Albert Collins - Collins Mix: The Best Of

There has never been and may never be again a bluesman quite like Albert Collins. "The Master Of The Telecaster" was born on October 1, 1932, in Leona, Texas. A cousin of the legendary Lightnin' Hopkins, Collins emerged with a blues sound and style all his own, featuring a combination of icy echo, shattering, ringing, sustained high notes, an ultra-percussive right-hand attack, and an unheard-of minor key guitar tuning (taught to him by his cousin Willow Young). Deeply influenced by T-Bone Walker, John Lee Hooker and Gatemouth Brown, Collins absorbed the sounds of Mississippi, Chicago, and especially Texas. He formed his own band in 1952, packing clubs around Houston. In the early 1960s, Collins' "cool sound" instrumentals like the million-seller Frosty (recorded with a young Johnny Winter and Janis Joplin in attendance at the studio) and follow-ups Sno Cone and Thaw Out were all over R&B radio. Soon he was sharing stages with his idols Gatemouth Brown and T-Bone Walker.

Collins Mix: The Best Of

Albert Collins & The Heartbreakers - Live '92 - '93

Albert Collins & The Heartbreakers - Live '92 - '93

Live '92 - '93

Alabama Mike - Taylor Made Blues

"Tailor Made Blues" his follow up to the highly acclaimed "Day To Day".

Street date is JULY 15. "Tailor Made Blues" features guitar ace's Anthony Paule, Jon Lawton, James Cotton sideman Tom Holland and the Faboulous T-Bird's bass player Randy Bermudes as well as some very phat horns. Alabama Mike again shows he is the real deal, a great singer a great songwriter

Taylor Made Blues

Dave Alvin - Eleven Eleven

Dave Alvin turns it up. The intensity, the focus, the volume. On Alvin's new album Eleven Eleven, the man who many credit with pioneering what has come to be known as 'roots rock,' revisits the burning, guitar-centered blues rock that initially defined his career along with his band The Blasters in the late 1970s. After The Blasters, Alvin explored the path of American folk music, a road that led to classic albums and Grammy wins (for his album Public Domain: Songs from the Wild Land), establishing him as one of America's most distinguished songwriters and California's de facto roots music ambassador. Fast forward to Eleven Eleven and Dave is ready to raise the stakes again, calling on some Blasters including his brother Phil, with whom he duets for the first time ever on record. The inaugurals continue with Dave writing all the songs while on the road touring, a first for the seasoned performer. The new method clearly sparked new ideas for Alvin, with the blistering guitar runs and Bo Diddley beat of ''Run Conejo Run'' sidling up alongside the gentle finger-picking of the tremolo-soaked ''No Worries Mija.'' Eleven Eleven also features ''Harlan County Line,'' the song featured, along with an Alvin cameo as himself, in FX original series Justified and Alvin's highest and fastest-selling digital single ever.

Eleven Eleven