Road House: The Lost Soundtrack – Final Word. For those of you out there that have been listening to Road House: The Lost Soundtrack on your streaming service of choice, here are the liner notes that accompany the LP (and the extremely rare CD). Written by yours truly, hopefully they’ll give you a little insight into the project’s creation, and a snapshot of the whirlwind that encompassed Jeff Healey through most of 1988…

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Dalton: “So, you play pretty good for a blind white boy.”
Cody: “Yeah, and I thought you’d be bigger.” (laughter)

And with that unforgettable quote, we are introduced to Cody (played by the one and only Jeff Healey) in the 1989 cult classic, ROAD HOUSE!

Welcome True Believers!

Presumably, you are all well versed in the crazy, sawdust and chicken-wire cult epic known as Road House. It’s a mullet-filled take on Greek tragedy starring 80’s icon, Patrick Swayze and the perennially grizzled Sam Elliot. The film also features a fresh faced Jeff Healey filling the role of Rock ‘n’ Blues oracle. Blazing on his guitar and imparting vital pieces of information at the most opportune of times, Jeff helps move the plot ever onwards toward its beautiful, bloody conclusion.

Road House: The Lost Soundtrack is the culmination of almost a decade and-a-half of hard work. Before even one note of music could be previewed, there were knots to untangle, relationships to be built (and rebuilt), and much blood sweat and tears to be poured into background and research…

Why “The Lost Soundtrack” you ask? Well, while the Road House film contained a dozen performances by Jeff Healey and his band, the official soundtrack released back in 1989 contained only four of those songs. The rest of the album was made up of tunes that were featured as background music to scenes in the film (some new – Bob Seger, Little Feat, Patrick Swayze (!), some old – like the legendary Otis Redding). This is the very first time in thirty-four years that the complete Jeff Healey Road House performances have been made available. And, as a cool bonus, we’ve included seven songs that were recorded in these same sessions for consideration, but never made it into the film.

These extra recordings unheard for almost thirty-five years, were put to tape as potential film tracks, then… they were forgotten by the passage of time.

As with all our archival projects, tapes were unearthed and painstakingly restored. Then various takes were previewed and sorted to capture the best performance of each song. The tracks were then remixed and re-mastered with an eye (ear) towards stripping away any dated sounding effects. The goal was not to modernize, or update the sound of the recordings, but to make them feel timeless. We wanted to take you back to 1988, to give you a seat in the studio while the band was listening back to these freshly recorded songs.

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However, our story really begins in late 1985, with a chance meeting at Toronto’s legendary Grossman’s Blues Jam. It was an encounter that ultimately led to the creation of the Jeff Healey Band, and would shape Jeff’s life and career for the next sixteen years… for better or worse. But that as they say, is another story.

When the JHB was formed, Jeff was already a ten year performance veteran. He’d picked up his first guitar at the age of three and by the time he was nine he was already plying his craft at fairs and on various stages across his home turf of Ontario, Canada. By the time Jeff crossed over the mid-point of the ‘80s, he’d already spent the better part of a decade making a name for himself and honing his skills in front of enthusiastic audiences…

For the next two years the Jeff Healey Band made its bones, playing any and every dive bar, club and hall across Canada. Jeff’s rare combination of virtuosity, wild performance and stage presence built him a devoted following at breakneck speed. People were taking notice. Ringing endorsements from guitar-slinging legends such as Stevie Ray Vaughan and B.B. King seemed almost regular occurrences.

After much hard work, Jeff scored his first major recording contract with Arista Records and as 1987 gave way to ’88, Jeff’s world was on the verge of growing so much bigger.

By March, a twenty-one year-old, fresh faced Jeff Healey was rolling into a Los Angeles studio to begin the next phase of his professional career.

Jeff Healey: “When we first signed with Arista Records, they wanted us to hook up with Jimmy Iovine as a producer for our (debut) album. So they sent him the (indie) video for ‘See The Light’. And about the same time that he got that he also got a script from Silver Pictures, in hopes that he could find the band for the film and they would find the actors, but he would provide the music for it and produce it. So he took a look through the script after watching the video and came across, very near the beginning, the part which describes the band which is throughout the whole film, which says ‘Blues/Rock band featuring a young blind guitar player who plays flat on his lap.’”

