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Mel Collins

Musical artist

Melvyn Desmond Collins (born 5 September 1947, Isle of Man) is a British saxophonist, flautist and session musician.

Mel Collins
Mel Collins playing with Dire Straits legacy in 2022
Mel Collins playing with Dire Straits legacy in 2022
Background information
Birth nameMelvyn Desmond Collins
Born (1947-09-05) 5 September 1947 (age 77)
OriginIsle of Man
GenresProgressive rock, jazz fusion, rock
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Saxophone, flute, keyboards
Member of
Formerly of

Collins has played in several progressive rock groups, having been a member of King Crimson on two occasions (the first from 1970 to 1972 and the second from 2013 to 2021) and having played with Camel, the Alan Parsons Project, Roger Waters and Chris Squire. He has also worked in a wide variety of contexts ranging from R&B and blues rock to jazz.

Career

Collins was born into a family of musicians. His mother was Bebe Collins a singer while his father was Derek Collins a saxophonist and session musician who toured with Judy Garland and Shirley Bassey.

Collins has worked with a large number of notable recording artists,[1] including 10cc, Alexis Korner, Alvin Lee, Child, Clannad, Eric Clapton, Bad Company, Pino Daniele, Dire Straits, Bryan Ferry, Roger Chapman, Marianne Faithfull, The Rolling Stones, Roger Waters,[2] Gerry Rafferty, Tears for Fears, Go West and Joan Armatrading.

He was a member of progressive rock bands King Crimson, Camel, and sessioned with The Alan Parsons Project. For King Crimson he was Ian McDonald's replacement, playing on the albums In the Wake of Poseidon (1970), Lizard (1970), Islands (1971) and Earthbound (1972). He left King Crimson in 1972, later contributing to the album Red (1974) as a session musician. He played on the Crimson Jazz Trio's second album, The King Crimson Songbook, Volume Two, released in 2009.

Collins played the saxophone solo on The Rolling Stones 1978 hit single, "Miss You",[3] and joined Dire Straits in 1983 on their eight month long Love over Gold Tour and their live album, Alchemy. He was one of the members of Kokomo with Tony O'Malley, Neil Hubbard, Paddy McHugh, Frank Collins, Dyan Birch, and Alan Spenner, and is a frequent performer with Tony O'Malley.

In 1983, Collins played the saxophone solo on the hit single "Private Dancer", the title cut on Tina Turner's album by the same name. His solo was recorded in England at the Wessex Studios.[4]

In 1984 Collins played saxophone in Pino Daniele's album Musicante, having previously toured with the Neapolitan blues man. In the same year, Collins toured with Roger Waters to support the album The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking. In 1985 Collins was part of the supergroup 'Willie and the Poor Boys' appearing in their video with Bill Wyman and Jimmy Page. He toured again with Waters on a second leg of the 'Pros and Cons' tour. That same year, he also appeared on the album Songs From The Big Chair by Tears for Fears, playing saxophone on "The Working Hour". In 1986 he was a musician on the animated film When the Wind Blows. He worked again with Waters in 1987, appearing on both the album Radio K.A.O.S. and the subsequent tour, and in 1988 again with Daniele on the album Bonne Soirée and the subsequent tour.

In 2006 a band member on Die Harald Schmidt Show.[5]

From 2002–07 Collins was a member of the King Crimson offshoot group 21st Century Schizoid Band, with other former Crimson members.

In May 2008 Kokomo was reformed temporarily. With Collins were Tony O'Malley, Neil Hubbard, Mark Smith, Adam Phillips, Andy Hamilton, Paddy McHugh, Dyan Birch, Frank Collins, Bernie Holland, and Glen Le Fleur.

Collins played woodwinds on the 2011 King Crimson ProjeKct 7, A Scarcity of Miracles, appearing on a King Crimson related album for the first time since 1974. In September 2013, Robert Fripp confirmed that Mel Collins would be a member of King Crimson again, the band being referred to as King Crimson VIII.

Collins was also a member of Pete Haycock's reformation of the Climax Blues Band in 2013, prior to Haycock's death in October 2013.

Collins is currently a member of Dire Straits Legacy, a band dedicated to playing music by Dire Straits, dubbed as "the closest you’re going to get!"[6] The band features Collins on saxophone, alongside fellow former Dire Straits touring members: Danny Cummings (percussion, vocals) and Phil Palmer (guitar, vocals), former Dire Straits members: Alan Clark (keyboards) and Jack Sonni (guitar, vocals) alongside record producer Trevor Horn (bass, vocals) as well as Marco Cavigila (lead guitar, vocals) and Primiano Dibiase (keyboards).[7] The band have recorded on Studio album "3 Chord Trick".[8]

Selected discography

as Band member/sideman

Session work

Collins has done session work for many different artists, among them Joan Armatrading, Bad Company, Camel, Jim Capaldi, Clannad, Bryan Ferry, Alexis Korner, Alvin Lee, Phil Manzanera/801, Anthony Phillips, Chris Squire and Gerry Rafferty

