Frozen Alive! is Albert Collins's first live record for Alligator, cut over four nights at The Union Bar in Minneapolis from March 5 to 8, 1981. Produced by Bruce Iglauer and Dick Shurman and released the same year, it's the record that most faithfully captures Collins in his natural habitat — the bar — with his Icebreakers stretching out around him and no studio sheen between his Telecaster and your ears.
The Icebreakers lineup on the tapes is a killer: Allen Batts on organ, A.C. Reed on tenor, Marvin Jackson on second guitar, Casey Jones on drums, and Johnny B. Gayden on bass. It's the same road-tested band that would back him at festivals for years. Collins had a long-extended-jam streak live, and Frozen Alive! gives those solos the room they never got in the studio.
Cool stuff:
- Four nights at The Union Bar Recorded March 5–8, 1981 in a Minneapolis bar, which is why the record sounds like a club set rather than a polished theater recording.
- Named to year-end lists The Atlanta Journal-Constitution placed Frozen Alive! among the best albums of 1981.
- Full Icebreakers lineup Allen Batts (organ), A.C. Reed (tenor), Marvin Jackson (guitar), Casey Jones (drums), Johnny B. Gayden (bass) — Collins's tightest touring band.
- Long-form solos The looser bar setting let Collins push his trademark icy Telecaster work out into extended territory the studio records kept tighter.
Spin it for: Albert Collins doing what he did best — burning down a small room with a hot band and no safety net.
Standouts: "Listen Here!" · "If You Love Me Like You Say" · "Frosty" · "Cold Cold Feeling"
Sources: Wikipedia — Frozen Alive! · Alligator Records · AllMusic review · Discogs release