Rowdy Harrington – Director, Road House: “Jimmy read the script and said, ‘Oh my God,’ he said, ‘I know who this blind guitar player is!’”

JH: “So we wondered at that for a little while until we did some digging and found out that the writer was originally from Toronto and had seen the band a couple of times. So I guess we’d actually been used as a role model in the script.”

With contracts signed and schedules cleared, the work of choosing what music would be performed in the film began in earnest.

Joe Rockman: “We were working up potential set lists among ourselves and also getting requests from producer Joel Silver and Rowdy to try different things we hadn’t considered before…”

JH: “We gave Jimmy Iovine a list of things that we wanted to try, plus Joel Silver kicked in a couple of ideas of what he wanted – things we’d never thought of doing like ‘Travelling Band’ or ‘On The Road Again’. All sorts of stuff came at us from all sorts of corners, and we just figured out what would be the best for the band. Tom Petty suggested that we try ‘When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky’. The other three tunes on the (original soundtrack) album are things that we as a band suggested. ‘Roadhouse Blues’ was something we’d already been doing in our set occasionally just playing bars in Canada, and the same with ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’. And ‘I’m Tore Down’ was something we did on occasion if we wanted to do an up tempo blues. I learned it originally from a Powder Blues album. Powder Blues were a Canadian band out of Vancouver… they were very good.”

JR: “The guys in Powder Blues, Tom and Jack Lavin, had been good to us and we’d wanted to return the favour. So we decided to cover their tune, ‘Hear That Guitar Ring’…”

Jeff and the band not only provided most of the music, but they were also featured performers in the film with appearances throughout. Jeff’s role played to his own strengths and experience.

JH: “So, we’re supposed to be a bar band…

Basically the character is me, transplanted from Toronto to, where is it… Jasper, Missouri, but it’s me as a, you know, guitar player in a bar band. And that’s what I was doing at the time.”

Patrick Swayze: “Jeff being on the set was just like a… a calming effect with his wild ass guitar, you know… it’s like, Whoa! (laughing)”

It was a mutual admiration society and Patrick’s unaffected nature certainly had a grounding affect on Jeff during the production.

JH: “Pat’s a really nice guy and y’know it’s a real pleasure to know him, aside from the whole stardom and stuff like that. He’s just a fun guy.”

JR: “The first time we met Patrick Swayze was early on at a smaller studio just outside L.A. The whole idea with Rowdy was that we get to know each other and strike up a personal relationship before we actually shot any film. We were starting work on the soundtrack and Patrick came by to introduce himself. From the get go he was just a good ol’ Texas cat. Just one of the boys really. Down to earth, there was no ego or Movie Star bs. He really put us at ease and set the tone of our working together.”

Those first studio sessions would end up providing the soundtrack to the film’s opening credits and serve as an introduction to Jeff’s playing in the film (and on this album), with the song On The Road Again. This Canned Heat cover is by far, THE single most requested track by fans. It has never before been made available to the public, other than in the Road House film itself.

It was also one of the earliest songs put to tape for the film. The first notes of this song were recorded on March 4^th, 1988… Just a few weeks before Jeff’s twenty-second birthday.

JR: It wasn’t a tune we’d played before. We were purposely trying to do songs that were not in our repertoire…. trying to stretch ourselves out a little bit, especially for the film. We were there in that whole new situation… It was a perfect time to experiment.

‘On The Road Again’ was a song that was recorded mostly live off the floor, just the band, with no other instruments. We purposely wanted to do it that way.

We dropped the original key down to E flat to better accommodate Jeff’s voice, and we found that the song took on an unexpected menacing feel, which was perfect for what we wanted.”

