How’s this for a list of musical achievements?

• 1983 – W.C. Handy Award – Best Blues Album – Don’t Blow Your Cool – Alligator Records
• 1986 – Grammy© Award – Best Blues Album – Showdown(with Robert Cray and Johnny Copeland) – Alligator Records
• 1989 – W.C. Handy Award – Best Blues Artist of the Year

Discography?  For me, the below are the major works of Albert Collins.

Singles Up Through 1972:

• “Freeze”/”Collins Shuffle – Kangaroo Records – 1958 (under the Name Albert Collins & His Rhythm Rockers)
• “Defrost”/”Albert’s Alley” – Hall-Way Records – 1963
• “Thaw-Out”/”Backstroke” – Hall Records – 1964
• “Frosty”/”Tremble” – Hall Records – 1964
• “Homesick”/”Sippin’ Soda” – Hall-Way Records – 1964
• “Sno-Cone (Part 1)”/”Sno-Cone (Part 2)” – TCF – 1965 – (under the name The Cool Sound Of Albert Collins)
• “Don’t Lose Your Cool”/”Frost Bite” – TCF – 1965 – (under the name The Cool Sound Of Albert Collins)
• “Hot ‘n Cold”/”Dyin’ Flu” – TCF – 1966 – (under the name The Cool Sound Of Albert Collins)
• “(What’d You Say) I Don’t Know”/”Soulroad” – Tracie Records – 1966
• “Do The Sissy”/”Turnin’ On” – Imperial Records – 1968
• “Cookin’ Catfish”/”Taking My Time” – 20^th Century Fox Records – 1968
• “Conversation With Collins”/”And Then It Started Raining” – Imperial Records – 1969
• “Ain’t Got Time”/”Got A Good Thing Goin’” – Imperial Records – 1969
• “Coon ‘N Collards”/”Do What You Want To Do” – Liberty – 1970
• “Eight Days On The Road” (both sides) – Tumbleweed Records – 1972
• “Get Your Business Straight”/”Frog Jumpin’” – Tumbleweed Records – 1972

Full-Length Releases Up To The Year Of His Death:

• The Cool Sounds Of Albert Collins – TCF – 1965 (under the name Albert Collins & His Rhythm Rockers)
• Love Can Be Found Anywhere (Even In A Guitar) – Imperial Records – 1968
• Truckin’ With Albert Collins – Blue Thumb Records – 1969
• Trash Talkin’ – Imperial Records – 1969
• Alive & Cool – Red Lightnin’ – 1969
• The Compleat Albert Collins – Imperial Records – 1970
• There’s Gotta Be A Change – Tumbleweed Records – 1971
• Ice Pickin’ – Alligator Records – 1978
• Albert Collins With The Barrelhouse – Live – Munich Records – 1979
• At The New Morning Festival – Cat Music – 1979 (with Richie Havens, Taj Mahal, Albert Collins, Queen Ida, Elizabeth Cotten)
• Frostbite – Alligator Records – 1980
• Frozen Alive! – Alligator Records – 1981
• Don’t Lose Your Cool – Alligator Records – 1983 (under the name Albert Collins And The Icebreakers)
• Live In Japan – Alligator Records – 1984 (under the name Albert Collins And The Icebreakers)
• Showdown! – Alligator Records – 1985 (with Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, Robert Cray)
• Cold Snap – Alligator Records – 1986
• Iceman – Pointblank – 1991
• Collins Mix (The Best Of) – Virgin Records Ltd. – 1993

Yes, this week’s artist profile starts out completely different than all the others.  I’ve been thinking about presenting an overview of Albert Collins’ life and career for a long time but, he was so influential and accomplished that frankly, I wasn’t sure where to begin.

The last time I saw Albert Collins And The Icebreakers perform was back in mid-May, 1992 at Kalamazoo, Michigan’s State Theatre, and as usual, it was an electrifying show.  Collins never seemed to do anything half-way, and as usual, he had his guitar at maximum volume while he cranked out those amazing, cold, slashing guitar solos that he was so famous for, thrilling everyone in the place.  Collins was hard to look away from, as he seemed so very engaged with the proceedings, and his band, always one comprised of the highest talent levels, was equally engrossed in the show.

When he did take things down to a slower pace that evening on the more reflective numbers, Collins wrenched each drop of emotion out of his lesser-volumed guitar.  And, though people don’t give him the credit he should be afforded for his singing, his vocals conveyed a depth that emotionally drained.

And of course, Collins wielded that very long guitar cord and strutted out into the audience, a sly smile on his face, and created a frenzy among all in attendance.

And roughly one and a half years later, in November, 1993, Collins was gone.

It’s hard to break down the life of a bluesman so incredibly important, so with this week’s artist profile, I’ll provide, as Sargeant Joe Friday used to say on the late 1960s-early 1970s television show Dragnet, “Just the facts.”

Collins was born in 1932 to a family who sharecropped, and moved early to a tough area in Houston, Texas where, when he was a young boy, he learned to play the piano, an instrument that he was exposed to in the church.  His initial musical excitement centered around big band music.  His interest soon changed to the guitar because a couple of his cousins, one being the renowned bluesman Lightning Hopkins, taught him the both the rudiments and some unique lessons on the instrument.  He took away two key elements from their lessons that would become signatures of his blues guitar style.  First, like one of his cousins, he chose to play guitar without using a pick (he preferred the impactful sound he could get from his fingers), and from Hopkins, he adopted playing in certain minor keys.

As Collins put the piano and organ (which he too played) more in the rearview mirror, and as he moved away from the acoustic guitar toward the electric instrument, he developed an affinity for the styles of certain Texas blues guitar giants, particularly Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and T-Bone Walker, though B.B. King is also cited as of great influence upon him.

