Perfection: Doug Raney - 'Lean Years' (1979)

Guitarist Doug Raney was one of the greats. The son of guitarist Jimmy Raney, Doug spent much of his career in Copenhagen. Doug was a hard-wired addict. As his brother, Jon, told me soon after Doug's death in 2016, at age 59:

Doug was struggling with prior drug addiction and was on the program for a long time. But it was really his addiction to alcohol, in excess, that did him in. He was a different type of drunk than my father, who became more of a Mr. Hyde when he drank. Doug lived much of his life as a functioning alcoholic, so it was sort of a wide spectrum in terms of behavior. But in later years, his personality under the influence had moved closer to my Dad's, where he suddenly was more frequently not capable of fulfilling his musical commitments.

Despite his addiction to drugs and alcohol, he was an enormously gifted player with a spectacular feel.

Here's Pat Martino's Lean Years, with Doug Raney (g), Bernt Rosengren (ts), Horace Parlan (p), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (b) and Billy Hart (d)...