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.
Same Old Thing
Albert Collins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Bout the things they experienced in life
Some entertainers sing songs that they-a,
seen other people experience in life
Well, I'm gonna tell you some of the things
I experienced in life
The old lady got mad with me the other night
Got the house by myself, just me and the dog. Ha, ha
Sometime ya know that your animal layin' in the floor, lookin'
at you like, say, "Uh, you done messed up buddy"
It's that same old thang
Same old thang, baby where ya been?
Said, same old thing, woman where ya been?
Been gone two days, today
I'm sittin' here all alone
I been waitin' babe
Waitin' by my telephone
Said, same old thing
Woman where ya been?
It's that same old thing
Baby, where ya been?
I been up all night, waitin' in vain
Without you baby, it just ain't the same
Everytime I go through this baby
We play that same old game
Now if I ever catch ya messin' around
Then there's no need to plead
Just send your soul on to heaven
'Cause the rest is home to me
Same old thing, baby where ya been?
It's the same old thing, woman where ya been?
It's the same old thing
Hey!
My patience done run out
My love gone bad
I really started to leave ya woman, but
But you're the best thing I ever had
Same old thing, woman where ya been?
Same old thing, baby where ya been?
I been up all night, waitin' in vain
Without you baby, it just ain't the same
Every time I go through this thing with you
You play that same old game
Now if I ever catch you messin' around
There's no need to plead
Just send your soul on to heaven, haha
'Cause the rest belong to me
Said same old thing, baby where ya been?
Said same old thing, baby
Woman, where ya been?
("I was at Carol's house last night")
No you wouldn't
Carol was over here, her and the baby last night
Where ya gonna be?
Ya gotta find somethin' else baby 'cause you know
I started to leave you, but you the best thing I've ever had
("Then I went by Mollie's house")
No, hell no, Mollie called here lookin' for ya
You've got to come right with me, baby
No wigglin' of the hip
See the same old thing baby
I done told you, no, don't do that to me, no mo'
'Cause I, I love you baby
I'm really in love wit' cha baby
In Albert Collins's Same Old Thing, the artist starts by addressing how other entertainers sing songs that depict experiences they’ve had in life or those they've seen others go through, but he decides to share some of his own personal experiences instead. He shares that his old lady got mad at him one night, packed her overnight grip and left, leaving him alone with his dog. He discusses his experience of feeling the absence of his lover, who has been gone for two days and hasn't been reachable by phone. He expresses his frustrations with playing the same old game every time he goes through this with her. Albert warns her that if he ever catches her cheating again, he won't hesitate to send her on to the afterlife.
Despite the unfortunate unfolding of events in the relationship, Albert Collins's Same Old Thing is a blues masterpiece recounting life's bitter experiences, and one cannot help but marvel at his witty and humorous lyrics that disguise the melancholy of the break-up. The song's theme is primarily a portrayal of relationship mishaps, blaming the woman for the relationship's shortcomings. The mood of the song is melancholic, and there's a sense of urgency in Albert Collins's voice throughout the track.
Line by Line Meaning
Take a lot a entertainers, sing songs
Many performers sing about their life experiences in their songs.
'Bout the things they experienced in life
They sing about events they have personally gone through in their own lives.
Some entertainers sing songs that they-a,
Some performers sing about things that they have seen others go through in their lives.
seen other people experience in life
They sing about things that others have experienced.
Well, I'm gonna tell you some of the things
I will personally tell you about things that I have experienced in my life.
The old lady got mad with me the other night
My spouse was angry with me the other night.
Packed that overnight grip
She grabbed her overnight bag.
Got the house by myself, just me and the dog. Ha, ha
Now I am alone with just my dog for company.
Sometime ya know that your animal layin' in the floor, lookin'
Your pet might look at you from the floor, as if to say
at you like, say, "Uh, you done messed up buddy"
"You messed up this time, my friend!"
It's that same old thang
It's a repetitive and familiar situation.
Same old thang, baby where ya been?
It sounds like you've been doing the same thing again, where have you been?
Said, same old thing, woman where ya been?
I am asking you where you have been, as it seems like you are doing the same thing again.
Been gone two days, today
You have been away for two days now.
I'm sittin' here all alone
I am sitting here by myself.
I been waitin' babe
I have been waiting for you.
Waitin' by my telephone
I have been waiting by the phone for you to call.
I been up all night, waitin' in vain
I have been up all night waiting for you, but it seems to have been fruitless.
Without you baby, it just ain't the same
Things are not the same without you around.
Everytime I go through this baby
Every time we have this problem.
We play that same old game
We keep doing the same thing over and over again.
Now if I ever catch ya messin' around
If I ever catch you cheating on me.
Then there's no need to plead
Don't even bother begging for forgiveness.
