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One of the final big performances from a Texas Blues Legend

There’s the Chicago Blues style, the Mississippi Delta Blues and then there’s Texas Blues. Albert Collins, a native of Leona, TX who grew up in Houston, was hitting the Blues clubs about the same time that Rock ‘N’ Roll was shocking the world. He began his indie recording career in ’65 and recorded nonstop almost up until his death in ’93 (lung cancer) with his final album, Iceman, which was the nickname he was known by for his for cool, distinct fingerpicking style that was nice and crisp. He was also known for his open F minor tuning, which gave his Blues a little more sorrow.

A lot of his original hits and some covers can be heard and/or seen on the CD or DVD of Live At Montreux 1992 (released March 2008), a 7 song collection that fills an hour of a soulful performance. The show begins with his namesake signature tune, followed by “Honey Hush,” which sort of has the same rhythm as “Iceman.”

Then the show slows a bit as “The Lights Are On (But Nobody’s Home)” wails and cries with guitars, organ and horns. Its more than eleven minutes of the lament of being accused of “doing wrong” by his woman.

“If You Love Me Like You Do” picks the pace back up. The Fender screams through this song and really rocks the joint, followed by the Hammond B-3 doing its thing. The tune is only 4:00 minutes long, but is probably one of the hottest numbers on the disc.

The slower the song tempo, the longer the song seems to be the recipe for Blues. “Too Many Dirty Dishes” is another track that lasts over eleven minutes. The lamenting cry of the saxophone and the lengthy guitar solo could lull the listener into a smoky, dark room with a cheap bottle of wine in front of you and a pretty babe giving you a wink as she crosses the room and walks out the door.

“Put The Shoe On The Other Foot” is actually an upbeat tune that defies the recipe as it tromps along for more than fifteen minutes. The organ is chipper, the horns are bright and Collins is just bopping along as he sings this one. The bass gets a chance to thump out a little solo before the guitars take over and do some talking.

The show finishes off with the groovin’ “Frosty,” seven-and-a-half minutes of cool instrumental with Collins introducing the band after a hot performance.

If you pick up the DVD, there are 4 bonus tracks from a 1979 performance included on the disc. You can see that there isn’t much that changed in 13 years between his voice and playing. He was just a simple Bluesman that gave the world a lot of joy through his music.

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