Lots of British musicians grew-up fascinated by American Blues and R&B music.  Phil Collins was one of them.  His new album, Going Back, is filled with covers of songs from the States Collins was listening to when he responded to an ad for a drummer in Melody Maker and landed a gig with a band that took him in a totally different musical direction - Genesis.  Collins developed another passion in his youth that continues to this day.  After learning about the Alamo by seeing the Disney version of it in the 1950's TV series Davy Crockett, Collins became obsessed with it.  He told NPR that the first Christmas after his discovery of the fabled Texas battle, nearly every gift under the tree had to do with the Alamo.  With the financial success he found in Genesis, Collins started collecting real artifacts relating to the historic site.  He now owns a collection that ranks among the most impressive ones in existence.  For Collins, one benefit is that he gets to talk shop with historians that beat a path to his door to see his collection.  Limited in his ability to play drums by medical problems (story), Collins now considers himself largely retired from music, a status that gives him more time to finish a book about his Alamo collection that he says is around half done.
NPR.org  TorontoSun.com

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