Albert Collins - Honey Hush! - Live at Montreux

MickM

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I saw/heard Albert blow the doors off of one of those 15 x 45 foot Pittsburgh neighborhood bars for close to 3 hrs. around 1981 or so. The man rocked every song like it might be his last and I'm pretty sure he had about 50 feet of guitar cable and gave everybody in the crowd an up close and personal look at what he was doing. Great performer but I wound up using a couple Newport cigarette filters for ear plugs; Not so much for the loudness but Albert was a serious disciple of the treble knobs and that bridge pickup was "sharp" to put it mildly.
 

WilburBufferson

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I saw/heard Albert blow the doors off of one of those 15 x 45 foot Pittsburgh neighborhood bars for close to 3 hrs. around 1981 or so. The man rocked every song like it might be his last and I'm pretty sure he had about 50 feet of guitar cable and gave everybody in the crowd an up close and personal look at what he was doing. Great performer but I wound up using a couple Newport cigarette filters for ear plugs; Not so much for the loudness but Albert was a serious disciple of the treble knobs and that bridge pickup was "sharp" to put it mildly.

OP: that was GREAT, thank you! :)

Treble? I saw him in the 90s in Toronto at the El Mocambo, right around the time the Black Crowes were making it big. Well, the BC were playing the same night at Varsity Field (about a 5 minute drive from the EM). Rumor has it that they cut their encore short to catch the tail end of Albert's set. I don't know about shortening their show, but I can vouch that they were there because everything stopped while security escorted them into the packed venue. But man, same thing... long guitar cable and deafening ice pick treble pickup. What a set. At an earlier point in the show he thanked SRV for giving him and the other original guys credit for their music. Then he played "The Things That I Used To Do", but not like Stevie. It was sad and melancholic, as if the lyrics didn't make that obvious. I was so touched by his performance that I was on the verge of tears by the end of the song. Wow. Aside from the hearing damage, that was one of THE best live music experiences I've ever had.

"I've got a good poker hand, too tired to win." LOL
 

El Tele Lobo

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I think Albert Collins is my favorite blues guitarist. He wasn't the fastest, not the flashiest, not even the bluesiest, but he never fails to put a smile on my face. More than anyone else, he could make the guitar talk, cry, wail and moan. He wrote great songs too. And of course, he played the heck out of '66 Tele.

The thing I don't get is, his tele is noteworthy for a humbucker in the neck, but I've never seen his switch on any position but all the way back when I've seen him play. Anyone ever seen/heard him use the bucker?
 

El Tele Lobo

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His debut record on the Alligator label, Ice Pickin', is still one of my all time favourite blues albums. It includes Honey Hush!, Master Charge, and Too Tired.

This record was my introduction to Albert. I think I got it on cassette, on sale, because they were clearancing out cassettes as they switched over to CDs.

I met a 16-year-old kid at a blues jam in NYC who dedicated his jam performance to Albert and Johnny Clyde Copeland, both of whom had recently died. He did MasterCharge and She's Into Somethin'. Kid could sing and play his tail off. He let me sit in with his band many times and I learned a lot watching and listening to him. He could play anything...Albert Collins, Albert King, Stevie, B.B., Buddy Guy, T-Birds, Robert Cray, rockabilly stuff. Monster. I've tried to locate him but haven't been able to turn up anything about him online.
 

El Tele Lobo

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This record was my introduction to Albert. I think I got it on cassette, on sale, because they were clearancing out cassettes as they switched over to CDs.

I met a 16-year-old kid at a blues jam in NYC who dedicated his jam performance to Albert and Johnny Clyde Copeland, both of whom had recently died. He did MasterCharge and She's Into Somethin'. Kid could sing and play his tail off. He let me sit in with his band many times and I learned a lot watching and listening to him. He could play anything...Albert Collins, Albert King, Stevie, B.B., Buddy Guy, T-Birds, Robert Cray, rockabilly stuff. Monster. I've tried to locate him but haven't been able to turn up anything about him online.

CORRECTION...I forgot. I purchased Cold Snap first, then Ice Pickin'. Both incredible albums!
 

MickM

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Anybody know if he used an open tuning/tunings? I don't think he moved his capo from the 7th or 8th fret the entire show but he coaxed and choked more straight up emotion out of the remaining available notes than any number of his better known peers.
 

Peegoo

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He usually had his Tele tuned to an open Fm chord.


I've always had huge respect for Collins. He was a true DIY sort of guy.

Not many folks know this, but he was often the one that drove the band's bus. And if there was a mechanical problem or a flat tire, Albert was the guy that got out the tools and got dirty. I think he was a truck driver prior to his musical career.

Saaaaa-LOOOT!
 

schmee

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I play Honey Hush now and then. Took me a while to learn to do the rif while singing!

My HS buddy played bass for Albert for a while in the 70's...
 

wrathfuldeity

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Albert was THE Showman! I grew up (starting at age 16 in 1975) seeing him at least a dozen+ times in a tiny little bar. Have seen him walk the bar, wonder outside hitting on unsuspecting college girls who happened to be walking by, wondering out on the street...stopping traffic...all while blasting his tele. Have bought the man a few drinks, seen pull up driving his bus and hung out with the band in the alley between sets. He could pierce your soul with just a snap of 1 string...of course his quad knobs where all on 10. He was a very humble and unassuming soul until he plugged in that tele with his amp turned all the way up. He could make that git talk...lol. He was beloved by all the folks at the Zoo...nobody could work the bar like Mr. Collins...see below.

https://hoodoorootsblues.blogspot.com/2011/07/everybodys-rockin-at-zoo-bar-by-b.html

 
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teletimetx

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I've done your dirty dishes
How much am I suppose to take?
When I left I had corn flakes for breakfast
Now there's a bone from a T-bone steak


too many dirty dishes...
 

Muku

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Had the fortune to experience him at the caza De La Raza in Santa Barbara. He was a FORCE.
His eviscerating tone goes through everything. Shorts circuits nervous systems. No one was not affected.

Albert!
 
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