Another cut you may find familiar is the John Hiatt tune Confidence Man. This is a different version than the recording featured on the See The Light album. There’s a bit less playfulness and hint more danger, creating a slightly different context, more in line with the tone of the film. Released as a single from Jeff’s debut in 1988, Confidence Man would go on to be a top twenty hit on the US Rock charts and become a beloved staple of Jeff’s live set throughout his career…

While some of the film’s soundtrack was pitched from outside sources and meticulously planned out, other choices would come about through inspired accidents.

JH:“In the case of ‘Long Tall Sally’, which made it into the film, we were just playing to play and the tape was rolling. We were playing for… I think there were some people like Rowdy and Joel and a few others that stopped by the studio to hang out and we were just, y’know, hammin’ it up and it was recorded so we kept it.”

Given the fact that these recordings hadn’t been revisited in nearly 35 years, we consider ourselves fortunate that this turned out to be the only track from the film that no longer had any existing multi-track elements. The original tapes, likely forgotten on a long abandoned shelf in So-Cal decades ago, are lost to the sands of time. Working from an earlier locked-in rough mix, we couldn’t give it the complete overhaul it deserved, but as always, Jeff’s performance more than made up for any issues with the surviving tape.

“There’s only one tune of our own that we gave over to the film (‘One Foot On The Gravel’), but the rest are all covers; mostly 50s, 60s, and so forth.”
–Jeff Healey

JR: “I have to say, ‘One Foot on the Gravel’ was a joy to listen to again after all this time…”

The only original Jeff Healey composition in the film, ‘One Foot…’ is a showstopper. All grit and fire, this semi-autobiographical tune was a set list constant in the early days of the JHB.

From the opening signature riff to Jeff’s fierce solo, it’s hard not to be swept away. This song has always been a personal favourite of ours and it was a real pleasure to work on. A few years later, Jeff re-recorded it during the ‘Feel This’ sessions. That version would eventually wind up being released as a B-Side, but it just didn’t have the same visceral impact as this powerful earlier rendition.

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Over the years, the music in the film seems to have taken on a life of its own. It’s an integral part of Road House and has almost become yet another character in this binge worthy story. So, it should come as no surprise that a number of folks in the movie, both in front of, and behind the cameras, come from a music background. Playing Brad Wesley’s till skimming nephew Pat, is John Doe of the seminal L.A. band ‘X’. Red West, songwriter, Elvis confidante and legendary member of the ‘Memphis Mafia’ played, oddly enough, ‘Red Webster’ to name just two. Another, was the lovely Kathleen Wilhoite who, though primarily known for her acting chops, is no slouch in the vocal department either.

Thus came about a cool, later addition to the production, a great cover of the Stax Records, Eddie Floyd classic, Knock On Wood. Kathleen, featured in the film as Carrie, a long time employee of the Double Deuce, steps out from behind the drink tray to share lead vocal duties with Jeff on the song. The playful vocal interplay between the two makes this cut a standout, a momentary antidote to the swirling testosterone filled action.

Given the film’s title, the inclusion of the unforgettable Doors song, Roadhouse Blues seems an almost foregone conclusion. It’s a track that had been a part of the JHB’s set list for some time. Bassist Joe Rockman’s arrangement, which included that simple, yet instantly iconic bass intro, really helped to cement the song as their own. Frankly, whenever I hear the original version, it sounds wrong without that intro.

Benmont Tench of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers also provides an invaluable contribution here. His organ wash, fills and stings combined with some rousing barrelhouse piano, brings the whole killer performance together.

JR: “One of the great thrills during the production was when Jimmy Iovine brought Doors co-founder, Ray Manzerick into the studio to have him hear our take on ‘Roadhouse Blues’. It was so great to watch his face light up as he listened and to receive his enthusiastic blessing.”

Unlike Roadhouse Blues however, the decision to add the Cream classic, White Room to the soundtrack happened quite by chance….

JH: “The way (filming) worked was that we’d show up at 7:00 in the morning, and we would be there until about 8:00 at night. We could work anywhere from one minute to several hours out of the day, but we had to be there just in case the shot lined up and we were in it. Whenever lunch came around, we would have a quick bite and then run in and start jamming. They actually had big P.A. columns set up to look somewhat professional and they just pulled a mike through the playback system and off we’d go.

