Albert Collins "Iceman" 1991***

	Albert Collins played in my hometown (Athens, Greece) the year this album was recorded. It was a fantastic for blues lovers triple-bill, also featuring Buddy Guy and John Mayall's Blues Breakers, I wouldn't miss it for the world. All of them were in their fifties, a good age by blues standards. Buddy Guy and The Blues Breakers' Coco Montoya are great guitarists, but that day they were eclipsed by Collins and his crystal-clear sound. To tell the truth, his is still in the Top-3 "clean" guitar performances I've seen live, ever; the other two being B.B. King and Carlos Santana, which should tell you something about the league he's in. I remember having a great time that night, and as if to confirm to me that the concert really was that good, a few years later ERT (Greek State TV) just happened to play a large, professionally shot, extract of the concert, and there I am on the third row or something, visibly grooving to the music. It was shown unannounced during one of those "musical intermissions" they had in those days, when they'd fill post-midnight slots with musical archive footage. Crazy, those programmers at ERT. On another nocturnal transmission, they started showing classic Bob Dylan documentary Don't Look Back. Remember, this was 30 years ago. That film, which had in the meanwhile gained legendary status, was impossible to stream, or download, or watch at a movie theater, or rent in VHS, at least not in Greece. And what do they do? They play 30 minutes of it, and at 2 O'Clock or whatever the closing time was back then, they just cut it short and show the end-of-transmission signal with the clock. Anyway, that 1991 blues festival starring Albert Collins, John Mayall, Buddy Guy, and myself, has never been shown again that I know, never been leaked to youtube, I have never even heard of anyone else having watched it or know of its existence. Did I really see it or did I dream it? One thing I remember clearly though, is Collins opening his show with the same song he opens this CD, "Mr. Collins, Mr. Collins". Effectively an instrumental, except for the voice of some ladies (on the record, in the concert it was some of his bandmates) asking him not to play so loud while he was letting rip on guitar. The song has a funky beat, soul horns, and the ultra-clean production that was typical of the 80's. Blues albums at the time, at least by black artists, had to sound as "modern" as possible - as if the genre's birth at the cotton fields of Mississippi was something to be ashamed of. But when the trimmings don't overwhelm the tunes, and when Collins' voice and guitar is at the front, you get why he was dubbed "the master of the Telecaster". Certainly the next couple of songs (upbeat R&B "Iceman" and slow blues "Don't Mistake Kindness for Weakness") are fine examples of latter-day electric blues. "Travellin' South" is generic boogie rock but has some nice guitar/organ interplay. "Put the Shoe on the Other Foot" and "Head Rag" are funk-by-numbers, "The Hawk" is a quasi-rap, "I'm Beginning to Wonder" is B.B. King-style R&B, "Blues for Gabe" a jazzy instrumental, and "Mr. Collins, Mr. Collins (Reprise)" is basically the same as the opening track, only faded sooner. All in all, a typical mainstream electric blues album of the era; in my opinion it runs out of steam halfway through but is redeemed by the consistently good guitar playing. Not nearly as impressive as his live presence would suggest; unfortunately I would never get to see him play again as he succumbed to lung cancer only a couple of years later. Iceman would be his last album, and while it's not an outstanding work, fans of classic R&B and rockers drawn to electric guitar solos will not be disappointed by it. Blues purists, on the other hand, should look elsewhere.  **** for Iceman, Don't Mistake Kindness for Weakness *** for Mr. Collins Mr. Collins, Travellin' South, I'm Beginning to Wonder, Mr. Collins Mr. Collins (Reprise) ** for Put the Shoe on the Other Foot, Head Rag, The Hawk, Blues for Gabe