Alan Collins


Kay Sue, Megan, Tamara and Alan with Gerry and Dewey at the Topsfield Fair, October 8th, 1999.


Meet Alan Collins from Farmington, Maine.

My name is Alan Collins and I'm from Farmington, Maine. I've been an America fan since 1975. I had heard other America songs prior to then but didn't really pay attention or even know who America was, but Sister Golden Hair made me sit up and take notice. Then I heard Daisy Jane and decided to buy Hearts, figuring it was a worthwhile gamble because I knew I liked at least 2 songs from it. Well, it was love at first listen! Hearts is an outstanding album and remains one of my personal favorites. I was hooked and the rest is "History" (pun intended).

Needless to say, it didn't take long to add America, Homecoming, Holiday and Hat Trick to my collection and I bought Hideaway as soon as it came out (another outstanding album). I was just learning to play guitar in those days, and I literally learned on America tunes. I'm strictly rhythm but a lot of people say I'm quite good at it. I attribute my sense of rhythm to America. Early America tunes (especially Dewey's) were full of that choppy rhythm and funky major7 and minor7 chords. I play songs from a lot of different artists now, but still have more America songs on my play list than any other artist or group.

Shortly after Harbor came out, I finally had a chance to see them in concert. They came to the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine in 1978. I was disappointed to find out (shortly before the concert) that Dan Peek had left the band. Since he had just left, they weren't doing any of his songs in concert at that time, and some of my favorites were Dan Peek songs (particularly Lonely People, Don't Cross the River and Today's The Day). Nevertheless, it was a great show. Willie Leacox was with them and Mike Woods had just joined the band. Livingston Taylor was the warm up artist. They opened up with a prerecorded version of Hideaway Part I. The stage was totally dark. At the end of the song, the lights came crashing on and they led right into Riverside. It was really neat how they did it. Gerry did a song that he announced as brand new. I can't remember what the name of it was, but he played the piano and I remember the chorus saying something about never flying a plane before. The only other thing I remember about it was that it was really pretty. I have searched far and wide for that song ever since and have not seen it anywhere, even on the America sites. I don't believe it was ever recorded (at least never put on an album). If anyone out there knows the song I am speaking of or where to find it, I would appreciate some info on it.

Well, for the next 15 years or so after that I busy going to college, getting married and having kids (we have 6 children - 3 boys and 3 girls). It wasn't long after Karen (nicknamed Kay Sue) and I were married that I introduced her to America's music and made a fan out of her, too. Unfortunately, I was pretty broke at that time, vinyl albums were on their way out and replacement needles were hard to find and expensive. So when the stereo broke, it didn't get fixed. I had almost 200 LP's and no way to play them (I still have close to 100 of them with still no way to play them). I had only a cheap cassette player and a few tapes. I was able to add to my collection occasionally when I found items of interest in the bargain bins. But for the most part, I lost touch with America during the 80's (except we did pick up Alibi and Your Move in the bargain bins and we played them until we wore them out), and to a large extent, music altogether. There wasn't a lot of 80's music I really liked, either, and that didn't help.

Then a few years ago, I started collecting CD's (I still don't have a good stereo, but I have pretty good speakers on my PC). I started looking for America albums on CD and was disappointed to discover that many weren't out on CD. Then last year I discovered (the now closed) Horsewithnoname.com site, which in turn led me to this site and a wealth of information about the band, albums they had released that I'd never even heard of (like Silent Letter and Perspective, to name a couple). I learned that I could get a number of albums as foreign imports. One by one I got all that I could get as I could afford them (foreign imports aren't cheap!). Then the rest that I couldn't get were reissued by One Way Records last year and I was able to (almost) complete my collection. I now have everything on CD except The Last Unicorn soundtrack, a couple of bootleg CD's and a couple of foreign import compilations that I don't intend to get because they have no new material on them.