It was a good way to raise the morale of everybody on the set. They got their own little concert – nothing serious, just jamming things.

It’s fun… It’s the old cliché of hurry up and wait. But, that’s what we expected to do…

I’m having a great time.”

Despite this, the ‘hurry up and wait’ aspect of filming was awful for Jeff. Filmmaking is a tight balance of many moving parts to build the perfect illusion. Performance on the other hand, was where Jeff truly lived. It was an exercise in controlled chaos. Instinctual, a direct untethered tap to the soul, it was yin to the production’s yang.

Those lunchtime jams were as much for his sanity as for the edification of the cast and crew…

RH: “While we were making it, we just had a lot of fun. It was a great set and at lunchtime Jeff Healey would rock the house. He’s a unique player, there’s nobody like him and it was really fun to watch him.”

JH: “That’s how ‘White Room’ came to be in the soundtrack, actually. We’d never played it together, but I’d played it with a band maybe five years ago. And I just said to Joe at one point, ‘Do you know how to play it?’ He said, ‘Well, we’ll try it.’ And we just went through what we knew and the rough performance convinced (producer) Joel Silver that it should be in the film. By that point, we had finished the album, we’d finished the movie and we thought we were out of the studio for good. So he sent us back in to record ‘White Room’ which we did.”

PS: “I’ve never seen a guitar player faster than this guy. He’s truly a gifted being and one of the nicest human beings you’d ever want to meet.”

As fun as the on-set jams were, the rest of the film’s production held its own set of challenges for Jeff…

JR: “Jeff hated sitting in a make-up chair to get all done up for a scene. He was tolerant of it, but he really didn’t like it. We all had to do it though… There was this one time. The make-up and wardrobe and hair people were all fussing over Jeff to get him ready for a scene. This was outside next to the wardrobe trailer.

And they’re saying, ‘go try this on’ and ‘we’re just going to do this little thing with your hair’ and ‘we’re just going to fix your face up a little bit here’. And Jeff is standing there… And over time, he was starting to fume, because he was getting impatient y’know. And I was standing there with Sam Elliott and Sam was watching this all go down. So he lumbers over to Jeff, in character, and goes up to him and says, ‘Jeff, remember. Whatever they do to you, you’re still going to look like shit Amigo.’ (laughing)”

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“Elvis! Play something with balls!” – Brad Weslley

That bit of in-character direction is the on-screen cue for Jeff to launch into Hoochie Coochie Man. A live staple, the classic Willie Dixon tune conjures images of smoke-filled bar rooms and sticky floors. It’s basically the quintessential electric blues track and it’s a song that’s representative of Jeff/Cody’s place in the film.

On the other end of the rock spectrum… In an effort to find a song evocative of Hendrix’s take on All Along The Watchtower to close out the film, When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky was suggested to Jimmy Iovine as a possibility by Tom Petty. Thus, as the credits roll at the end of Road House, we are treated to a brilliant rendition of this epic ’80s Bob Dylan track. While Hoochie Coochie Man is a primal gut punch to the soul, When The Night… paints on a broader canvas. While no less affecting, it just pulls you down a different path.

JH: “’When The Night Comes Falling’ was the only tune that really went to town on overdubs.”

The ambitious nature of the song truly lends itself to tasteful embellishment. As with Roadhouse Blues, Benmont Tench’s talented assistance can’t be emphasized enough. Jeff’s powerful performance is also boosted with the help of impassioned background vocals by the great Maria McKee (Lone Justice), and percussion courtesy of the truly legendary, Ms. Bobbye Hall (Bill Withers, Wrecking Crew, Funk Brothers, et al).

During the film’s production, Bobbye took Jeff as her ‘plus one’ to Mick and Sara Fleetwood’s California wedding. They wound up jamming all night with Mick, Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty, Chubby Checker, Christine McVie and members of the L.A. Philharmonic, to name just a few! It was yet another reminder that doors were opening for Jeff and a world of opportunities was presenting itself to him…

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In putting this set together, one of the great treats for us was the chance to bring to light some incredible gems, unheard by anyone in over three decades…

You see, in addition to the dozen tracks performed by Jeff in the film, there were a number of songs recorded that for various reasons didn’t make the cut. While most were single take, live off the floor demos, others went through several run-throughs and some overdubs, bringing them closer to completion before ending up back on the shelf.

