Born in Leona, Texas, Collins was a distant relative of Lightnin' Hopkins and grew up learning about music and playing guitar. His family moved to Houston, Texas when he was seven. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, he absorbed the blues sounds and styles from Texas, Mississippi and Chicago. His style would soon envelop these sounds.
He formed his first band in 1952 and two years later was the headliner at several blues clubs in Houston. By the late 1950s Collins began using Fender Telecasters. He later chose a "maple-cap" 1966 Custom Fender Telecaster with a Gibson PAF humbucker in the neck position and a 100 watt RMS silverfaced 1970s Fender Quad Reverb combo as his main equipment, and developed a unique sound featuring minor tunings, sustained notes and an "attack" fingerstyle. He also frequently used a capo on his guitar, particularly on the 5th, 7th, and 9th frets. He primarily favored an "open F-minor" tuning (low to high: F-C-F-Ab-C-F).
Collins began recording in 1960 and released singles, including many instrumentals such as the million selling "Frosty". In the spring of 1965 he moved to Kansas City, Missouri and made a name for himself.
Many of Kansas City's recording studios had closed by the mid 1960s. Unable to record, Collins moved to California in 1967. He settled in San Francisco and played many of the venues popular with the counter-culture. In early 1969 after playing a concert with Canned Heat, members of this band introduced him to Liberty Records. In appreciation, part of the title of Collins’ first record for United Artists - "Love Can Be Found Anywhere (Even In A Guitar)/Trash Talkin'" - was taken from the lyrics of "Refried Hockey Boogie". Collins signed and released his first album on Imperial Records, a sister label, in 1968.
Collins remained in California for another five years, and was popular on double-billed shows at The Fillmore and the Winterland. Collins moved back to Texas in 1973 and formed a new band. He was signed to Alligator Records in 1978 and recorded and released Ice Pickin'. He would record seven more albums with the label, before being signed to Point Blank Records in 1990.
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Collins toured the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. He was becoming a popular blues musician and was an influence for Coco Montoya, Robert Cray, Gary Moore, Debbie Davies, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jonny Lang, Susan Tedeschi, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, John Mayer and Frank Zappa.
In 1983, when he won the W. C. Handy Award for his album Don't Lose Your Cool, which won the award for best blues album of the year. In 1985, he shared a Grammy for the album Showdown!, which he recorded with Robert Cray and Johnny Copeland. The following year his solo release Cold Snap was also nominated for a Grammy. In 1987, John Zorn enlisted him to play lead guitar in a suite he had composed especially for him, entitled "Two-Lane Highway," on Zorn's album Spillane.
Alongside George Thorogood and the Destroyers and Bo Diddley, Collins performed at Live Aid in 1985, playing "Who Do You Love?", "The Sky Is Crying" and "Madison Blues", at Philadelphia's JFK Stadium. He was the only black blues artist to appear.
Collins was invited to play at the 'Legends Of Guitar Festival' concerts in Seville, Spain at the Expo in 1992, where amongst others, he played "Iceman", the title track from his final studio album.
He made his last visit to London, England in March 1993.
After falling ill at a show in Switzerland in late July 1993, he was diagnosed in mid August with lung cancer which had metastasized to his liver, with an expected survival time of four months. Parts of his last album, Live '92/'93, were recorded at shows that September; he died shortly afterwards, in November at the age of 61. He was survived by his wife, Gwendolyn and father, Andy Thomas. He is interred at the Davis Memorial Park, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Collins will be remembered not only for the quantity of quality blues music that he put out throughout his career that has inspired so many other blues musicians, but also for his legendary live performances, where he would frequently come down from the stage and mingle with the audience whilst still playing. This practice was illustrated in Collins' uncredited cameo appearance in the film Adventures in Babysitting. He insisted to Elisabeth Shue that "nobody leaves here without singin' the blues", forcing the children to improvise a song before escaping.
Another instance of Collins' humorous stage presence was recounted in the film documentary, Antones: Austin's Home of the Blues. Collins left the building, still plugged in and playing. Several minutes after Collins returned to the stage, a pizza delivery man came in and gave Collins the pizza he had just ordered when he left the building. Collins had gone to Milto's Pizza & Pasta through an adjoining alley and ordered while he was still playing.
Broke
Albert Collins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I had a Cadillac an' a whole lotta dough
Real fine women used to chase me down
Now, not one-a those gals can be found
They're never home whenever I call
Don't seem to want me around at all
I'm broke, I'm broke, I'm broke, I'm broke
Went to a nightclub an' had my fun
Shuckin' an' jivin' wit' ev'ryone
Drinkin' that beer an' gin an' wine
Boy, I'm tellin' ya I had a good time
When I got home I didn't have no loot
Had to go down an' pawn my suit
I'm broke, I'm broke, I'm broke, I'm broke (ha-ha)
Stone-cold broke, I ain't got a lousy dime
Now, I'm a low-down dirty bum
Right back where I started from
I got no car, I got no gal
I ain't even got a pal
Huffin' an' puffin' can't raise a cent
Put me out, I can't pay my rent
I'm broke, I'm broke, I'm broke, I'm broke
Stone-cold broke, I ain't got a lousy dime
"Damn, I'm broke man, I got no damn money"
"What n' the hell am I gonna do now?"
