Showdown!

1	T-Bone Shuffle / Johnny Copeland 4:54
2	The Moon Is Full / Johnny Copeland 4:59
3	Lion's Den / Johnny Copeland 3:55
4	She's Into Something / Johnny Copeland 3:49
5	Bring Your Fine Self Home / Johnny Copeland 4:30
6	Black Cat Bone / Johnny Copeland 4:54
7	The Dream / Johnny Copeland 5:28
8	Albert's Alley / Johnny Copeland 4:01
9	Blackjack / Johnny Copeland 6:26

Barnes & Noble

Cutting contests are the stuff blues legends are made of, so what could be more exciting than two veteran performers and a young upstart trying to one-up each other while the tape rolls? That's pretty much the premise behind SHOWDOWN! Truth be told, Collins controls most of the proceedings here, but that's as it should be: After all, it was Collins who taught fellow Texan Copeland his first guitar licks and who acted as his mentor for many years. And it was Collins who also happened upon Cray during a tour of the Northwest and aided and abetted his rise. On SHOWDOWN! the three trade vocals and guitar parts, offering an intriguing mix of styles and techniques, from Collins's "icy" leads and Copeland's more groove-oriented licks to Cray's rock-influenced playing. When it comes to electric blues, this holy trinity is about as good as it gets. Daniel Durchholz

All Music Guide

Most of the original "blues summit" and blues "supergroup" type gatherings, which were done at Chess Records, were musically pointless affairs, mostly because the artists involved really didn't like the idea behind the albums being recorded or the company they were forced to keep during the recording process. What makes Showdown! work is that the three featured players actually liked each other and enjoyed working together -- even more important, they had something to say together musically, which just pours out of the contents of this jewel of a record, a summit meeting between Texas guitar veterans Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland and newcomer Robert Cray -- the set is scorching all the way. Collins even treats us to some harmonica playing that's more than a match for his guitar work on "Bring Your Fine Self Home," and the only pity is there's no other contribution by him on the harp anywhere else here. It's all worth hearing, many times over, and if you can't get the Mobile Fidelity version, find the Alligator Records CD, but get this album. ~ Bruce Eder & Bill Dahl, All Music Guide