Albert Collins

Frostbite is Albert Collins's second album for Alligator Records, released in 1980 and the record where the Master of the Telecaster really locked in the sound that would carry him through the rest of his career: flamboyant, funky Texas guitar over a swinging horn section led by tenor man A.C. Reed. Produced by label boss Bruce Iglauer with Dick Shurman and drummer Casey Jones, it was tracked at Curtom Studios in Chicago — Curtis Mayfield's old room — which is part of why the horns and backbeat snap the way they do.

Collins's trademarks are all on display here: the unusual minor-key tuning, the bare-thumb plucking that gave his Tele that icy attack, and a voice that had grown from side-of-the-stage to full-on bandleader after a decade of steady Alligator support.

Cool stuff:

• Cut at Curtom Recorded at Curtis Mayfield's Chicago studio, which is why Frostbite sounds so horn-forward and groove-heavy for a blues record.
• A.C. Reed on tenor Reed's tenor sax is practically a co-lead instrument across the album and a huge part of its personality.
• Master of the Telecaster locked in Second Alligator LP is widely regarded as the album where Collins's recorded sound finally caught up to his live reputation.
• Iglauer, Shurman, Jones producing The full Alligator brain trust in the booth, including longtime Collins drummer Casey Jones.

Spin it for: funky, horn-driven Texas blues with that signature icy Tele attack, and the most Alligator-sounding record Albert Collins ever made.

Standouts: "If You Love Me Like You Say" · "Brick" · "I Got A Problem" · "Highway Is Like a Woman"

Sources: Wikipedia — Frostbite · Alligator Records · AllMusic review · Discogs release