''Cold Snap'' is an album by the American blues musician

Albert Collins Albert Gene Drewery, known as Albert Collins and the Ice Man (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993),Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. ...

, released in 1986. The album was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

in the "Best Traditional Blues Recording" category.

Production

The album was produced by Albert Collins,

Bruce Iglauer Bruce Iglauer (born July 10, 1947) is an American businessman and record producer who founded Alligator Records as an independent record label featuring blues music. Early life and career Iglauer was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United Stat ...

, and

Dick Shurman Richard L. Shurman (born May 23, 1950) is an American record producer, sound engineer, music journalist, music historian, and backing vocalist. He has produced numerous recordings by notable musicians including Johnny Winter, Lurrie Bell, Eddie ...

. Mel Brown,

Jimmy McGriff James Harrell McGriff (April 3, 1936 – May 24, 2008) was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader. Biography Early years and influences Born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, United States, McGriff started playing pi ...

, and the Uptown Horns played on ''Cold Snap''.

Critical reception

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

assigned the album a B, but called it an obvious attempt by Alligator to win for Collins a Grammy. The ''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

'' deemed it "a hefty dose of Texas-style blues, augmented by the sounds of Chicago's south side." '' The Globe and Mail'' wrote that "Jimmy McGriff and the Uptown Horns contribute more smooth edges to music that has the usual Collins power but not the usual Collins urgency." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' wrote: "The skeptical should head directly to 'Too Many Dirty Dishes', where Collins' riffs seem to be literally scrubbing the pots and pans." '' The Providence Journal-Bulletin'' declared that "what really strikes the listener this time is the masterful, ice-blue singing—tasty as a snow cone and brutal as frostbite—and the wry, semi-detached lyrics."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

opined that Collins is "at his best when he's just playing the blues, not when he's trying to sing."

Track listing

Personnel

*Albert Collins - guitar, vocals * Mel Brown - rhythm guitar *Johnny Gayden - bass *

- organ *Allen Batts - keyboards *Morris Jennings - drums, percussion *Uptown Horns - horns *Arno Hecht - tenor saxophone *Crispin Cioe - alto and baritone saxophone *Hollywood Paul Litteral - trumpet *Bob Funk - trombone

References

{{Reflist Albert Collins albums 1986 albums albums produced by Bruce Iglauer Alligator Records albums