There are two Chuck Berry cuts, Around And Around and Back In The USA. On the latter, Jeff tears through his solo like he was possessed by the blazing soul of Chuck Berry himself. Somehow, it actually sounds like an incredible mix of duckwalks, sweat and blood. (coincidentally, Jeff and the JHB acted as Berry’s backing band on at least one occasion in the late 80’s!)

Then there’s two brilliant blues covers; Willie Dixon’s I Just Want To Make Love To You, recorded live in one take. Its slinky feel juxtaposed with an astonishingly blistering solo, pushes this basic run through of a classic blues standard to the next level. And then there’s the Howln’ Wolf classic, Killing Floor. Another live cut, Jeff is absolutely on fire here. Imagine Jeff at his most frenetic, then, take it up a notch. A twenty-two year-old Young Turk guitar player with something to prove to the world and the chops to back it up…

Playing to Jeff’s strengths, the band also recorded no less than three Jimi Hendrix tracks for consideration. Prior to his record deal, Jeff garnered many favourable comparisons to Hendrix. He played up a lot of those aspects in his shows, blending virtuosity and wild performance to create a memorable live experience.

Included in this set are the classic, Foxey Lady, Jimi’s wonderful blues cut, Red House and the achingly beautiful composition Angel. Jeff had demoed Angel early on in the JHB’s career, but it wouldn’t see a proper release until the 1995 Grammy nominated, Cover To Cover album. It seemed a fitting closer to this special release…

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The Road House recordings represent an important, enduring chapter in Jeff Healey’s career. Indeed, Jeff’s performance in the film has proven to be a gateway to his music for countless fans around the world and we’re grateful to have been given this occasion to shine a spotlight on this familiar, yet up to now, incomplete work. Keeping Jeff Healey’s spirit and rich legacy alive is our constant goal. This long gestating project has given us another wonderful opportunity to share with you Jeff’s incredible passion for music.

It’s remarkable how much of himself Jeff put out, every time he played, regardless of whether that was guitar, trumpet or his voice. There is a pure and unfettered talent there that when listened to, shares a joy that cannot be overstated. The experience of unearthing these recordings has served to remind us once again how much we’ve lost and how much Jeff left behind for us to enjoy and rediscover.

As clichéd and overused as it may sound, this project has truly been a labour of love and we hope you get as much satisfaction out of it as we did putting it together…

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Special Thanks:

We’d like to thank our good friends at Sony; Wade Leak, for taking our call in the first place and helping us get the ball rolling. Scott Carter, your help and patience have been invaluable. Without you buddy, this album wouldn’t have seen the light of day.

The entire crew at Battery Studios who went above and beyond with our “audio archaeology”, putting up with all our questions and seemingly endless requests in the search for the “right take”.

The amazing team at Mondo for taking all our hard work and making it truly shine in this incredible release.

Our pal Joe Rockman, thanks as always for taking the time to share your memories and insights.

And lastly, but most importantly you, the fans. Without you, *none* of this is possible. You help us to keep Jeff’s memory and musical legacy alive every single day. Your unending support is truly humbling. Thank you all…

Roger Costa

The Estate of Jeff Healey

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CREDITS:

All songs performed by The Jeff Healey Band:

Jeff Healey guitars, vocals
Joe Rockman bass
Tom Stephen drums
*except Knock On Wood – performed by The Jeff Healey Band and Kathleen Wilhoite (vocals)
& Studio Banter ’88 – performed by: Jeff Healey and Joe Rockman

Additional Musicians:

Roadhouse Blues:
Benmont Tench piano, organ

When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky:
Benmont Tench organ
Maria McKee background vocals
Bobbye Hall congas, percussion

