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ALBERT COLLINS - MASTER OF THE TELECASTER

BY

JOHN HOLMES

Albert King, BB and Freddy King,

and Buddy Guy, are rightly well
known and highly respected
virtually across the globe for their

musical skills and influence on

successive generations of guitar
players.

But they are not the only ones to
have done so - such masters as
Albert Collins, Magic Sam, Otis

Rush, Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown

and T-Bone Walker are equally
giants of blues guitar. Indeed, T-
Bone is an acknowledged influence

on BB himself!

Unfortunately, since their passing,

the lights of some of these great

players have not shone quite so
brightly, so my intention over the
next few months is to remind

readers of their importance, and
perhaps encourage them to delve

into their record collection, or even
the vast Amazon record store,

where much of their music is
available, and often at a bargain price.

So, let’s start by a look at the life and music of the great Albert Collins…

Albert was born in October 1932 in Leona, Texas, which was a small farming

community about 125 miles from Houston. His father was a farm worker, who was

forced to move to the city in 1939, when the farm owner died.

The family lived in the Third Ward, which was the all-black area of the city.

Incidentally, also resident in the same area were 2 others who would rise to some
fame in the music world - Johnny Copeland and Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson.