Albert Collins is THE BOMB!

[Rama]

LOVE Albert Collins, man.

His phrasing is just so sly and cool...there's humor in his playing, too, not just the lyrics.

And his tone...

[Seegs]

Albert definitely brings the heat is one of my guys...but I gotta have my AC with Johnny B Gayden otherwise it's like peanut butter without the jelly

Chow,
Seegs

[BMF Effects]

Possibly one of the nicest people I have ever met. Caught a show way back when and passed Johnny B. Gayden in the hallway who took me to meet Albert. We talked until the bar owners threw everyone out.

[bluesjuke]

Albet's music has been a great joy in my life.

[S.W.Erdnase]

Originally Posted by DrumBob

Nice guy, great player. We met once at the Bottom Line in Manhattan. Great show! He had a 100' cord and walked out onto the sidewalk playing a solo.

His tone came right from his fingers, the capo, and the oddball tuning he used. He played those intense, short, spikey riffs that just make my hair stand on end.

He's one of the few people you can point at and say "they had truly unique phrasing." His tone and that jagged insane phrasing is UNMISTAKABLE.

My fave guitarist and the best concert I've ever been to.

[Phalanx200bc]

Why does he use a CAPO all the time?

[ReddRanger]

Originally Posted by Phalanx200bc

Why does he use a CAPO all the time?

Because that was a style he developed for himself .....and perfected. Nobody can touch Albert at his game, and his closest imitators still fall way short of the real deal.

The old blues guys weren't concerned with sounding like everybody or knowing every style. If they found a style that worked and could make a career from, they stuck to it.

Albert is THE man. I've been revisitng and listening to him a lot these past couple of weeks. His live stuff just kills me. He makes one note sound like the most exciting thing I've ever heard.

[Phalanx200bc]

Ok...dosent really answer my question. Which was responded to more like I was trolling.

So does he use it to so he can play more open notes in the key of the song?.... does he use it to achive a tonal color?

Or did he just end up doin it that way cause it worked for him?

Just askin.....

[SLBlues]

Check out "Truckin' With Albert Collins" originally released as "The Cool Sound of Albert Collins". Good stuff!

[ReddRanger]

Originally Posted by Phalanx200bc

Ok...dosent really answer my question. Which was responded to more like I was trolling.

So does he use it to so he can play more open notes in the key of the song?.... does he use it to achive a tonal color?

Or did he just end up doin it that way cause it worked for him?

Just askin.....

Sorry, didn't mean to treat you like a troll (I didn't think you were).

I believe Albert tuned to open F Minor. The capo allowed him to play open style licks (like normal players would play in E).

He set the capo based on the songs he was playing, a lot were in C and D since he was comfortable singing in those keys.

[Phalanx200bc]

Originally Posted by ReddRanger

Sorry, didn't mean to treat you like a troll (I didn't think you were).

I believe Albert tuned to open F Minor. The capo allowed him to play open style licks (like normal players would play in E).

He set the capo based on the songs he was playing, a lot were in C and D since he was comfortable singing in those keys.

thanks for your response!

[Tom Gross]

"There's one cat I'm still trying to get across to people. His name is Albert Collins. He's buried in a road band somewhere. He's good. Really good," -
- Jimi Hendrix

[erksin]

Lucky enough to have seen him 3x before he died and met him at one of those gigs. He walked through the crowd shaking hands with everybody, thanking them for coming, etc. Jumps up on stage and proceeds to slay everybody in the room with the first 'Albert note' that is like a punch to the face. Holy crap was he amazing live.

My introduction to Albert was at Slim's in San Francisco (Boz Scaggs' club) in 1988. He was playing an early show, and we were outside in line waiting to get in for the second show. The place was totally jumping, and we knew it was gonna be good just based on how loud the crowd was getting. Suddently the main door flings open and out comes Albert frickin' wailing on his Tele with his roadie spooling out cable behind him followed by his horn section. He walks the line shouting "Y'all ready for some of this?" getting everyone psyched up for the next set. Then he wheels around and walks out into busy traffic and stops a cab in the middle of the street and puts his foot up on the bumper jamming for the people inside the taxi. The look on their faces was priceless. I was an instant convert and rabid fan from that day on.

There will never be another one like him, that's for sure.

[tommc]

Check out this one for some wild head cuttin' with Buddy Guy.
Debbie Davies polishing her chops back then.

What a great club night. Sadly, I haven't been in club with this kind of music in a long time.

[rhinocaster]

Albert's music tears straight through me. He's the reason I wanted to play the guitar.

A truly unique voice and an absolute master of the blues!