’s first Toronto Blues Society BBQ. Taking over the patio of the infamous (and now defunct) Hotel Isabella was a virtual who’s who of local blues talent, donating their time and considerable skills to help give back to the TBS. Sitting amongst the jam packed line-up was a barely twenty-one year old Jeff Healey on acoustic guitar (and vocals) accompanied by his old friend, local blues legend and fellow record collector, Steven C. Barr on harp and vocals.

This recently unearthed sixteen-and-a-half minute gem features the pair, tearing through an acoustic set that included the Robert Johnson classic ‘Phonograph Blues‘, the Tampa Red tune ‘Tight Like That‘, and an unreleased Jeff Healey original, ‘The Mean Old Low Down Blues(aka ‘Worn Out Blues‘). Beer, blues and bad puns were flowin’ steadily and this vid does a beautiful job of capturing this magic moment in time…

Yet again, we extend our heartfelt thanks to JH superfan, László Kaszás for sharing with us from his great collection!

Enjoy!

Rog