More cooperative than competitive in spirit, Showdown! ranks above other blues ‘supergroup’ sessions in the cohesiveness of the music, as three of the top names in blues of the 1980s shared the spotlight with a tight rhythm section in support. There were still plenty of hot guitar licks, though, from Collins, Cray and Copeland, with Albert even taking a turn on harmonica. T-Bone Walker’s T-Bone Shuffle provided a common ground for the triumvirate to kick the album off, and the rest of the program consisted of originals and lesser-known covers of Muddy Waters, Ray Charles, Texas legend Hop Wilson and others.
The proceedings held together better than other all-star blues sessions because not only were the songs not overly familiar, they were also discrete numbers, not loose, wandering jams or jive-talking contests. Alligator producer Bruce Iglauer helped put together a Texas Guitar Showdown at the 1984 Chicago Blues Festival featuring Collins, Copeland and Gatemouth Brown, and planned to employ the same lineup for this album. But when things did not work out with Brown, Cray was recruited. As the young gun of the crew, Cray more than held his own with the veteran sharpshooters here. Copeland went above and beyond the call of duty to keep up–was ill during the session and at one point actually played while lying on the floor of the studio.
Tracks: T-Bone Shuffle/The Moon Is Full/Lion’s Den/She’s into Something/Bring Your Fine Self Home/Black Cat Bone/The Dream/Albert’s Alley/Blackjack
Released on LP and CD as Alligator 4743 in 1985. Rereleased as Alligator 8743 on CD with bonus track ‘Something to Remember You By’ in 2011.