Albert Collins

Albert Collins was born on October 1932, in Leona, Texas. Albert Collins was a passionate instrumentalist and singer who became known as the "Master of the Telecaster" for the distinctively pure "icy" tone he produced from his Fender Telecaster electric guitar.

Collins was a distant relative of Lightnin' Hopkins and grew up learning about music and playing guitar. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, he absorbed the blues sounds and styles from Texas, Mississippi and Chicago. He formed his first band in 1952 and two years later was the headliner at several blues clubs in Houston, Texas. Many of Kansas City's recording studios had closed by the mid 1960s. Unable to record, Collins moved to California in 1967 where he met and played with Canned Heat.

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Collins toured the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. He was becoming a popular blues musician and was an influence for Robert Cray, Debbie Davies, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jonny Lang, Susan Tedeschi, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, John Mayer and Frank Zappa.

In July 1993 Collins was diagnosed with lung cancer and he died shortly afterwards, in November. MP3: Too Manny Dirty Dishes