"Oh hey, Jim, what's happenin' man?"
"Oh man, I'm sure glad to see you!"
"Yeah, I know I owe you twenty dollars man,
but you know hey, look it"
"Well you know they picked up my car up this mornin'?"
"What?" (hm, a-ha)
"You know they say a man ain't suppose to cry?"
"Man, I'm gonna tell ya, you know that they didn't lie"
"Ay, I, I, I'm broke man, I swear I'm broke"
"Ha, I ain't had, man I ain't got it, I got about two dollars, man that's it"
"Ha, swear I'm broke man"
"Hm yeah, yeah I'm broke, yeah"
"Trust me I'm broke, man, yeah I am")
The song "Broke in 2" by Albert Collins tells the story of a man who used to be a big shot with a lot of money and women chasing after him. However, something happened in his life, and he lost everything. He is now broke and struggling to make ends meet. The lyrics show the frustration and desperation of the man, who cannot pay his rent and is unable to afford even the basic necessities of life.
The first stanza of the song shows the contrast between the man's past life and his present situation. He used to have a Cadillac and lots of money, and women used to chase him. However, now he is struggling to get by, and the women who used to chase him are nowhere to be found. In the second stanza, the man goes to a nightclub to have some fun and forget his problems. However, when he comes back home, he finds that he has no money and has to pawn his suit to get by.
In the third stanza, the man is at his lowest point. He has no car, no girlfriend, and no friends to help him out. He cannot even pay his rent and faces eviction. The last lines of the song show the man talking to someone he owes money to, and he is trying to explain his situation. He only has two dollars to his name and is completely broke.
Overall, "Broke in 2" is a powerful and emotive song that captures the struggles of someone who has hit rock bottom. The lyrics and Collins's raw and authentic blues guitar playing make this song a classic that continues to resonate with people today.
Line by Line Meaning
I used to be a big shot long ago
I used to have money and influence in the past
I had a Cadillac an' a whole lotta dough
I had a luxury car and a lot of money
Real fine women used to chase me down
Good-looking women used to be attracted to me
Now, not one-a those gals can be found
I can't find any of those women anymore
They're never home whenever I call
The women I used to know don't answer my calls
Don't seem to want me around at all
Those women seem to no longer be interested in me
I'm broke, I'm broke, I'm broke, I'm broke
I have no money
Stone-cold broke, I ain't got a lousy dime
I don't have any money at all
Went to a nightclub an' had my fun
I went to a club to have a good time
Shuckin' an' jivin' wit' ev'ryone
I was dancing and socializing with everyone
Drinkin' that beer an' gin an' wine
I was drinking alcoholic beverages
Boy, I'm tellin' ya I had a good time
I had a lot of fun
When I got home I didn't have no loot
When I got home, I didn't have any money left
Had to go down an' pawn my suit
I had to take my suit to a pawn shop to get some money
Now, I'm a low-down dirty bum
I'm a poor and disreputable person
Right back where I started from
I'm back to where I began
I got no car, I got no gal
I don't have a car, I don't have a girl
I ain't even got a pal
I don't have any friends
Huffin' an' puffin' can't raise a cent
I can't even get a small amount of money
Put me out, I can't pay my rent
I can't pay my rent and I might be evicted
Damn, I'm broke man, I got no damn money
I'm really poor and I don't have any money
What n' the hell am I gonna do now?
I don't know what to do
Oh hey, Jim, what's happenin' man?
Talking to a person named Jim
Oh man, I'm sure glad to see you!
I'm happy to see you
You know I owe you twenty dollars man, but you know hey, look it
I know I owe you $20, but listen
Well you know they picked up my car up this mornin'?
My car was seized this morning
What? (hm, a-ha)
Surprised reaction
You know they say a man ain't suppose to cry?
People say that men shouldn't cry
Man, I'm gonna tell ya, you know that they didn't lie
I'm telling you that it's true
Ay, I, I, I'm broke man, I swear I'm broke
I'm really poor and I swear it's true
Ha, I ain't had, man I ain't got it, I got about two dollars, man that's it
I don't have any money, only two dollars
Ha, swear I'm broke man
I'm really, really broke
Hm yeah, yeah I'm broke, yeah
Yeah, I'm really poor
Trust me I'm broke, man, yeah I am
Believe me, I'm broke
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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