Your comments had me getting on a Collins kick this last day or so--for that alone, I owe ya some thanks. I b
een going blind researching some of the posts that are coming right up and a heaping dose of Albert has always been one of the best reasons around to say "screw it," turn the volume up a notch or three, and get to loving life.I don't know how these selections will do ya, most of the live Collins I've got here has been fairly well circulated and you may well have bumped into them before... They're definitely a pair to be had...
First up is some vintage Albert, circa 1969, treating the hippies of the Fillmore West to a roaring set, mixing Collins originals like Thaw Out and Backstroke with standards such as a grooving Mustang Sally and BB's How Blue Can You Get? I've seen several reviews whining about the sound quality of this performance...and I disagree. This show was a bootleg recording that, as many do, ended up "officially" released--just not by Collins. The obscure Red Lightnin label first issued this set in 1971, when Collins was still under contract to Imperial. Given its vintage, this
show has a decent sound indeed--and the Iceman's playing is hot.
The Japanese label, Pony Canyon, would be the first to reissue this set on disc, in 1999 under its original title, Alive & Cool. It would be released twice more in just the next 5 years, both on British labels, Catfish in 2000 and Snapper (as Thaw Out at the Fillmore) in 2004.
This is the Catfish issue...
Albert Collins
Live at the Fillmore
Catfish 2000
1. Instrumental
2. How Blue Can You Get?
3. Thaw Out
4. So Tired
5. Funky
6. Deep Freeze
7. Baby, What You Want Me To Do?
8. Mustang Sally
9. Backstroke
Link
Twenty-three years later, Collins had spent more than a decade having his career rejuvenated--and doing some of his best work--on the Alligator label. June of '92 found him at Grant Park's Petrillo Band Shell, headlining the Chicago Blues Festival. Wrapping up a weekend that had seen, among others, Honeyboy Edwards, Hubert Sumlin, Sunnyland Slim and Jimmy Dawkins, Sunday night's performance was a thing of thunderous beauty, made all the more special by the guest appearance of fellow Texas blues legend, Lowell Fulson. Albert backs Fulson for a pair of tunes, including the souful Reconsider Baby. From a ripping Iceman to a strutting Black Cat Bone, a funky Do You Feel It? to his ringing, blistering instrumentals, we are are on the receiving end of a late career blast from a master showman.
This is an FM-sourced boot, broadcast by 91.5 Public Radio in Chicago and includes a brief interview segment with Collins shortly after he leaves the stage. Albert is tickled that the show had been broadcast nationally. He is in great humor, though he expresses some light regret that he was unable to get down into the audience, owing to time constraints for his set. Using a 175-foot cord, Collins was famous for walking through his crowds to the bar, the men's room, or out into the street, playing all the while. It was trademark Collins and Albert explains it this way:
"I like being around people when I play, you know...get close to 'em and feel like you know each other...feel like family..."
Albert Collins
Chicago Blues Festival
Grant Park Chicago IL
June 7, 1992
1. Intro
2. Instrumental
3. Iceman
4. Lights Are On But Nobody's Home
5. Put the Shoe On the Other Foot
6. Black Cat Bone
7. Instrumental
8. Same Old Thing
9. Mr. Collins
10. Things I Used To Do
11. Lowell Fulson intro
12. Do You Feel It
13. Reconsider Baby
14. Instrumental
15. Radio Wrap-up
16. Interview
Link
Peace, Mudcatz
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Re: Collins' 200-foot guitar cord ... I interviewed Bruce Iglauer right after Albert's death, and he recalled a time when they were in Greece, and it was right after they had overthrown the facist goverment. They were ins some kind of indoor stadium, with the band playing on the floor, facing the seats. Between the audience and the band was a wall of riot police with their clubs out, ready to beat people if they tried to get out of their seats. Albert, being the king of cool, walked thru the cordon of riot police to the audience and played amongst them. As Bruce Iglauer put it, it was Albert's way of saying "If you can't come to us, we'll come to you." Again, that was the sort of person Albert Collins was. For him, it was all about his fans. I am grateful to have met him and Bruce Iglauer.
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And, as always, thanx for sharing the cool music.
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That's such a great story, thanks! Albert really had to be one of the coolest. Ya gotta love how blues--and music--can best a line of riot cops!
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