| Cold Snap | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1986 | |||
| Studio | Streeterville Studios, Chicago, Illinois | |||
| Genre | Blues | |||
| Label | Alligator | |||
| Producer | Albert Collins, Bruce Iglauer, Dick Shurman | |||
| Albert Collins chronology | ||||
| ||||
Cold Snap is an album by the American blues musician Albert Collins, released in 1986. [1] [2] The album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the "Best Traditional Blues Recording" category. [3] Collins supported the album with a North American tour. [4]
The album was produced by Albert Collins, Bruce Iglauer, and Dick Shurman. [5] Mel Brown, Jimmy McGriff, and the Uptown Horns played on Cold Snap. [6]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [7] |
| Robert Christgau | B [8] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [9] |
| The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings | [10] |
| The Philadelphia Inquirer | [11] |
| Record Collector | [12] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [13] |
Robert Christgau called the album an obvious attempt by Alligator to win for Collins a Grammy. [8] The St. Petersburg Times deemed it "a hefty dose of Texas-style blues, augmented by the sounds of Chicago's south side." [14] The Globe and Mail wrote that "Jimmy McGriff and the Uptown Horns contribute more smooth edges to music that has the usual Collins power but not the usual Collins urgency." [15]
The Chicago Tribune wrote: "The skeptical should head directly to 'Too Many Dirty Dishes', where Collins' riffs seem to be literally scrubbing the pots and pans." [16] The Providence Journal-Bulletin declared that "what really strikes the listener this time is the masterful, ice-blue singing—tasty as a snow cone and brutal as frostbite—and the wry, semi-detached lyrics." [6]
AllMusic opined that Collins is "at his best when he's just playing the blues, not when he's trying to sing." [7]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cash Talkin' (The Workingman's Blues)" | Odell McLeod | 4:30 |
| 2. | "Bending Like a Willow Tree" | Lowell Fulson | 4:23 |
| 3. | "A Good Fool Is Hard to Find" | Gloria Houston, Nina Shackleford | 4:15 |
| 4. | "Lights Are On but Nobody's Home" | Albert Collins | 5:59 |
| 5. | "I Ain't Drunk" | Joe Liggins | 4:06 |
| 6. | "Hooked on You" | John George Brady | 4:23 |
| 7. | "Too Many Dirty Dishes" | John Newton | 6:52 |
| 8. | "Snatchin' It Back" | Clarence Carter, George Jackson | 3:33 |
| 9. | "Fake I.D." | Albert Collins | 3:46 |
Albert Gene Collins, known as Albert Collins and the Ice Breakers, was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. He was noted for his powerful playing and his use of altered tunings and a capo. His long association with the Fender Telecaster led to the title "The Master of the Telecaster".
Mel Brown was an American-born blues guitarist and singer. He is best remembered for his decade-long backing of Bobby Bland, although in his own right Brown recorded over a dozen albums between 1967 and 2006.
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Melvyn Desmond Collins is a British saxophonist, flautist and session musician.
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