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REMEMBERING ALBERT COLLINS: An open-ended documentary project. Last update: 7/1/07 Project Director: Carolle Uithoven Email us your remembrance of Albert Post a story now Transcription Notes DOUG MACLEOD: Albert Collins did a song o' mine, called 'Cash Talkin' (The Workin' Man Blues)' on the 'Cold Snap' record. And I remember when he did it I could hear it in the background when Bruce Iglauer called me. And they were gonna change the title of it. I called it 'Workin' Man Blues.' And Bruce said to me, he said, "Doug," he says, "we can't call it 'Workin' Man Blues'." I said, "Why?" He said, "Well, because Merle Haggard got a song called 'Workin' Man Blues'. And they might get it confused." And I don't know how on earth you could confuse Albert Collins with Merle Haggard but that's what Bruce wanted to do. So I asked Bruce, I said, "Bruce. Does this mean you gonna get part o' the publishin'?" He says, "No." I said, "Does this mean you gonna get part of the writer's rights?" He said, "No." I said, "Bruce, call it whatever you want to. Just get it on the record." So, about---oh, maybe two, three months before Albert passed away I saw 'im---well, I was in the back room with 'im---and he said to me, he said, "MacLeod, I'm 'onna do another record. You got another song for me?" I said, "How many songs you want, Albert? I'll give you any song you want." You know what I mean? And I had a lot for him. But he died. And I told 'im, that when he did 'Cash Talkin' (The Workin' Man Blues)', my wife'n I were goin' through a hell of a hard time with money. And that check came in from BMI for dat, and the check from Alligator for dat song. It got us through. And I'll always be thankful that Albert Collins did a song o' mine. That's my most fond remembrance of 'im. I mean, I worked with 'im, too, in a backup band, with Coco Montoya. Together---we in the band together! And with Albert, man, what a great time that was! That's when Albert had that long cord---that he went all the way out the theater---had a guy like a fishin' line, behind 'im, movin' people t'the side, sayin' "Git outa the way! Git outa the way!"---n' the band, we just kept playin'. And he went out, came around, and came back... Y'know, he played in that open F minor tunin'---and he mighta been the last o' the most distinct guitar players...I'm thinkin' about that now. What's comin' to my mind is this: is that so many guitar players now, you listen to 'em, you don't know who it is. But when you listened to Albert Collins you knew exactly it was Albert Collins...You know what I'm sayin'? He's one of the unique guys. I miss 'im. I miss 'im. I miss his energy and his joy and his laughter---and 'is bus. I miss 'is bus. (7/14/01 AE) BRIAN "B.J." JONES: Yeah, I got somethin' about Albert Collins. Well, it's more or less about his road tech that he had...Albert had this, like---you know, now they have the wireless shit that you go out, and all this stuff. There's a certain amount of signal that really gets lost from the amp to the guitar. So, you know---Albert had a cord...and this cord, it was like two miles long. And at the end of the night, when his roadie would be sittin' there rollin' it up, you could just imagine 'im sittin' there just cussin' him out---"Two hundred foot cord. Wh' the hell does he have to go so far anyway?" Just steadily rollin' up this cord. And this was every night. Y'know? ...I was on tour with Joanna Connor...sorta coinciding on the same tour, all the way up to, like, Telluride...He drove a bus. And I think they had to park that bus at the bottom o' the mountain and flew up or somethin', man, 'cause this mountain was , like, treacherous, boy. And th' locals were flyin' around this thing like---like it was straight 'head highway, y'know? And I'm, like, creepin', and Joanna's all on my shoulder and whatnot, and I was scared shitless, tryin' t'go to Telluride or wherever it was... Debbie Davies was workin' with him at the time, and Joanna and Debbie would be playing and Albert'd just...go sit down and let them do their thing, and they would just go at it. It was nothing malicious. It was just good healthy competition and...both of 'em were just awesome...I woulda stood 'em up to any man, y'know? And Albert's band was there and our band was there and sometime we would all mix and just jam...but when Albert come up, man, I don't care who was up there...he would play one note, just one note, one note---one note---and just hold it. And the thing about it was, he put---I don't know if he put it in there or if he made it come out---but that one note had so much feeling in it. ..I'm not embellishing, it's just the way I perceived it...y'know, just hold that note. And the note was like crying. Y'know, and then he had like a sharp thing---tone---that would just, it would cut you...when it come through. But it wasn't piercing. It just...overwhelmed you. I think he used a...was it a Fender? I'm not sure what kind o' amp it was...They played us this tape that Albert had did while he was recording---and what you hear on the CD is finished product. But they put a microphone inside his room. They were recording him being recorded on the thing. And guttural grunting and things that were exuding from his voice---I don't know where that tape is or who's got it anymore but---it was almost like something had taken over him. And the things that...he was doing to get certain sounds or to emulate certain feels that he was playing...it was weird! But it was awesome all at the same time. The feeling that he was puttin' into it---Ooom! Hrrruuh! Errh. Aawwghh! Y'know? And that's intense, man---that is intense. You are in your music... Nobody but the people that were recording at that time heard that---in the group that I was with, and their names' not important, but we were all, like, just listening, you know? 