The band that Phil Collins said is one of his favorites

Phil Collins is one of the few artists who were able to sell an estimated amount of more than 100 million records worldwide both as part as a band and as a solo act. His career really took-off after he joined the Progressive Rock band Genesis in the early 70s as a drummer and then also becoming their vocalist after Peter Gabriel left in 1975. Another giant step of his career happened after he released his first solo album in the early 80s, which was the beginning of a really successful career as a solo artist.

Over the decades he talked about many groups that influenced him and even mentioned which is one of his favorite ones. Rock and Roll Garage selected what he said about that group and his connection with them.

The band that Phil Collins said is one of his favorites

As a young man in the United Kingdom in the late 60s and early 70s, Phil Collins had the opportunity to see many incredible groups evolving up-close. One of them was Traffic, which was formed in Birmingham, England in 1967 and stayed together until 1974. They were originally formed by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason.

In an interview back in 1986 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage), Collins was asked if there were any artists he would like to do something with. He answered that Steve Winwood was one of them and that he loved Traffic.

“Yeah, Steve Winwood. I mean, (I like him) ever since Spencer Davis Group and of course, Traffic. Traffic were one of my favorite bands. But he’s got a great voice, I think it’s ridiculous that not many people know him. I know that now he’s got a hit record. But up until then it was like ‘Ah Steve, didn’t he used to be with Spencer Davis?’ No one ever heard of him since, really. I suppose Traffic was a really big band. But him, I’d like to work with and Aretha Franklin I’d like to work with,” Phil Collins said.

Winwood performed on Collins’ solo album later

Collins’ wish came true three years later, in 1989, when Steve Winwood played the Hammond organ in the track “All of My Life” on his album “…But Seriously”.

During their active years in the 60s and 70s the band released seven studio albums. But their final one was released in 1994 when they reunited for the first time. Some of their most famous tracks are “Dear Mr. Fantasy”, “Feelin’ Alright?’ and “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys”. Their final reunion happened in 2004 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

On his solo career, Steve Winwood released 10 studio albums, the most recent one being “Greatest Hits Live”  in 2017. As a solo artist he had sold more than 18 million records worldwide. Some of his most famous tracks are “Valerie”, “Higher Love” and “Back In The High Life Again”.

Both Collins and Steve Winwood had a common collaborator and friend on their careers, which is Eric Clapton. He was Steve’s bandmate in the supergroup Blind Faith and they had recorded together more times over the years. In 2009 they released the live album “Live From Madison Square Garden”. They performed songs from the Blind Faith era as well as tracks from Clapton, Traffic, Derek and the Dominos, Winwood’s solo career. Also of course some Blues covers.

Collins and Clapton also played together many times and the Genesis drummer even produced Clapton’s 1985 album “Behind The Sun”. His collaboration continued in the following years playing the drums in other songs released by the singer and guitarist.