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The Telecaster is a legendary guitar, its sharp sound is unique and unmistakable and has traversed 60 years of music without showing signs of aging, becoming an integral part of the iconography particularly associated with blues and rock.
Over these 60 years, countless artists have tied their image to the Telecaster, just think of Muddy Waters, Bruce Springsteen, Keith Richards, true music legends, but only one has earned the title of "Master of the Telecaster": Albert Collins.
To understand the reason for such a nickname, the 8 tracks contained in this "Ice Pickin'" are enough, where Albert Collins shows everyone that you don't become "The Master of the Telecaster" by chance...
His is a very personal style, he doesn't use a pick, but attacks the guitar in such a way as to extract a sharp sound from it that strikes you like an electric shock, when he performs his endless bends it seems like he wants to grab you by the neck and choke you... It goes without saying that the most suitable guitar for a sound like this can't be anything other than the Telecaster...
The album in question, released in 1978, is his definitive consecration, from this point on Albert Collins will become, along with Stevie Ray Vaughan, the greatest interpreter of the '80s blues revival and will earn a place in the blues Olympus, alongside the greatest.
Tracks like "Honey, Hush!", "Ice Pick", "Too Tired" ooze a contagious groove, a fundamental characteristic of his sound, and when the tension eases, out comes "Cold, Cold Feeling", a spine-tingling slow, and "Conversation With Collins", a talking piece where Collins alternates between using his voice and his guitar... And the latter is, naturally, the absolute protagonist of the album, every solo that Collins extracts from it is a delight for the listener, the union between instrument and musician is perfect, almost as if they were an extension of one another.
An album produced in such a way as to capture the extraordinary energy Albert Collins was capable of transmitting when playing live, always the most suitable dimension for blues, and to let the listener savor it.
An album that every lover of the blues (and more) who respects themselves, and, I'll say more, every guitarist worthy of the name should have, without any reservations.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
05 Too Tired (03:01)
I layed down last night, too tired to wait
I had a chill this mornin', too tired to shake
I got a good poker hand, too tired to win
I could hear my baby knockin', too tired to let her in
I'm tired, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm tired
Too tired, too tired for anything
Too tired to walk, too tired to run
I can hear my baby callin', too tired, too tired
Too tired, yes I'm tired
I'm tired, too tired for anything
I'm tired of prosperity, tired of luck
Sittin' on a pin, I'm too tired to get up
I'm tired, I declare, I declare, I'm tired
Too tired, tired, too tired for anything
I'm tired, baby!
Hey!
06 Master Charge (05:11)
My wife has a charge card
That I got her the other day,
I owe five hundred dollars
that's just for yesterday.
I said,
"Honey, here's a present go out and shop around.
Get a couple of dresses and browse around
downtown."
She did just what I told her,
Bought one, two or three
Then came home looking silly
Making goo-goo eyes at me.
Chorus: (3X)
Master Charge
Master Charge
A Bank of America Card
I said, "Did you get your dresses?"
She said, "Yes, one or two,
but I had to get me some shoes and I needed
some jewelry too."
She had $200 dresses
That I could have made and I can't sowe!
Fifty Dollars pair of shoes
And I thought you so and so.
I said, "What about the jewelry?"
As calmly as I could.
She said, "Honey, you'll love them. They're pure African wood."
(Chorus) 3X
Let's charge it!
Let's charge it!
She said, "They were $200 and I paid
one and a half!"
I just didn't believe it,
I was so mad I had to laugh.
I could see it in my mind
On a horse like Paul Revere
I check my mail box
'cause these bills keep coming here.
(Chorus) 3X
Charge it!
Let's charge it!
Let's charge it!
07 Conversation With Collins (08:51)
[Instrumental & guitar background during conversation]
You take like, me an' my wife
We got about four kids
Found the next door neighbor, an' she says,
"Look-a-here, let's get together one night,
An' go out an' have a ball, let the husbands baby-sit,
How 'bout that?"
Can ya dig it fellas?
She come after me, she says, "Honey, we wanna go out tonight, and have a ball"
I said, "Sure, it's alright, just as long as you be home by two"
I let's her go ahead on out, an' I'm baby sittin',
Kids hollerin' an' cryin',
I had to put diapers, change diapers
Two o'clock come, no wife
I said well, that's alright she probably went 'bout four or five miles out-a the city limit
I give her about thirty minutes to get home
Can ya dig it fellas?
Three o'clock come, still no wife
Four o'clock, sure was mad, now
Here she come, draggin' in
Now can ya dig this fellas?
Now here the way she talk to me, real sweet
She sounded good, ya know
Kissin' me all on the neck an' goin' on
Felt good, but I'm still mad!
Now after she done all that sweet talk,
You know what I told her, fellas?
You know what I told her?
You don't know what I told her?
An' I fool around an' made her mad, you know what would happen?
You know what she told me, fellas?
Now I told her the same thing
[Let's ride this thing outta trouble] (yeah)
Well this woman is puttin' me out
How 'bout that?
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