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Rating: 
Summary: The Ice Man Lives!
Review: Albert Collins was a great Blues innovator. His Ice Man sound was unique and immediately recognised. This DVD is superb. The band is great and tight and the sound fabluous. Actually all of the Ohne Filter series are excellent, they sound great and the production is excellent. And this is one of the best. The set was filmed in 1988 (October). His band was fabulous and included Debbie Davies on second guitar. She helps with vocals as well (She was from LA and was friends with John Mayall's wife). Tracks include "Listen Here" a great opener and introduction to the Collins-style of Blues. His guitar with minor key tuning, a capo and finger playing has a sound that is impossible copy-there are no SRV's trying to Albert Collins, like there have been with Albert King. No one can do his thing. The set progresses to the shuffle "Tired Man" which has a great soulful vocal. "Lights On Nobody Home" is Collins signature slow Blues, he always did this one! I saw him twice in Australia in 1987 and 1992. Great, just like this DVD. "Mastercharge" showcases the Collins -style of Blues humour. He wrote this with his wife Gwendolyne and it appeared on his most influential LP "Ice Pickin". The rest of the set is also interesting. "BLack Cat Bone" was sung by Johnny Copeland on the Show Down LP (Grammy Winner!) but Albert does a great job. "I Ain't Drunk" displays more of Collin's humourous writing style. "I Got A Feeling" is a funky soulful outing with Davies singing backup. The highlight is of course "Frosty" with Duke Robillard adding a few solos on his Surf Green Stratocaster. It ends, as did most of his shows, with a walk through the crowd on his long guitar lead (his trademark!!) This is a great addition to any Blues DVD collection. I would say that any collection should have Collins (guitar biting sound), Albert King (bending), Little Walter (Harp), Muddy Waters (Voice), Howlin Wolf (Soul), B.B. King (Showmanship) and Freddie King (melodic improvising)!
Rating:
Summary: Just as I remember him ! ! !
Review: Albert Collins' was definitely the funkiest and most soulful of all the Bluesmen (Texas, Chicago, and all points in between !) to walk the planet... The only thing missing from this video is the Hammond Organ... I remember seeing him around that time, and like on his organs... his organist was one of the greasiest I ever heard... Still even without the B-3, Collins' band is slick enough... the horn section in particular... the band is funky, and the video though only an hour long (*I think we would have all prefered 6) really let's you appreciate Collins' warmth, soulfullness and brilliance, even at the blink of an eye... especially apparent is the brilliant, fluent yet cautious way he phrases his lines, each note hitting you like the painful bite of a King Cobra... sometimes you'll even hear him interacting and coupling lines with the horn sections in ways you just wouldn't expect out of no ordinary guy "just" playing the blues... in fact, his style at times reminds me of MILES DAVIS... By that I mean, what other artists might need to say in a billion flashy licks Collins could get out in one simple phrase so perfectly timed its like that one big K.O. punch in a big boxing match, where the guy gets hit... everyone knows he's been hit bad... HE knows he down... and don't even know what hit him... With Collins' virtually every line he hits on his guitar however is like that one last perfectly delivered perfectly landed punch... - - To sum up : Jazzed up horn section (dig Chuck Williams blowing Rhassan Roland Kirk style tenor and alto at the same time), funky rhythm section... and a master guitarist + entertainer at his peek... I'm not going to compare this video to other Albert Collins' videos on the market only to say that the guy's no longer on the planet and I only pray that more and more stuff like this will continue to surface !
Rating:
Summary: Just as I remember him ! ! !
Review: Albert Collins' was definitely the funkiest and most soulful of all the Bluesmen (Texas, Chicago, and all points in between !) to walk the planet... The only thing missing from this video is the Hammond Organ... I remember seeing him around that time, and like on his organs... his organist was one of the greasiest I ever heard... Still even without the B-3, Collins' band is slick enough... the horn section in particular... the band is funky, and the video though only an hour long (*I think we would have all prefered 6) really let's you appreciate Collins' warmth, soulfullness and brilliance, even at the blink of an eye... especially apparent is the brilliant, fluent yet cautious way he phrases his lines, each note hitting you like the painful bite of a King Cobra... sometimes you'll even hear him interacting and coupling lines with the horn sections in ways you just wouldn't expect out of no ordinary guy "just" playing the blues... in fact, his style at times reminds me of MILES DAVIS... By that I mean, what other artists might need to say in a billion flashy licks Collins could get out in one simple phrase so perfectly timed its like that one big K.O. punch in a big boxing match, where the guy gets hit... everyone knows he's been hit bad... HE knows he down... and don't even know what hit him... With Collins' virtually every line he hits on his guitar however is like that one last perfectly delivered perfectly landed punch... - - To sum up : Jazzed up horn section (dig Chuck Williams blowing Rhassan Roland Kirk style tenor and alto at the same time), funky rhythm section... and a master guitarist + entertainer at his peek... I'm not going to compare this video to other Albert Collins' videos on the market only to say that the guy's no longer on the planet and I only pray that more and more stuff like this will continue to surface !
Rating:
Summary: Master of the Telecaster
Review: Having seen the Iceman live several times during the late 80's and early 90's including at the Chicago Bluesfest, I have always been on the lookout for a good live video record of his performances, This is one of them. I had originally taped this off of a cable broadcast in the 1989 but having a DVD version vs. a VHSI had to get this. Albert and his band are smoking!
I also bought the Live at the Carnegie Hall concert on VHS from Alligator when it was released and while his and Roy Buchanon and Lonnie Mack's performances on that are great, I just never liked the atmosphere on that video. It's all brightly lit with no color lights like any normal concerts have.
If you are interested in seeing the Iceman perform, buy this DVD, the only drawback is that it's barely an hour long because it was from a TV show.
Rating:
Summary: this DVD is fabulous
Review: If you like the blues or rock order this DVD immidiatly.This Ohne Filter series is very well produced.Albert Collins is in top form and is his band really grooves.This is one of my favorite concert DVD's.
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