Happy Birthday Albert Collins! (October 1, 1932)
Hi, WA Friends!
Please help me celebrate the birthday of the late great Albert Collins! He was one of the best Blues guitar players that ever lived!
Oh yeah, baby! This guy isn’t called “The Ice Man” for nothing! His blistering notes are like an ice pick through the forehead! It sounds like a bad thing, but it’s so bad that it’s good! Notice all the exclamation marks? They’re not there for nothing (here’s another one)!
The other name he’s well-known by is the “Master Of The Telecaster” (a type of guitar)!
And, what else could he name his band, except “The Icebreakers” (seriously)?
Once again, this is a purely fun musical post that has nothing to do with affiliate marketing training, but if you stick around, I’ll tell you a little story (while you’re losing money by not doing what you’re actually here to do).
I had the enormous privilege of seeing and hearing Al play at a small club in Rhode Island back in the 1980s. At the time, his other guitar player was the fabulous Debbie Davies. I had a chance to speak with her during the sound check.
I told her how great her playing sounded, and she just started laughing. She said, "When Al comes out here, he’s going to blow the roof off this place and melt the walls!” I’m here to tell you that she was not exaggerating; if anything, that statement was watered down! I can easily believe that he weakened the building’s structure that night!
Albert’s playing was nothing less than superb! During the first set, he broke his high-E string and played the last song with the other five strings as if nothing had happened.
Then, he reached into the back of his Fender Quad Reverb amplifier and pulled out an old rusty E-string that I probably would not have touched without gloves on. I asked him how often he changes his guitar strings. His answer, of course, was “whenever they break.”
I did two things that night.
First, I made note of his amplifier settings. He had his Treble set to 10 (full up), Middle at 5, Bass at 1, and Volume and Master Volume both set to kill (at 10).
Second, I decided to get an ‘80s Silverface Quad Reverb Amp and found one that week at a “Daddy's Junky Music Store” in New York. I already had a Telecaster guitar.
That guitar and amp combination was like a sonic blast from a doomsday machine! Of course, I couldn’t sound precisely like Albert Collins, no one could and still can't, but I had the time of my life trying!
I still have the guitar and amp.
Here is the Albert Collins Telecaster Guitar
The Fender Quad Reverb Amplifier
(It's so heavy, it comes with casters)
Check out some of the “Ice Man’s” album names! They’re all packed full of outstanding tunes (hint, hint)!
By now, I hope you're getting the idea of just how “cool” this guy really was!
If you’ve never heard Albert Collins And The Ice Breakers play, you owe it to yourself to take a listen!
I’ll leave you with this one question. Do I seem obsessed, at all, with guitars to you? 😎
Happy Birthday, Albert! 🎂
Let me know what you think of The Ice Man in the comments.
Keep On Rockin’ 🤘
Frank 🎸
Recent Comments
50
Yet another guitarist I have never heard of Frank.. but a very happy birthday to you Albert anyway!!
I will check out some of his tunes directly Frank!!
And as for your parting question here my friend.... YES!
I think you are very obsessed with guitars... but that is fantastic!!
I wish I was as interested in any one topic as you are buddy!!
Keep on Rockin'!!
Hey, Nick!
Alright, - checking out The Iceman!
Believe it or not, my guitar obsession goes back to fifth grade, but at least I'm consistent! 😎
Enjoy your Saturday, and let me know what you think of Albert's playing!
Keep on Rockin' 🤘
Frank 🎸
I'm checking out Albert as I type this Frank!!
"If trouble was money" is the track!
He is certainly a very cool dude my friend!!
But hasn't played much guitar yet...
Ok, the tune is over... the lad could certainly play, it's just not my favourite type of music!!
I will slap my 90's indie/rock back on now my friend!!
He plays mostly electric blues, jump blues, and some rock.
Where do you listen to 90's indie/rock?
I see my friend..
I normally listen to 90's indie rock from the comfort of my favourite spot on my balcony my friend!!
Nice! Sorry, I meant what platform?
My wife listens to 90s’ music on SiriusXM. They have an excellent selection!
Aahh ok! On YouTube mainly my friend!