The other thing I was pleased to discover when I stumbled on to this web site last year was that America was still together, still touring and still writing and recording new material! I quickly checked their tour dates and found that there was a free concert at the Wolf's Den lounge at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT. It was a five hour drive but my wife and I figured it was worth it and we decided to go. We picked up my brother, Ed (another big fan) in South Lancaster, MA on the way. Unfortunately, we got caught in traffic backed up 20+ miles from the toll booth in Kittery (must have been a lot of tourists travelling home that day) which set us back an hour. By the time we got there, the line was unbelievably long waiting to get in. We didn't make it in for the first show, but were close enough to the front of the line to see and hear it anyway. We made some friends in line and told them how we had traveled all the way from Farmington, Maine to see America. So when they started letting people in for the second show, they told the guy seating people how far we had come and told him he ought to sit us up front, and he did. We were right in the front row - "Spitting distance" from the stage!

What a great concert that turned out to be! It was worth the wait for the second show as they threw in a bonus number they didn't play in the first set, Another Try (another of my favorite America tunes). I was pleased to discover that they had almost the same backup band as they did when I saw them 20 years earlier. They also led the concert off with Riverside, just like 20 years ago. I was even more pleased to find that they were now doing some of Dan's songs again (Don't Cross The River and Lonely People). They also played 2 songs from Human Nature - Pages and From A Moving Train. The thing that impressed me most was that they performed the songs with such energy and enthusiasm even though they have played them hundreds of times before. I was disappointed that they did not come out to sign autographs after the show, but we caught Mike Woods outside the lounge and got to talk to him for a minute and got his autograph.

Shortly after that concert, I bought Human Nature. What a great album! So many of the songs hearken back to the early days of the band, yet are so much more than a reliance on the "old formula". It is definitely one of the best albums they have ever put out. My favorite songs on it are From A Moving Train, Wednesday Morning, Moment To Moment, Wheels Are Turning, Overwhelming World Suite and Pages. Being fairly poor at the time, I decided to wait on getting Gerry's solo album Van Go Gan until later. Little did I know it would be out of print by the time I got around to getting it (I should have paid a little closer attention to the web site). I was delighted to see the announcement of its domestic release for a lot less money and with 4 bonus tracks!

This summer we had the opportunity to see America again at the Barnstable County Fair on Cape Cod (another 5 hour drive). Since it wasn't at a bar in a casino, we were able to take some of our kids (four of our six kids are also big America fans). Everything went wrong that day and we ended up leaving late and driving like mad to get there. We arrived just in time for the first show at 4:00. The show was great and they played 2 different songs from Human Nature than they did last year - Wednesday Morning and Wheels Are Turning. We originally all sat up front, but it was too loud for our kids, so they moved back a ways. After the show people started lining up for autographs and it occurred to us that we didn't bring anything to autograph! I ran over to the buy a t-shirt (with the money we were planning to use for supper) while my wife waited in line. Dewey came out and signed whatever people handed him. When she was the last one there, she asked if he could wait just another minute because I was buying a shirt to autograph. He said he had to get back to the hotel, but he would be out again after the second show. She had him sign the shirt she was wearing, and he was gone by the time I got there. It was on a weekday and I had to go to work the next morning, so we couldn't stay for the second show. I was bummed. I've been an America fan a lot longer than Kay Sue, and SHE got to talk to Dewey AND get his autograph! (Life just isn't fair). When I found out they were coming to the Topsfield Fair on October 7th and 8th, I was bound and determined I was going to meet them and get my T-shirt signed, along with some CD's.