Through Brown, Collins implemented a key feature of his guitar playing that would forever identify him, and that is playing the guitar with a capo.  Essentially, a capo is a tool in the shape of a straight bar that shortens the length of the strings to be played, and in the process raises the pitch.  An anyone familiar with Collins’ music knows, his high-register, high volume guitar attack relied heavily upon capo usage.  Collins was also deploying a highly percussive approach within his guitar efforts, again, as a result of using his fingers instead of a pick.

In his mid-teens, Collins was performing with Brown in the Houston area clubs.  He then began his first band in the late 1940s, playing the dingy joints in Houston mostly on the weekends, while he held down various day jobs, as well.

Collins reputation continued to climb, and the 1950s saw him becoming in demand for recording sessions.  During this period, his continuing proficiency at producing stinging sounds on guitar, again without the use of a pick and in his various minor key tunings, continued to raise his notoriety.  It was also at this time that Collins joined early rock-n-roll pioneer Little Richard in his band, replacing none other than future rock giant Jimi Hendrix.

Into the late 1950s, Collins made a very astute move to get his share of the instrumental money pile that was being forged by the likes of the soulful ensemble Booker T & The MGs, power chord and distortion king Link Wray, and twangy rave-up titan Duane Eddy.  “Freeze” was released in 1958, and its high register guitar excursion style set the tone (no pun intended) for what would become Collins’ signature sound.

Collins continued working day jobs, still feeling that he couldn’t support his needs solely from music work.  He did record four more sides, all superb, with “Thaw Out” and “Defrost” continuing the chilly instrumental style he would one day be lauded for.  But in 1964, with the release of “Frosty,” Collins finally scored a major hit with his icy guitar style, with the song being a million seller.

It was obvious that Collins was on to something, and he was strongly urged by those making his records to embrace not only his arctic style, but to also have both his singles and LPs use “cold” sounding titles to take advantage of his renown.

Playing at volume with a capo, Collins also implemented the practice of reimaging everyday sounds on his guitar as effects within his songs, yet another masterful component of his music that he forever incorporated.  He recorded through the 1960s, but again, continued to hold down a day job to make ends meet.

1965’s The Cool Sounds Of Albert Collins (under the name Albert Collins & His Rhythm Rockers), is felt by many to be the release that was most influential in pushing Collins’ career forward.  In 1966, Collins made a move northward to Kansas City, having left his day job.  It was in Kansas City where Collins met Gwendolyn, the woman who would become his spouse and the inspiration for certain of his compositions. 

As is often referenced, rock musicians of the late 1960s were motivated by the blues and blues artists, often paying reverence to them by recording their songs and having them appear with them on shows.  No less than the aforementioned Hendrix and blues rock bands such as Canned Heat were staunch promoters of both blues and the men and women who created it.  In fact, it was Bob “Bear” Hite, the front man of Canned Heat, who pleaded with Imperial Records’ brass to sign Collins as an artist.  Canned Heat had an affiliation with Imperial Records through their label, and Collins ended up recording prolifically for the label.

Now Collins’ blues career was on an upswing, and he was playing to adoring rock audiences at venues like the Fillmore West, and at events such as The Newport Jazz Festival, that propelled him forward as the 1960s segued into the 1970s.  Of note, the psychedelic San Francisco music venues and audiences enthusiastically embraced Collins and his music.  He was also touring extensively in California, when possible, to promote his music.  However, the early 1970s again found Collins, despite his enhanced visibility, working in construction because music alone still couldn’t pay the bills.  However, as the 1970s progressed, more festival work led to greater exposure, including a 1975 slot at The Montreux Jazz Festival.  By this period, Collins and his family were living in Los Angeles, California.

However, the real turning point in Collins career can without reservation be attributed to his signing on with Chicago’s Alligator Records.  His 1978 debut collection entitled Ice Pickin’ was a GRAMMY© Award nominee, and its appeal was high among both blues and rock fans.  With his band, The Icebreakers, in tow, Collins’ phenomenal output for Alligator Records was the pinnacle of his career.  And, the GRAMMY© Award winning Showdown! collection with Robert Cray (a young blues lion he met in Seattle, Washington in the 1970s) and Johnny Copeland even further enhanced his reputation.

But no matter how successful Collins’ career became after signing with Alligator Records, he still pushed forward in a true workmanlike fashion, playing shows like each one was his last, even continuing to drive his old tour bus himself to gigs everywhere.  I witnessed this firsthand once when he rolled the bus up to a show in Mishawaka, Indiana (unfortunately, the outdoor show was cancelled due to rain).

Collins was now highly in demand, and his non-stop touring, domestically and abroad, was testament to the thill his icy music provided.  He was always a dynamic performer on stage, and always seemed to give it his all whenever and wherever.  Colins was always “power” personified.

High profile shows and opportunities in the 1980s included being featured in the highly well-received movie Adventures In Babysitting (where he was seen playing in the Berwyn, Illinois music club, Fitzgerald’s Nightclub), performing with blues rock great George Thorogood at 1985’s Live Aid event, playing at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, performing at the JVC Jazz Festival, and being highlighted in a PBS show about the blues.

A change of record labels occurred for Collins when he signed with the Pointblank label, with his first release being 1991’s Iceman.  He continued he relentless touring, and 1993 saw the release of Collins Mix (The Best Of) on the Virgin Records Ltd. label. 

By 1993, Collins was living in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Unfortunately, in late November, 1993, Collins passed away from the effects of liver cancer.

In addition to the Collins collections previously mentioned, there are countless compilations that include his work.  Also, various DVDs can be found that capture “live” Collins shows, and YouTube also offers assorted videos of him performing.

Albert Collins’ brand of blues sits unique as loud, cutting, and enthralling.  His works belong in every blues collection.