Brian Collins

Born on October 19, 1950, in Baltimore, Maryland, Brian Collins brought a soulful approach to his work as a country vocalist and songwriter who logged a modest string of chart entries during the 1970s. When he was still a child, his family moved southwest, and he grew up largely in Texas City, Texas. Rock and roll caught his attention in his teens, leading him to join a local group called the Nomads—one of several acts using that name in the mid-1960s. The band soon clashed with the Texas City school district, which argued that the members’ semi-long hair broke its rules of conduct, but Collins and his bandmates prevailed by demonstrating that their hairstyles were necessary for their musical livelihood. Once the Nomads disbanded, Collins shifted his focus to country music. His decisive opening came when Dolly Parton caught one of his Texas performances and encouraged him to try his luck in Nashville. After issuing several tracks on Mega Records that enjoyed only minor notice, he signed with Dot Records. In 1973 his recording of “I Wish (You Had Stayed)” reached number 24 on the Country Singles chart; the following year “Statue of a Fool” climbed to number 10 on the same survey. His debut album, 1973’s This Is Brian Collins, also peaked at number 10 on the Country Albums chart, while the 1974 follow-up That’s the Way Love Should Be yielded a title track that stopped at number 23 as a Country Single. That release proved to be his final Country Top 40 entry. In 1978 Collins left Dot for RCA, where he recorded three singles. Between 1982 and 1983 he issued three more singles on the independent Primero label, two of which registered in the lower regions of the country charts. After the mid-1980s he largely disappeared from view until returning in 2010 with the six-song EP 6 BC; he still performs live dates in Texas.