COLLINS / CRAY / COPELAND Showdown! (LP)

(Alligator Records) 9 tracks

Remastered version of the well-known album with additional bonus track Something To Remember You By.

Showdown! was released at the end of 1985 and was immediately well received. Fans and critics alike considered it a masterpiece, and it won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Recording of the Year. Over the decades, it became Alligator's best-selling album. Showdown! solidified Albert and Johnny's position in the highest ranks of blues artists, and they continued to perform at festivals and clubs worldwide. Shortly after the album's release, Robert made his breakthrough on rock radio with Smoking Gun. Since then, he has been rightly celebrated as one of the great blues artists of his generation.

In 1993, Albert, who was considered one of the most popular blues musicians in the world, succumbed to cancer at the age of 61. Johnny, who was plagued by heart problems, continued to tour throughout most of the 1990s. He died in 1997 at the age of 60 after helping his daughter Shemekia launch her successful career as a blues singer.

Although all three artists have recorded other great records, they consider Showdown! a special event, a milestone in their careers, when three bluesmen came together in the studio and inspired each other to create timeless performances, immortalizing their deep musical friendship and respect for the world.