Showdown
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Category: Music CD
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CD Details
Edition: Music CDAudio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 1990-10-25
Music Label: Alligator Records
Soundtracks:
- T-Bone Shuffle
- The Moon Is Full
- Lion's Den
- She's Into Something
- Bring Your Fine Self Home
- Black Cat Bone
- The Dream
- Albert's Alley
- Blackjack
Music reviews of Showdown
Music Review: A Must-Have in Any Blues Collection - Simply Stellar
Rating: 5 Stars
I just came across this disc recently, while I was doing searches on Johnny Copeland's records. When this record came up, I was surprised to see Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, and Robert Cray play together, but now I know that both Copeland and Cray were Albert Collins' proteges when they were starting out.
So in other words, it's kind of like a blues family reunion, and that is exactly how this CD feels. It's a meeting of the blues admiration society. You can hear it from the respect each musician pays to one another on record and how they talk and respond to each other.
Collins, Copeland, and Cray work incredibly well together. The tunes they put out are nothing short of stellar - intense, soulful, masterful, emotional Chicago blues from guitar virtuosos.
-"Hey Albert!"
-"Hey, yea, what's happening Johnny?"
-"You got your harmonica with you today, man?"
-"Yea, I brought it with me today, man."
-"I think we better get on down, you know, because I got the bluuuuues."
-"You know I got 'em too."
-"Here it is...."
-"Here it is, man..."
With those words, the bluesmen start playing "Bring your fine self home." Albert is playing harmonica in a way that's just so ornate and beautiful, it will send tingles down your spine. Johnny is growling on the vocals, while Albert keeps blowing that fine harmonica, and what a fine tune they make. Slow rolling blues that's is as soulful as it gets.
"The Dream" is a beautiful song where Robert Cray gets to show everyone his beautiful vocals. I agree with other reviewers that Cray adds certain touch of sophistication to this record. His style is quite a bit different from the two other men, but when he sings and Albert plays his guitar in that icy hot trademark way of his, you just have to hold your breath and listen to every note.
"Blackjack" is probably my personal favorite on this record. It's a slow-rolling blues tune with a strong beat, excellent vocals, and intense guitar solos by each of the three. It's mostly Johnny Copeland that's doing the singing on this record with his trademark growl, but on this track, Albert is doing the singing, which is pure delight. When Albert calls out on each man to solo, you can see just how different the sounds and styles are between the three guitar players. Albert's guitar is unmistakable - it cuts your ear real sharp. Johnny's sound is also stinging but in a different sense. His style, to me, is sort of a hybrid of Albert Collins and Albert King school of sound, squeezing the notes and yet keeping the icy electrical edge. Robert Cray's style was highly reminiscent of his guitar work on his disc "I Was Warned", a more aggressive rock-flavored battering that he played back in the day. What a unique track!
I can't believe I didn't find out about this disc sooner. It's any electrical blues fan's dream.
Description of Showdown
180 gram vinyl reissue of this Grammy Award-winning, all-time best-selling masterpiece from Alligator Records. Remastered with bonus track "Something To Remember You By," this title has been out of print on vinyl for 20 years. It's a celebrated cutting contest between three legendary blues guitarists. Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland are sadly no longer with us, but Robert Cray continues to record and tour, and is one of the best-selling blues artists in history!Call it three for the price of one. Far from engaging in a guitar-playing shootout, Albert Collins, Robert Cray, and Johnny Copeland work together incredibly well, achieving a kind of musical synergy that's rarely heard. Copeland and Cray handle most of the vocal duties, and Cray's smooth, soul-tinged voice (positively shiver-eliciting on "The Dream," as is Collins's lead guitar work) complements Copeland's growl perfectly. Collins doesn't get to sing as much, but he more than makes up for it with his harmonica on the slow blues "Bring Your Fine Self Home." And of course, all three turn in stellar guitar work, trading solos and rhythm parts with the greatest of ease; Cray was a relative newcomer at the time of this recording, but he more than holds his own. One would be hard pressed to find a better blues collaboration anywhere. --Genevieve Williams
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