Collins was a Texan, a distant relative of Lightnin’ Hopkins, who, as a kid, soaked up the regional blues styles of Chicago and Mississippi. His first band, in 1952, played Houston bars. His first independent album, in 1965, The Cool Sounds Of Albert Collins, came after he relocated to Kansas City and included the instrumental “Frosty.” In ’67, he moved to San Francisco, a mecca for exploding rock’n’roll of the hippie subculture, where he found national fame playing alongside some of the biggest bands in the country. One such band, Canned Heat, helped him get a major label deal. The 1968 Imperial result was one of the great ‘60s blues album, Love Can Be Found Anywhere (Even In A Guitar).

He moved back home to Texas as a star in 1973. In 1978, he signed to Alligator for that year’s Ice Pickin’, the first of seven albums for the Chicago blues label. The ‘80s and ’90s saw him tour around the world, influencing generations of blues and rock performers. He won the 1983 WC Handy Award for Don’t Lose Your Cool (Blues Album Of The Year). His 1985 Showdown album with Robert Cray and Johnny Copeland won a Grammy Award.