Many remember Texan Albert Collins as a fierce-looking blues warrior
who would prowl the stage, firing off short bursts of stinging Telecaster
notes at an excited audience. Or at the end of a 100-foot cord, playing
through the crowd, right out the front door. He'd then play himself back
in, trailed by new-found fans from a 30-second sidewalk concert. His style
was the most distinctive of any blues player, yet when Albert moved to
L.A. in 1968, in spite of some semi-successful small-label recordings,
he was still unknown except to hard core blues fans. In '78 when Albert
signed with Bruce Iglauer's Alligator label, his recordings finally captured
his onstage energy, and his popularity skyrocketed - just in time to catch
a mid-80's blues revival. He won a Grammy in 1985, and he enjoyed some
much-deserved media celebrity in the last few years of his life. Our camera
caught Albert in his L.A. apartment in 1978. If you'd like to remember
him for his idea that a motorcycle could be livingroom furniture, then
be our guest. He died in 1993.
© 2017 Ellen Griffith - RECALL MUSIC