Collaborations

Bands by years

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:1100 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:120 bottom:90 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1965 till:29/05/2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3 ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1965 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1965

Colors = 

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id:flute   value:skyblue     legend:Flautist
id:Keys    value:purple      legend:Keyboardist
id:vocals value:pink        legend:Backing_vocalist
id:Session value:Claret    legend:Session_member
id:Touring  value:Yellow   legend:Touring_member
id:bars    value:gray(0.93)

BarData = 

bar:Burdon  text:Eric Burdon
bar:Philip     text:Phillip Goodhand-Tait
bar:Circus    text:Circus
bar:Crimson text:King Crimson
bar:Korner    text:Alexis Korner
bar:Alvin      text:Alvin Lee
bar:Kokomo  text:Kokomo
bar:Bad        text:Bad Company
bar:Snafu     text:Snafu
bar:Pie         text:Humble Pie
bar:Phil        text:Phil Manzanera/801
bar:Heep     text:Uriah Heep
bar:Squire   text:Chris Squire
bar:Ferry     text:Bryan Ferry
bar:Camel  text:Camel
bar:Joan     text:Joan Armatrading
bar:Philips    text:Anthony Philips
bar:Stones  text:The Rolling Stones
bar:Clapton text:Eric Clapton
bar:Small    text:Small Faces
bar:Street   text:Streetwalkers
bar:Gerry     text:Gerry Rafferty
bar:Matthews text:Ian Matthews
bar:Wright   text:Richard Wright
bar:Chapman text:Roger Chapman
bar:Capaldi   text:Jim Capaldi
bar:Oldfield   text:Sally Oldfield
bar:Byron      text:The Byron Band
bar:Faithfull  text:Marianne Faithfull
bar:Caravan text:Caravan
bar:Parsons  text:Alan Parson Projects
bar:Richard   text:Cliff Richard
bar:Straits     text:Dire Straits
bar:Tears       text:Tears for Fears
bar:Chung     text:Wang Chung
bar:10cc        text:10cc
bar:Eberhard text:Eberhard Schoener
bar:Waters    text:Roger Waters
bar:West        text:Go West
bar:Clannad   text:Clannad
bar:Schizoid   text:Schizoid Band
bar:Legacy     text:Dire Straits Legacy

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

PlotData = 

color:sax width:11
bar:Burdon  from:01/01/1965 till:31/12/1965
bar:Burdon  from:01/01/1980 till:31/12/1980
bar:Philip     from:01/01/1966 till:31/12/1966
bar:Circus    from:01/01/1967 till:31/12/1969
bar:Crimson from:01/04/1970 till:30/04/1972
bar:Korner    from:01/01/1972 till:01/01/1982
bar:Kokomo  from:01/01/1973 till:31/01/1975
bar:Alvin       from:01/01/1973 till:31/12/2000
bar:Bad         from:01/01/1974 till:31/12/1982
bar:Snafu      from:01/01/1974 till:31/12/1975
bar:Pie          from:01/01/1974 till:31/12/1975
bar:Heep       from:01/01/1975 till:31/12/1975
bar:Squire     from:01/01/1975 till:31/12/1975
bar:Phil         from:01/01/1975 till:31/12/1987
bar:Ferry       from:01/01/1976 till:31/12/1993
bar:Clapton   from:01/01/1977 till:31/12/1977
bar:Small      from:01/01/1977 till:31/12/1977
bar:street      from:01/01/1977 till:31/12/1977
bar:Camel    from:01/08/1976 till:28/02/1979
bar:Joan       from:01/01/1977 till:31/12/1983
bar:Philips      from:01/01/1977 till:31/12/1980
bar:Stones    from:01/01/1977 till:31/12/1978
bar:Wright     from:01/01/1978 till:31/12/1978
bar:Matthews from:01/01/1978 till:31/12/1979
bar:Chapman from:01/01/1979 till:31/12/1979
bar:Gerry       from:01/01/1978 till:31/12/1982
bar:Oldfield    from:01/01/1980 till:31/12/1983
bar:Capaldi    from:01/01/1980 till:31/12/1988
bar:Byron       from:01/01/1981 till:31/12/1981
bar:Faithfull    from:01/01/1981 till:31/12/1981
bar:Caravan   from:01/01/1981 till:31/12/1981
bar:Parsons    from:01/01/1982 till:31/12/1984
bar:Richard     from:01/01/1982 till:31/12/1983
bar:Straits       from:30/10/1982 till:22/06/1983
bar:tears         from:01/01/1983 till:31/12/1985
bar:chung       from:01/01/1983 till:31/12/1983
bar:10cc          from:01/01/1983 till:31/12/1983
bar:Eberhard   from:01/01/1983 till:31/12/1983
bar:Waters       from:01/01/1984 till:31/12/1987
bar:Waters       from:08/07/2000 till:16/07/2000
bar:west           from:01/01/1985 till:31/12/1985
bar:Clannad     from:01/01/1985 till:31/12/1985
bar:Clannad     from:01/01/1994 till:31/12/1998
bar:Schizoid     from:01/01/2002 till:31/12/2004
bar:Crimson     from:25/09/2013 till:31/12/2021
bar:Kokomo      from:01/01/2015 till:31/12/2016
bar:Legacy       from:01/01/2020 till:end