'Cause y'didn't know what to say. ...I didn't really hear any stories about Albert Collins's bus other than it was big, and he drove it most o' th' time. And all the fellas were in there. (5/01 AE) JOHN CHRISTY: 1971, L.A., playin' the Whiskey wid a rock band. Went to a jam session in--- somewhere around Beverly Hills---dragged my Hammond organ in. And this guy came up to me and said, "Man, you played good, you wanna do some gigs with me?" And I said, "Oh---okay." It was Albert Collins. And we played at USC, and we played some big concerts out...in Anaheim and around L.A. area. And it was the coolest thing. Man, he had this---it musta been a hundred and fifty foot---guitar cord. He went out in the audience. People were rolling in the aisles. Albert Collins---great guy. Twenty-five years later or somethin' like that, he came to the Kingston Mines and stood there and watched me play a whole set. And he said, "I remember you." That's it. End of story. (7/30/00 AE) LAFAYETTE LYLE: Albert Collins, that's one o' the nicest cats that I know. Every time I see him play, if he's playin' and he can't play and talk at the same time while he's onstage, he'll stop playin' just to see whatever it is that somebody wants from 'im. He's always tryin' to help somebody. He'll always help. Albert is a real good guy... That seems to stand out the most...That's what made me think that he was a alright guy. 'Cause every time I see 'im, and he's talkin', he'll stop. He'll stop and take time with people. So as far as his playin' and all that other stuff, he's always been good, fantastic, and all that other stuff, but his personality shines out more than his playin' to me. God bless ya, Albert! (7/30/00 AE) CHARLIE LOVE: I met Albert Collins here at the Kingston Mines. We didn't git a chance to play wid 'im, his guitar was in the trunk, 'cause it's set up special fo' his style o' playin'. ...Two times I met 'im. The last time was, like, a month or two...I wan' be specific---it wa'n't long after, he passed. He walked in, and I could feel some emotions comin' from him, that something wa'n't right. I went home...I told my wife, I say, "Somethin' not right with Albert, I see a sadness in 'im." And he passed. But he was great, I love his music, I have his CDs at home--and, he's another great blues artist. A true pioneer of the blues. In one o' his songs he said, "A good fool is hard to find." And I always think about that in my everyday life situations. (7/30/00 AE) FRANK PELLEGRINO: Albert Collins was at the Mines doing a benefit when we were on Clark Street, where the rock 'n' roll McDonalds is currently located. And that afternoon, 'Two On Two', which was a local newsmagazine show on Channel 2, had did a thing on Doc Pellegrino and the Kingston Mines...and Albert...just went, "And you gotta be a doctor to do all this." Albert was always real accessible to other blues musicians. He was just that kind o' guy. And he would talk to you about the little things, y'know, details. So much in getting blues right is the little details. And there was little things that he used to do that set his guitar playin' and his writing and arranging apart from other people. Just the way he heard the music. But it was still what everybody considered real live blues. Other than that, there's a million conversations, and most of 'em I can't repeat. (7/30/00 AE) DION PAYTON: Well...it ain't too funny. We 'as out playin' the World's Fair, and uh---nah. I don't even wanna tell ya that. (7/30/00 AE) CURTIS OBEDA: Before I moved back down to Chicago, I was livin' in Minneapolis and playin' with a fella named Big Walter Smith. Now Walter had grown up in Kansas City and was very popular down there. And at one point he found a guy in the park who did not have a gig. His tour had broke down---his promoters and his management, they'd messed things up. And he was actually homeless, living in the park. And that man was Albert Collins. And he didn't know 'im, they were just friends. Albert never said he was a guitar player, and my buddy Big Walter never said he was a singer. And...they used to come to the park and they'd chat, and they might play some dominos or just talk about bein' from---Albert was from Houston and my friend was from Oklahoma... Walter needed a bass player, and the only guy who was with him was a guitar player who was willin' to play bass with Big Walter. And Albert said, "Well, would you mind if I came to sit in, too?" He [Walter] said, "Well, you know we have two guitar players already and I don't know that we need to have ya," thinkin' that he wasn't any good. Finally he said, "Oh, he's such a nice guy," and agreed to let him sit in. Well, of course, Albert Collins came---tore the bar down---and Walter hired 'im, and he played with him for many years after that or knew 'im as a friend. And so, when I played with Big Walter, Albert was his lifelong friend. And I got a chance to meet 'im. And Albert treated me as a stepson, almost. Used to---when I lived in Chicago...when he would leave from Chicago to come to Minneapolis, he'd always make sure, if I wasn't workin', that he said, "I'm goin' to Minneapolis. You gotta go visit your mother." And he'd come to my house and pick me up and he'd take me up to Minneapolis. And I learned so much from Albert...I learned how to play dominos. Now, that cost me a lot o' money, I might add. 'Cause Albert was really the best at it. But the biggest thing that I learned from Albert Collins was---if you are a beautiful person, good luck will come to you. This is a man who---he was a great musician---and things hadn't been goin' well for 'im. He was a house painter at one point, even after havin' hit records and not gettin' paid. And he just sorta walked into this situation, and his talent came out, and as we all know, when he passed away he was one of the biggest stars on the blues circuit. And his passing has left me very empty to this day. Because I've never met a man who was more concerned about other people than Albert Collins. And I've also never met anybody who played in that wacky tuning! ...I still can't play at all like Albert, but he is truly one of the people that I learned the most from about the blues. (7/15/00 AE) (This page is under construction. To be continued...) Back to top Home Site Directory Website (c)2000-2007 Carolle Uithoven/DHMA. All rights reserved. |