I was a student at MI in '87 and was in the front row of this performance. I had never heard of Albert Collins before but, once he started playing, I was absolutely blown away by his energy. His tone and tenacity are hard to put into words; even the video doest fully do justice. Trust me - to hear him live was a mind-blower...
I went to GIT and caught his 1989 show..Til this day I am still blown away by Albert's Guitar playing, singing, showmanship and his down to earth demeanour. After the show he was so charming and took time to really chat and sign autographs. My signed gig poster of that show is still a prized possession ..Thank you and RIP Sir Albert .
*I saw Albert Collins play at GIT a year after this. En route to the concert I remember walking past U2 who was playing on Hollywood Blvd in front of Graumans's Chinese Theatre. I didn't stop. I was going to hear Albert. That was one of the best decisions I ever made.* I taped the concert and Albert graciously autographed the cassette tape. I still have that cassette and it's one of maybe two autographs I've eve requested from anyone. He was so great. #CertifiedAwesome
Albert is one of my favorites along with Johnny Winter, Albert King, and of course STV. If I could hear only them, day & night, I would be all good. ❤️👍
I champion Albert any chance I get! He was the best I ever saw and I saw just about all of them. Not to take anything from Buddy, BB, Stevie, etc etc but Albert was unbelievable live!!!
Yeah, Albert just might have been the best of them all, saw them all too, ITS hard for me to pick between him and Stevie Ray, but they were head and shoulders above the rest.
I saw him at the Commador Ballroom in Vancouver and he walked off stage all the way to the back of the building where the bar was, sat down, ordered a shooter and kept playing the whole time. He had a 150 foot cable and a guy would follow him and make sure the cable didn't get tied up. Albert wasn't wireless.
There IS someone else who is doing that now! I went to see Kingfish Ingram last week and about mid set, there he went, down into the audience for about 20 minutes. He’s young, and good ( not great yet, but getting better all the time 👍) and during his show, he paid tribute to several of the greats by switching NOTICEABLY to each of their styles. I’m older now and a longtime Blues fan; my son is a more recent fan. I was pretty pleased when he commented “ Mom, damn, he just respawned into Albert King!” About 10 minutes later, off the stage he came, and mingled with the audience while playing some great Collins style. 😀. The crowd LOVED it and it made the show fun and memorable. ❤️👍
He had a cousin that looked like him ndd sounded similar to him. He lived in Racine and performed a lot in milwaukee. About three years prior to him passing over to the other side he made a new cd and from what i understand he did an american tour playing major fesstivals. His name was lee Gates. If you purchase any of his cd's, i believe the profits good to an organization that helps older pennyless recognizabble blues personalities find a place to live.
Albert was electrifying! He passed away just before I got to see him, had tickets and all. When I went to get my refund, they told me Robert Cray was the headliner: I told them Cray was fit to carry Albert's guitar!
All that I've read about him suggests he was a very humble down to earth guy, which makes me want to listen more. His various band members over the years seemed to love him. If you are a tosser, it sort of effects the sound, IMHO. I feel abit of his style in Dave Gilmour's playing. Was Dave also a big fan?
His sax player Jon Smith works with me. Incredible stories about Albert. Robin Ford came up to jam one night and took a solo and threw everything he had including the kitchen sink into it and when Albert soloed after him he did more with one note than Robins whole solo. Robin said it was a great lesson in humility and laughed at himself. Albert did this to GARY MOORE more than once.
I had an interview with him in Belgium back in the days. Next to Rory Gallagher he was one of the friendliest guys I ever met! Very humble and indeed down to earth!
Very impressed with kieth man, I knew he was good but some of those solos he took were worth multiple rewinds…. And I’m not professional but Steve needs a few more lessons from Albert lol, maybe take it easy with the double string repeated bends idk maybe jsut not my taste
Is that a young keith Wyatt ??? He’s ripppppinggg whoever it is…. And idk that other dude takin solos but I can do without him lol at that same time who am? I’m not playing next the Albert lol
