''Ice Pickin is a studio album by

Albert Collins Albert Gene Drewery, known as Albert Collins and the Ice Man (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993),Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. ...

, released in 1978. It was Collins's breakthrough album. ''Ice Pickin was nominated for a 1979

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

Production

The album was recorded at Curtom Studios, in Chicago. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' wrote of Collins's guitar technique: "Collins had developed a highly distinctive approach to the guitar, tuning it to a D minor chord and using a capo high up the neck to achieve a sharp, brilliant effect, his 'ice-cold, sheet-metal sound' that was mirrored in the name of his band, The Icebreakers."

Critical reception

The ''

Bay State Banner The ''Bay State Banner'' is an independent newspaper primarily geared toward the readership interests of the African-American community in Boston, Massachusetts. The ''Bay State Banner'' was founded in 1965 by Melvin B. Miller who remains the ch ...

'' thought that "when Collins cooks, with fluent riffs and humorous vocals plus innovative tuning and incorporation of minor blues keys, the result is masterful." ''

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' wrote that the album "burrows down to the real nitty gritty of urban existence ... it's one of the best '70s blues albums." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' called the album "a classic." The ''

Iowa City Press-Citizen The ''Iowa City Press-Citizen'' is a daily newspaper published in Iowa City, Iowa, United States that serves most of Johnson County and portions of surrounding counties. Its primary competitors are ''The Gazette'' of Cedar Rapids, which has a new ...

'' called it "a cool, invigorating blast across the era's barren blues landscape." The ''

Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately ...

'' wrote that Collins "made several other stellar releases before his untimely demise in '93, but none match the muscle and depth of this certifiable classic." ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' deemed it the best blues album of 1978, as did the

Montreaux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annu ...

. In addition to a four stars out of four rating, the authors of ''

The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings'' is an encyclopedia of blues music albums released on CD. Content The book was released on 31 October 2006 and was written by Tony Russell and Chris Smith with contributions by Neil Slaven, Ricky Russel ...

'' awarded the album a “Crown”, indicating that they considered it to be an exceptional CD, and one that should be part of any blues collection.

Personnel

*Albert Collins -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, vocals *Larry Burton - guitar *Allen Batts -

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Aron Burton Aron Burton (June 15, 1938 – February 29, 2016) was an American electric and Chicago blues singer, bass guitarist and songwriter. In a long career as a sideman he played with Freddie King, Albert Collins and Junior Wells and released a number ...

- bass *

Casey Jones John Luther "Casey" Jones (March 14, 1863 – April 30, 1900) was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train at Vaughan, Mississippi. Jones was a locomotive engineer for the Illinois Ce ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

A.C. Reed Aaron Corthen, better known as A.C. Reed (May 9, 1926 – February 24, 2004) was an American blues saxophonist, closely associated with the Chicago blues scene from the 1940s into the 2000s. Biography Reed was born in Wardell, Missouri, ...

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

*Chuck Smith -

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

Track listing

#"Honey, Hush! (Talking Woman Blues)" (

Lowell Fulson Lowell Fulson (March 31, 1921March 7, 1999) was an American blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. He also recorded for contractual reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom. After T-Bone Walker, he was the most imp ...

, Washington) - 04:28 #"When the Welfare Turns Its Back on You" (Lucious Porter Weaver, Sonny Thompson) - 05:26 #"Ice Pick" (Collins) - 03:08 #"Cold, Cold Feeling" (Jessie Mae Robinson) - 05:19 #"Too Tired" ( Saul Bihari, Maxwell Davis,

Johnny "Guitar" Watson John Watson Jr. (February 3, 1935 – May 17, 1996), known professionally as Johnny "Guitar" Watson, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. A flamboyant showman and electric guitarist in the style of T-Bone Walker, his recording career ...

) - 03:00 #"Master Charge" (Gwen Collins) - 05:12 #"Conversation with Collins" (Collins) - 08:52 #"Avalanche" (Collins) - 02:39

Liner notes

According to the inside cover of the album:

References

External links

Albert Collins Alligator Website
{{Authority control 1978 albums Albert Collins albums Albums produced by Bruce Iglauer Alligator Records albums