As of this writing, we just got back from the shows at Topsfield, MA. We were originally planning to go both days and see all 4 shows, but due to a scheduling conflict, we were only able to go on Saturday the 8th. It was a short trip, comparatively speaking (only about a 3-hour drive). This time, we were prepared - we brought several things to sign (including the above-mentioned T-shirt). Our good Canon SureShot camera was broken, however, so we ended up buying one of those disposable cameras at Wal-Mart. Consequently, the pictures we took didn't come out that great, and with no zoom lens, we couldn't get any close-ups. The show was excellent, however, and my dream of meeting Dewey and Gerry was finally realized. After the first show we lined up for autographs. Their agent came out and said that they would not be coming out for autographs because Dewey was sick and didn't want to contaminate anyone. We all stayed right there anyway, hoping for the chance to meet them. The agent came out a couple more times and said again "You might as well leave, they're not coming out." Kay Sue and I were just about ready to give up and leave when he came out again and invited this guy with a guitar he wanted signed back to their trailer. A few minutes later he came out again and asked if anyone had albums they wanted signed. (Next time I'll know to bring some of my albums). This other guy had an album and I held up my CD's and said I've got these CD's. He said "OK - you and you" (pointing to the guy with the album and me). I couldn't believe it! I didn't even wait for the rest of my family - I was gone! I wasn't about to say "OK, but only if my wife and kids can come, too." I figured they could fend for themselves (nice guy that I am). When I got back there, I turned and saw that Kay and the kids were following.

I'd been telling my friends for a long time that I wanted to meet these guys. Most of them said "Forget it, you'll just be disappointed". Somehow I knew they were wrong. I wasn't disappointed at all. Dewey and Gerry were about the most down to earth, nicest people you'd ever want to meet. They signed our T-shirt (the one we got at Barnstable County Fair), my History and Human Nature CD's and my daughter Tamara's Human Nature CD. I told them how much their music meant to me and said "this is the greatest work you guys have ever done" as I handed them my copy of Human Nature to sign. They agreed that it was right up there. I also asked (half-jokingly) when their box set was coming out and Gerry said "It's coming!" I was excited to hear that news since that is tops on my "America Wish List". I hope it contains many rarities and previously unreleased tracks, like the ones I keep reading about on this web site. Once everything was signed, I asked if I could take a picture of them close up and they said "sure, would you like to be in it?" Immediately, the lady behind me offered to take the picture. It didn't take me long to hand the camera over to her. It is the picture at the top of this page. It's not a very flattering picture of me or my wife. I was too tall and was slouching to make it easier to fit everyone in the picture, plus I always seem to blink when the flash goes off (we have very few pictures of me with my eyes open). Megan was too short and Kay Sue was lifting her up and trying to smile at the same time (hence the strained look on her face). As always, Dewey and Gerry look great.

We met my brother Ed there for the second show (who now also has a bio). Another great performance! Ed brought his $1500 camera with him and took almost a whole roll of pictures. Needless to say, they came out a lot better than mine. He was green with envy, though when we told him we had met them and got autographs after the first show! For both shows we sat way down front to the left of the stage.

As for my family, I am 40 years old and a programmer/analyst at the local hospital. I also play in a duet called Loose Ends with my friend Mike Worthley. (I play 6-string rhythm guitar and sing. Mike plays 6 and 12-string guitars, mandolin and banjo). My wife Kay Sue is 36 and is a stay-at-home mom. Our children are Stephen (16), Tamara (14), Nathaniel (12), Amber (10), Aaron (9) and Megan (7). Tamara, Amber, Aaron and Megan are our America fans and The Last Unicorn and You Can Do Magic are among their favorite songs.

Some of my other favorite bands/artists include The Eagles, Dan Fogelberg, Gordon Lightfoot, Poco, John Hiatt, Neil Young (excluding most of the 80's stuff), Jackson Browne and Barenaked Ladies. My favorite America albums are Homecoming, Hearts, Hideaway and Human Nature. I won't attempt to name all my favorite America songs because they are too numerous to mention.


Update received August 13, 2000:

I was downsized out of a job at the hospital, but was able to pick up a job in the IS dept. of a local bank, starting the very next Monday after my last day at FMH. I have also been working on getting up to speed with my recording studio. Mike Worthley (the other half of Loose Ends) and I finally were able to get together yesterday and we were able to record guitar tracks for 4 original songs.

I have held off on getting the new box set and Go Man Go since I didn't know if I was going to be employed after the end of August (I knew 3 months prior thast my position was being terminated, but didn't actually get a new job lined up until the last week of my employment with FMH). But now I have a better job making substantially more money, so I can't complain too much.

Feel free to send your comments or questions to Alan.



Written: 26 August 1999
Update: 13 August 2000