Just send your soul on to heaven
You will have to face the consequences of your actions.
'Cause the rest is home to me
The rest of your life will be spent without me.
My patience done run out
I have run out of patience.
My love gone bad
My love for you has become negative.
I really started to leave ya woman, but
I was really considering leaving you, but...
But you're the best thing I ever had
You are the best thing that has ever happened to me.
('I was at Carol's house last night')
(In response to you saying) "I was at Carol's house last night."
No you wouldn't
No, that's not true.
Carol was over here, her and the baby last night
Carol was actually over here at our house, along with her baby last night.
Where ya gonna be?
Where will you actually be?
Ya gotta find somethin' else baby cause you know
You have to find another excuse because you know
I started to leave you, but you the best thing I've ever had
I almost left you, but I realized that you are the best thing I have ever had.
('Then I went by Mollie's house')
(In response to you saying) "Then I went by Mollie's house."
No, hell no, Mollie called here lookin' for ya
No, that's not true. Mollie called here looking for you.
You've got to come right with me, baby
You need to tell me the truth, now, baby.
No wigglin' of the hip
Don't try to distract me with any bodily movements.
See the same old thing baby
We are going through this same situation once again.
I done told you, no, don't do that to me, no mo'
I have already told you not to do this to me anymore.
'Cause I, I love you baby
Because despite everything, I still love you, baby.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Игорь Калашников
Take a lot a entertainers, sing songs
'Bout the things they experienced in life
Some entertainers sing songs that they-a,
seen other people experience in life
Well, I'm gonna tell you some of the things
I experienced in life
The old lady got mad with me the other night
Packed that overnight grip
Got the house by myself, just me and the dog. Ha, ha
Sometime ya know that your animal layin' in the floor, lookin'
at you like, say, "Uh, you done messed up buddy"
It's that same old thang
Same old thang, baby where ya been?
Said, same old thing, woman where ya been?
Been gone two days, today
I'm sittin' here all alone
I been waitin' babe
Waitin' by my telephone
Said, same old thing
Woman where ya been?
It's that same old thing
Baby, where ya been?
I been up all night, waitin' in vain
Without you baby, it just ain't the same
Everytime I go through this baby
We play that same old game
Now if I ever catch ya messin' around
Then there's no need to plead
Just send your soul on to heaven
'Cause the rest is home to me
Same old thing, baby where ya been?
It's the same old thing, woman where ya been?
It's the same old thing
Hey!
My patience done run out
My love gone bad
I really started to leave ya woman, but
But you're the best thing I ever had
Same old thing, woman where ya been?
Same old thing, baby where ya been?
I been up all night, waitin' in vain
Without you baby, it just ain't the same
Every time I go through this thing with you
You play that same old game
Now if I ever catch you messin' around
There's no need to plead
Just send your soul on to heaven, haha
'Cause the rest belong to me
Said same old thing, baby where ya been?
Said same old thing, baby
Woman, where ya been?
No you wouldn't
Carol was over here, her and the baby last night
Where ya gonna be?
Ya gotta find somethin' else baby 'cause you know
I started to leave you, but you the best thing I've ever had
("Then I went by Mollie's house")
No, hell no, Mollie called here lookin' for ya
You've got to come right with me, baby
No wigglin' of the hip
See the same old thing baby
I done told you, no, don't do that to me, no mo'
'Cause I, I love you baby
I'm really in love wit' cha baby
Перевести на русский
Carl Vandenberg
I can't stop watching this, it's so damn good! I watch this one and the (giorno) version almost every day. I love that he gives his bass player a long solo, then the trumpet player (who is amazing), and finally his rhythm player gets a solo too which is face melting. This is what music is/was all about!
Paulie G
It's absolutely great. But you watch this every day? As well as the other performance of this song at daytime too? Don't get me wrong, if I could only watch one thing every day, this would be right up there, but come on man, variety is the spice of life and everything.
Stef S
Early 80's, strolling around one cold evening in Ottawa, saw this doodle jumping up and down just outside a bar playing a wireless Stratocaster. Grooviest sound coming from inside. We walked in. Meet Albert Collins! Those moments are what make life worth it.
Slight Return
What a fucking LEGEND!! He always put together the most kick-ass bands, and every musician gives him everything they’ve got. Just sounds so so damn gooooddd
Ovcharka Boxing
and whats great is he gave everyone in the band credit and air time to play.
Hunter West
Right! It's like they all wanted to kill it for him and you can hear that shit! Just awesome!
paulo delorios
Sho do!
Rob Slater
Saw him in a small club, in the early '80's. Not twenty people there. One of the three best shows I've ever experienced! Force of nature!
Nicholas Baumgren
Albert Collins one of the undisputed kings of the Blues and what a performance by John Gayden & Steve Howard simply outstanding...
7ZOVETS
right on