color:flute width:7
bar:Circus    from:01/01/1967 till:31/12/1969 width:3
bar:Crimson from:01/04/1970 till:30/04/1972
bar:Kokomo  from:01/01/1973 till:31/01/1975 width:3
bar:Camel    from:01/08/1976 till:28/02/1979 width:3
bar:Wright     from:01/01/1978 till:31/12/1978
bar:Philips      from:01/01/1977 till:31/12/1980
bar:Schizoid     from:01/01/2002 till:31/12/2004 width:9
bar:Crimson     from:25/09/2013 till:30/04/2019 width:3
bar:Crimson     from:01/05/2019 till:31/12/2021 width:7

color:keys 
bar:Crimson from:01/04/1970 till:30/04/1972 width:5
bar:Schizoid     from:01/01/2002 till:31/12/2004 width:7
bar:Crimson     from:01/05/2019 till:31/12/2021 width:3

color:vocals width:3
bar:Crimson from:01/04/1970 till:30/04/1972 
bar:Schizoid     from:01/01/2002 till:31/12/2004

color:touring width:3
bar:Burdon  from:01/01/1965 till:31/12/1965
bar:Philip     from:01/01/1966 till:31/12/1966
bar:Korner    from:01/01/1972 till:01/01/1982
bar:Alvin       from:01/01/1973 till:31/12/2000
bar:Ferry       from:01/01/1976 till:31/12/1993 width:7
bar:Chapman from:01/01/1979 till:31/12/1979
bar:Gerry       from:01/01/1978 till:31/12/1982 width:7
bar:Richard     from:01/01/1982 till:31/12/1983 width:7
bar:Straits       from:30/10/1982 till:22/06/1983 width:7
bar:Waters       from:01/01/1984 till:31/12/1987 width:7
bar:Waters       from:08/07/2000 till:16/07/2000
bar:Clannad     from:01/01/1985 till:31/12/1985 width:7
bar:Clannad     from:01/01/1994 till:31/12/1998 Width:7

color:session width:3
bar:Bad         from:01/01/1974 till:31/12/1982
bar:Snafu      from:01/01/1974 till:31/12/1975
bar:Pie          from:01/01/1974 till:31/12/1975
bar:Heep       from:01/01/1975 till:31/12/1975
bar:Squire     from:01/01/1975 till:31/12/1975
bar:Phil         from:01/01/1975 till:31/12/1987
bar:Ferry       from:01/01/1976 till:31/12/1993
bar:Clapton   from:01/01/1977 till:31/12/1977
bar:Small      from:01/01/1977 till:31/12/1977
bar:street      from:01/01/1977 till:31/12/1977
bar:Joan       from:01/01/1977 till:31/12/1983
bar:Stones    from:01/01/1977 till:31/12/1978
bar:Wright     from:01/01/1978 till:31/12/1978
bar:Matthews from:01/01/1978 till:31/12/1979
bar:Gerry       from:01/01/1978 till:31/12/1982
bar:Philips      from:01/01/1977 till:31/12/1980
bar:Oldfield    from:01/01/1980 till:31/12/1983
bar:Capaldi    from:01/01/1980 till:31/12/1988
bar:Burdon     from:01/01/1980 till:31/12/1980
bar:Byron       from:01/01/1981 till:31/12/1981
bar:Faithfull    from:01/01/1981 till:31/12/1981
bar:Caravan   from:01/01/1981 till:31/12/1981
bar:Parsons    from:01/01/1982 till:31/12/1984 
bar:Richard     from:01/01/1982 till:31/12/1983
bar:Straits       from:30/10/1982 till:22/06/1983
bar:chung       from:01/01/1983 till:31/12/1983
bar:tears         from:01/01/1983 till:31/12/1985
bar:10cc          from:01/01/1983 till:31/12/1983
bar:Eberhard   from:01/01/1983 till:31/12/1983
bar:Waters       from:01/01/1984 till:31/12/1987
bar:west           from:01/01/1985 till:31/12/1985
bar:Clannad     from:01/01/1985 till:31/12/1985
bar:Clannad     from:01/01/1994 till:31/12/1998

</timeline>

References

  1. ^ "Collins". Answers.com. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  2. ^ McPherson, Ian. "Collins with the Rolling Stones". timeisonourside.com. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  3. ^ "'Miss You' – Rolling Stones". timeisonourside.com. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
  4. ^ "'Private Dancer' - Tina Turner". Discogs.com. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  5. ^ "Mel Collins". IMDb. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  6. ^ "Why DSL ?". DSL* Dire Straits Legacy. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  7. ^ "The Band". DSL* Dire Straits Legacy. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  8. ^ Legacy - 3 Chord Trick, retrieved 17 May 2022

External links

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