*I originally wrote this article for AntiqueWeek a couple of years ago. In the intervening time, Phil Collins has donated his collection to the Alamo.
Phil Collins and the Alamo
In Feb. and March of 1836, a legendary battle between the Republic of Mexico and rebel Texan forces took place at the Alamo mission in San Antonio, Texas (which was then called San Antonio de BĂ©xar). Texans were fighting for their independence from Mexico, which was ruled by the increasingly dictatorial Mexican President Santa Anna, who had abolished the Constitution of 1824 and proclaimed a new constitution that increased the power of the Presidency and reduced the power of provincial governments.
In
addition to providing sheer inspiration--"Remember the Alamo!"--the
13-day holdout, which was a key turning point of the Texas Revolution, halted
the progress of the Mexican forces and gave General Sam Houston a chance to
gather supplies and troops for his victory at the Battle of San Jacinto on
April 21. Today, the Alamo, which was originally named Mission San Antonio de
Valero, is the most visited tourist site in Texas, attracting more than 2.5
million visitors per year.
When
the eccentric Peter Gabriel left Genesis in 1975, and after an extensive search
by the band for an outside replacement, Collins became the lead singer, which
helped give the group a more radio-friendly sound. The result was a string of
super popular albums, including Duke (1980), Abacab (1981), Genesis (1983), and
Invisible Touch (1986), the latter of which contained the only Genesis song
(the title track) to reach number one on the American Billboard singles chart.
In
1996, Collins left Genesis, which gave him more time for his award-winning solo
career, which includes three Oscar nominations, eight Grammys, and two Golden
Globes. Collins’ more popular tunes, such as "Sussudio," "One
More Night," and "You Can't Hurry Love," are staples of light
rock radio, and his Disney hit, "You'll Be in My Heart,” (from 1999’s
Tarzan), won the Golden Globe Award for “Best Original Song” and the Academy
Award for “Best Original Song.” Along with Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney,
Phil Collins is the only recording artist to have sold 100 million records with
a band and as a solo performer.
Clearly,
Collins is a mega-successful rock legend worth untold millions. But what does
all of his fame, fortune, and musical acclaim have to do with the Alamo?
Plenty. Collins’ considerable wealth gives him the means to own what is
believed to be the world’s largest private collection of artifacts and
mementoes from the Battle of the Alamo (and, by extension, the Texas
Revolution).
This
still doesn’t explain why Collins, an Englishman who lives in Switzerland (where
his collection also resides), would want to spend a fairly substantial chunk of
his fortune on Alamo memorabilia.
“I have vivid memories in our living room watching Walt Disney’s Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier [1955],” Collin says. “And, of course,
John Wayne, in 1960—that film [The Alamo]
just blew me away. I saw the movie as much as I could.”
While
Collins’ Alamo addiction dates back to his youth, he didn’t catch on to the
idea of collecting Alamo artifacts until much later.
“It
was the Genesis tour of ’86, which was just after No Jacket Required,” Collins
says. “That would be the Invisible Touch tour. I was in Washington D.C. In
Georgetown, actually. There was this chain of stores called The Gallery of
History. [It had] Napoleon Bonaparte’s signature, Mussolini’s signature,
Hitler’s signature. Then I saw one of Davy Crockett. A letter. It never
occurred to me that this stuff was out there, that you could own it.”
Collins
didn’t buy the Crockett autograph, but its discovery did plant the seed for
things to come. In 1994, his third wife, Orianne Cevey, gave him a gift that
would help change him from a mere Alamo admirer into a hardcore collector: a
sales receipt for a saddle signed by an Alamo defender. More Alamo gifts
followed, and in 2004, during Collin’s second visit to the historic battle
site, he formed a friendship with Jim Guimarin, proprietor of The History Shop,
which is a retail store near the Alamo.
Over
the next couple of years, Guimarin helped Collins build his extensive Alamo
collection through orthodox methods (correspondence with fellow collectors,
etc.). However, in mid-2007, the pair went underground. No, Collins and
Guimarin didn’t do anything illegal, but they did sponsor and take physical
part in excavating the ground beneath The History Shop, digging through its
flooring to the depths below, uncovering such relics as horseshoes, buttons,
buckles, teeth (human and animal), musket balls, nails, and good luck charms.
In
addition to accumulating artifacts, Collins is a budding Alamo historian. In
The Alamo and Beyond, Collins writes essays about each of the items in his
collection. Here’s an example of said writing, found on pages 106-107:
Mexican
Light Cavalry Officer’s Sword:
This
is a rare British-made light cavalry officer’s sword with an overall length of
39 inches and a blade length of 33 inches. It comes with a beautiful black
leather scabbard and is in remarkable condition.
The
grip is covered with sharkskin and wrapped with twisted gold wire. There is
also a unique feature of the Mexican eagle on both sides of the blade. This
marking only appeared after 1822 (thanks Sam Nesmith!) and was popular with
military officers of the day.
Carried
by cavalry officers throughout the Texas campaign, it is a rare example of a
handsomely engraved weapon. The officers always tended to look tip-top, wearing
their fine dress uniforms. They were also quite prone to dressing their horses
to an impressive degree as well. Man and mount together would have looked most
striking in large numbers.
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