Produced by: Roger Costa

Original Session Producers: (1988-89): Jimmy Iovine & Thom Panunzio

Mixed & Mastered By: Neil MacDonald

Additional Mixing: Roger Costa

Photos: courtesy The Estate of Jeff Healey & Joe Rockman

Executive Producers: Roger Costa & Cristie Healey

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1.  On the Road Again (4:21)
Written by Floyd V. Jones and Alan C. Wilson
Published by EMBASSY MUSIC CORPORATION / EMI UNART CATALOG INC
Recorded at: Sunset Sound L.A. 3/3/88 American Recording Co. L.A. 3/27-28/88

2.  Confidence Man (3:15)
Written by John Hiatt
Published by UNIVERSAL MUSIC CAREERS
Recorded at: Sunset Sound L.A. 3/31/88

3.  Long Tall Sally (2:41)
Written by Robert Blackwell, Enotris Johnson and Richard Penniman
Published by SONY/ATV SONGS LLC
Recorded at: The Complex L.A. 3/20/88

4.  One Foot on the Gravel (4:16)
Written by Jeff Healey, Joseph Rockman and Thomas Stephen
Published by UNITED LION MUSIC
Recorded at: The Complex L.A. 3/18/88

5.  Hear That Guitar Ring (3:30)
Written by Jack Lavin and Tom Lavin
Published by UNCUT MUSIC / UNITED LION MUSIC
Recorded at: American Recording Co. L.A. 3/28/88

6.  Knock on Wood (3:00)
Written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper
Published by IRVING MUSIC INC
Recorded at: The Complex L.A. 6/26/88

7.  I’m Tore Down (4:24)
Written by Sonny Thompson
Published by ARC MUSIC / CARBERT MUSIC INC
Recorded at: Sunset Sound L.A. 4/6/88

8.  Roadhouse Blues (4:51)
Written by Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, John Densmore and Ray Manzarek
Published by DOORS MUSIC COMPANY / C/O RUMINATING MUSIC
Recorded at: The Complex L.A. 3/18/88

9.  Travelin’ Band (2:14)
Written by J.C. Fogerty
Published by JONDORA MUSIC
Recorded at: Sunset Sound L.A. 4/15/88

10. White Room (4:58)
Written by Jack Bruce and Peter Brown
Published by DRATLEAF LTD / UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC
Recorded at: The Complex L.A. 5/26/88

11. Hoochie Coochie Man (5:10)
Written by Willie Dixon
Published by HOOCHIE COOCHIE MUSIC
Recorded at: Sunset Sound L.A. 4/6/88

12. When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky (4:53)
Written by Bob Dylan
Published by SPECIAL RIDER MUSIC
Recorded at: The Complex L.A. 3/22/88

Bonus Tracks:

13. Studio Banter ’88 (1:43)
Written by Jeff Healey
Recorded in Los Angeles between March and May of 1988

14. Killing Floor (4:13)
Written by Chester Burnett
Published by ARC MUSIC
Recorded at: The Complex L.A. 3/18/88

15. I Just Want To Make Love To You (4:20)
Written by Willie Dixon
Published by HOOCHIE COOCHIE MUSIC
Recorded at: American Recording Co. L.A. 3/27/88

16. Red House (5:40)
Written by Jimi Hendrix
Published by EXPERIENCE HENDRIX LLC
Recorded at: The Complex L.A. 3/20/88

17. Around & Around (2:23)
Written by Chuck Berry
Published by ISALEE MUSIC PUBLISHING COMPANY
Recorded at: Sunset Sound L.A. 4/15/88

18. Foxey Lady (5:17)
Written by Jimi Hendrix
Published by EXPERIENCE HENDRIX LLC
Recorded at: Sunset Sound L.A. 3/3/88

19. Back In The USA (2:34)
Written by Chuck Berry
Published by ISALEE MUSIC PUBLISHING COMPANY
Recorded at: Sunset Sound L.A. 4/7/88

20. Angel (3:54)
Written by Jimi Hendrix
Published by EXPERIENCE HENDRIX LLC
Recorded at: American Recording Co. L.A. 3/27/88

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