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: /____\ : >>> Albert Collins: Deep Freeze <<<
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:..:... Supplier : SER 2005 Release Date : 12/05/2005 ...:..:
: : Ripper : SER 2005 Street Date : 03/21/2005 :..:...
...:..: Genre : Blues Source : CD : :
: : Label : Snapper Music Tracks : 18 Tracks ...:..:
: : Quality : VBR/APS/44.1kHz Channels : Joint Stereo : :
:..:... Language : English Size : 156 MB :..:...
: : Software : EAC v0.95 Beta 3 Encoder : LAME v3.90.3 : :
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_ _\/\\ /_//-//__((_))__\\ X/ DESCRiPTiON \X //__((_))__\\-\\_\ //\/_ _
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Albert Collins, "The Master of the Telecaster," "The Iceman," and "The
Razor Blade" was robbed of his best years as a blues performer by a
bout with liver cancer that ended with his premature death on November
24, 1993. He was just 61 years old. The highly influential, totally
original Collins, like the late John Campbell, was on the cusp of a
much wider worldwide following via his deal with Virgin Records'
Pointblank subsidiary. However, unlike Campbell, Collins had performed
for many more years, in obscurity, before finally finding a following
in the mid-'80s.
Collins was born October 1, 1932, in Leona, TX. His family moved to
Houston when he was seven. Growing up in the city's Third Ward area
with the likes of Johnny "Guitar" Watson and Johnny "Clyde" Copeland,
Collins started out taking keyboard lessons. His idol when he was a
teen was Hammond B-3 organist Jimmy McGriff. But by the time he was 18
years old, he switched to guitar, and hung out and heard his heroes,
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker and
Lightnin' Hopkins (his cousin) in Houston-area nightclubs. Collins
began performing in these same clubs, going after his own style,
characterized by his use of minor tunings and a capo, by the mid-'50s.
It was also at this point that he began his "guitar walks" through the
audience, which made him wildly popular with the younger white
audiences he played for years later in the 1980s. He led a ten-piece
band, the Rhythm Rockers, and cut his first single in 1958 for the
Houston-based Kangaroo label, "The Freeze." The single was followed by
a slew of other instrumental singles with catchy titles, including
"Sno-Cone," "Icy Blue" and "Don't Lose Your Cool." All of these
singles brought Collins a regional following. After recording "De
-Frost" b/w "Albert's Alley" for Hall-Way Records of Beaumont, TX, he
hit it big in 1962 with "Frosty," a million-selling single. Teenagers
Janis Joplin and Johnny Winter, both raised in Beaumont, were in the
studio when he recorded the song. According to Collins, Joplin
correctly predicted that the single would become a hit. The tune
quickly became part of his ongoing repertoire, and was still part of
his live shows more than 30 years later, in the mid-'80s. Collins'
percussive, ringing guitar style became his trademark, as he would use
his right hand to pluck the strings. Blues-rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix
cited Collins as an influence in any number of interviews he gave.
Through the rest of the 1960s, Collins continued to work day jobs
while pursuing his music with short regional tours and on weekends. He
recorded for other small Texas labels, including Great Scott, Brylen
and TFC. In 1968, Bob "The Bear" Hite from the blues-rock group Canned
Heat took an interest in the guitarist's music, traveling to Houston
to hear him live. Hite took Collins to California, where he was
immediately signed to Imperial Records. By later 1968 and 1969, the
'60s blues revival was still going on, and Collins got wider exposure
opening for groups like the Allman Brothers at the Fillmore West in
San Francisco. Collins based his operations for many years in Los
Angeles before moving to Las Vegas in the late '80s.
He recorded three albums for the Imperial label before jumping to
Tumbleweed Records. There, several singles were produced by Joe Walsh,
since the label was owned by the Eagles' producer Bill Szymczyk. The
label folded in 1973. Despite the fact that he didn't record much
through the 1970s and into the early '80s, he had gotten sufficient
airplay around the U.S. with his singles to be able to continue
touring, and so he did, piloting his own bus from gig to gig until at
least 1988, when he and his backing band were finally able to use a
driver. Collins' big break came about in 1977, when he was signed to
the Chicago-based Alligator Records, and he released his brilliant
debut for the label in 1978, Ice Pickin'. Collins recorded six more
albums for the label, culminating in 1986's Cold Snap, on which
organist Jimmy McGriff performs. It was at Alligator Records that
Collins began to realize that he could sing adequately, and working
with his wife Gwen, he co-wrote many of his classic songs, including
items like "Mastercharge," and "Conversation With Collins."
His other albums for Alligator include Live in Japan, Don't Lose Your
Cool, Frozen Alive! and Frostbite. An album he recorded with fellow
guitarists Robert Cray and Johnny "Clyde" Copeland for Alligator in
1985, Showdown! brought a Grammy award for all three musicians. His
Cold Snap, released in 1986, was nominated for a Grammy award.
In 1989, Collins signed with the Pointblank subsidiary of major label
Virgin Records, and his debut, Iceman, was released in 1991. The label
released the compilation Collins Mix in 1993. Other compact-disc
reissues of his early recordings were produced by other record
companies who saw Collins' newfound popularity on the festival and
theater circuit, and they include Complete Imperial Recordings on EMI
Records (1991) and Truckin' With Albert Collins (1992) on MCA Records.
Collins' sessionography is also quite extensive. The albums he
performs on include David Bowie's Labyrinth, John Zorn's Spillane,
Jack Bruce's A Question of Time, John Mayall's Wake Up Call, B.B.
King's Blues Summit, Robert Cray's Shame and a Sin, and Branford
Marsalis' Super Models in Deep Conversation.
Although he'd spent far too much time in the 1970s without recording,
Collins could sense that the blues were coming back stronger in the
mid-'80s, with interest in Stevie Ray Vaughan at an all-time high.
Collins enjoyed some media celebrity in the last few years of his
life, via concert appearances at Carnegie Hall, on Late Night with
David Letterman, in the Touchstone film, Adventures in Babysitting,
and in a classy Seagram's Wine Cooler commercial with Bruce Willis.
The blues revival that Collins, Vaughan and the Fabulous Thunderbirds
helped bring about in the mid-'80s has continued into the mid-'90s.
But sadly, Collins has not been able to take part in the ongoing
evolution of the music.
Tracks:
CD #1
01. Introduction Instrumental (4:49)
02. How Blue Can You Get (8:02)
03. Thaw Out (5:36)
04. So Tired (6:03)
05. Funky (1:59)
06. Deep Freeze (3:47)
07. Baby What Do You Want Me To Do? (5:09)
08. Mustang Sally (5:49)
09. Backstroke (3:18)
CD #2
01. Intro (4:46)
02. All About My Girl (6:45)
03. I've Got A Mind To Travel (8:01)
04. Things That I Used To Do (3:44)
05. Frosty (12:40)
06. Wah Heat (10:51)
07. Can't You See What You're Doing To Me (17:16)
08. Cold Tremor (4:15)
09. Johnny B. Cool (1:21)
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