My old man got into the blues in the early 1970s, which pretty much meant I did too. Naturally we gravitated towards Texas artists, and it was mostly Lightning Hopkins I listened to, down in the Wards acoustic or electric country blues, generally just Lightning and his guitar. Lightning Hopkins and Willie Nelson, man, and just as Texas was full of country singer songwriters there was no shortage of great bluesmen in the state, either. Freddie King, Lightning Hopkins, Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Billy Gibbons . . . anyway, a long list.
Just as The Highwaymen were a country supergroup, Alligator Records put together a one-off album featuring Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, and Robert Cray. Cray's style was always a little smooth and overproduced for my taste, but on "Showdown!" he cuts loose and stands tall and equal to the fiery Johnny Copeland and the ice-cool Master of the Telecaster Albert Collins.
The entire album is solid. Check out the picking in this cut:
Rock. Solid.
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