I will have to check out SiriusXM then, if I can get it on my TV!
Hey, Nick
Yes, certain brands and models of smart televisions do feature SiriusXM. Also, some smart Blu-ray and 4K players have it pre-installed or accessible online.
SiriusXM features pretty high audio quality, essentially CD-level (sampling rate of 44,100), depending to some extent on your location.
I have the SiriusXM Opera channel set up on an audio processor in our home theater with an acoustic model using a Dolby Atmos height virtualization that models the interior of an opera house.
We sit in there on the weekends and listen to opera before enjoying a relaxing dinner.
Music makes everything better! 😎
Frank 🎸
Wow Frank! It sounds like you have everything setup there for the maximum music experience!!
Unfortunately, I live in an apartment in the centre of the city and I already have problems with the neighbours due to the noise we (well my wife actually... Brazilians are a boisterous lot in general) make!!
I would love a better setup here, but for the time being the sound from the TV is pretty good actually!!
Hi, Nick
Hahaha - I've been in that situation several times over the years, so I can totally sympathize with you. 😎
It all started as far back as having a cranky neighbor that would call the police on my 7th-grade garage band! My mother got to know the police officers so well that some of them would have coffee and dessert!
I have about 1 ½ acres of land around my house now, so we can make as much noise inside as we like.
One thing you can do is get a soundbar for your TV if you don't already have one. The Bose soundbars are awesome compared to most others.
Frank 🎸
It sounds like you can Frank...
Getting the local police around for coffee and desserts when they should be investigating the source of... what can I say (potential noise pollution) in the area, is a great technique, your mother sounds very wise..
I would love to have that much space again.. I grew up in the countryside where we had about 80 acres of land surrounding the property!
The actual property was sold by my parents a few years back, but I think we still own most of the land!
We have a couple of Bose... portable speakers I guess... the sound is fantastic from them!
But.. the neighbours are still not overly impressed by the quality of the sound!! 🤣🤣
My mother used to tell the police officers, "I'd rather have my kids here playing music than someplace else getting in trouble."
I never really got in any ''trouble," but it always worked! 😂
Wow, that must have been a fantastic place to grow up with all that land!
You need to invite your neighbors to a few parties and make them "see the light!" 😎
Your Mother sounds like a very wise woman Frank!
It was a fantastic place to grow up in... I even constructed my own 9 hole golf course there back in the day!!
Unfortunately, my predominantly French neighbours here have absolutely no idea what a party is... and as for showing them the light!!!!
You get the idea buddy!!
Happy Birthday, Albert!
I don't know this one, Frank, so more piled on the research stack, my friend!
Jeff😎🎸
Hey, Jeff
If I were you, I'd prioritize Albert on your stack! 🤔
Happy Saturday! 😎
Keep On Rockin' 🤘
Frank 🎸
Hey, Jeff
Wait till you hear the sounds he gets out of that Quad Reverb amp!
It was Fender's version of a Marshall half-stack. It weighed so much with the four twelve-inch speakers inside the same cabinet as the amp that nobody wanted to carry it, not even with the casters that came pre-installed with the unit.
It moves a lot of air and has the ultimate in Fender chime.
They should have built the amp separate from the speaker cabinet, like the Fender Bandmaster, Dual Showman, etc., but they were trying to lower the retail price of the amp, and it backfired on them to a certain extent!
Frank 🎸
Hi, Maria
Is this the first time you're hearing about this guy?
I giving you "musical gold" here, so take a listen! 😎
Frank 🎸
Hi, Maria
You can hear Albert Collins on YouTube for free or on any of the music streaming platforms you belong to.
Enter his name there and just pick anything. All of his stuff is great!
Frank 🎸
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Dear obsessed WA member,
Yes, you do seem obsessed, but it's a good thing. You are giving us a unique education.
Wish we could find some effective settings for our business the way a musician can do with an amp. Perhaps this group can come up with suggestions.
Keep up the music notes!
Hi, Fran
Hahaha - I suspected that I might have a guitar obsession, but if you say so then I believe you. 😎
I'm so happy that you're liking these musical posts!
I added another one today on Stevie Ray Vaughan's Birthday.
Frank 🎸