Richard Sinclair is one of the most famous musicians on the Canterbury Music scene. He is known for his inventive bass playing, smooth deep voice and catchy tunes that can include a wonderful sense of humor. He is also known for his involvement with the groups: 'Caravan,' 'Hatfield and the North' and 'Camel' during the 1970's, as well as his solo projects/creating groups of his own.
Richard S. Sinclair was born in 1948 in the land of Canterbury. He helped found the: Wilde Flowers, in 1964 with Robert Wyatt, Hugh and Brian Hopper and Kevin Ayers. At the young age of 16, Richard had to leave the band to study at Canterbury College of Art to study Industrial Design (he also did silversmithing), during the summer. In 1967, the Wilde Flowers disbanded, . and its remaining members- Pye Hastings, David Sinclair (Sinclair's cousin) and Richard Coughlan began to form Caravan. With Dave Lawrence stepping aside as bassist. Richard eventually joined the group.
Sinclair remained with Caravan and created four albums. 1971's `In The Land Of Grey And Pink,' released in 1971, showed Richard's greatest contribution to a Caravan album. Richard penned Caravan classics such as: "In The Land Of Grey And Pink," : "Golf Girl", and "Winter Wine-" the first two showcasing Richard taste for catchy melodies and humorous lyrics.
When Richard's cousin left the band, Richard bought in a keyboard with a jazzy background- Steve Miller, this did not work out as planned and the two left Caravan after the release of `Waterloo Lily' in 1972.
An attempt at reforming Dave and Steve Miller's group- `Delivery,' ws the beginning of `Hatfield and the North.' With the addition of ex-Egg keyboardist- Dave Stewart, the band toured Europe and recorded two albums with critical but little economic success. They broke up in 1975. Richard, who wasn't a major player in the composing department for Hatfield, took time off to deal with the stress of family life (he was married with a son- Jason), and to contemplate a different music avenue, though in 1975-6, he created a band called- Sinclair and the South, which obviously referenced his previous band. During the end of that year, he created another band called- RSVP which included musicians: Richard Folds (guitar), drummer Vince Clarke and keyboardist, Perry White.
With money tight, Richard continued to work during the days as a carpenter (just like his father), to supplement his evening job- musician.
After not getting the job of Peter Gabriel's bassist, things brightened after Andy Ward of Camel, called Richard up and in April, 1977, RIchard was a member of Camel. Richard stayed for two albums, including the double live album- `A Live Record' which was recorded during the autumn of 1977.
Upon brief returns to Caravan to record- `Cool Water, (1977, but released in 1994), and a tour with Camel, Richard returned to Canterbury to play in local bands.
After a lengthy stay away from groups and touring, Richard with Phil Miller formed `In Cahoots' in 1982. The band toured and recorded many radio/demo sessions, but Richard left and began a 5 year hiatus, broken by a Caravan reunion in October 1984 at the Canterbury Summer Festival. With only a few gigs and guest appearances during those 5 years, Richard stepped it up a notch and in 1990, he was bassist/vocalist for two reunion concerts on the private Central Television channel (now available on DVD). Hatfield and the North reformed (with Sophia Domancich replacing Dave Stewart) for a one-off TV show on the. Caravan followed the same route with the addition of Jimmy Hastings on sax/flute.
`Caravan Of Dreams,' though released in April 1992, was created from a a band called Going Going- with Mark Hewins on guitar and Andy Ward on drums joining . The songs on the album spanned of 15 years of Richard's writing career and show great variety, musicianship as well as Richard's trademark wit.
`R.S.V.P.', released in June, 1994 had a greater jazz influence than Caravan of Dreams and included many guest musicians, which included: saxophonist- Didier Malherbe and Kit Watkins on keys. The album was critically received.
After another long hiatus (broken by the occasional tour or music festival), Richard, rejoined the music fold with a live release simply named- - Live Tracks and
with- David Rees Williams and Tony Cole, he released a studio album entitled- `What in the World.' See below. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Canterbury master will do next.
The below written biography is courtesy of: Heather Sinclair and Kenneth Egbert. April 2003
With In 2002 he was invited to Norway and to Japan for a few gigs to work with music students, 'work shopping' rehearsing and performing shows from the past and present Sinclair repertoire, with Richard singing. It was a delightful and creative project and has set up an international exchange of musical ideas for later recording.
Another generation of musicians are searching for inspiration in those 'Hatfield and the North' pieces from 1975 and so, it is evident that the love for those complex and humorous ditties endures. The 'best selling' Caravan album entitled 'In the Land of Grey and Pink' has never gone out of print since it's release in 1971. The writing and performance of which, features the work of Richard Sinclair significantly.
In the beginning, of what later became known as 'The Canterbury Scene' at age 15, Richard teamed up with the brothers Hugh and Brian Hopper to fire up the first 'Canterbury ' band 'The Wilde Flowers.' Through this group passed Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayres, Pye Hastings, Richard Coughlan, cousin David Sinclair, Graham Flight among others. From this generic band of friends, emerged new groupings: 'The Soft Machine' 'Caravan' 'Gong' 'Kevin Ayres and the Whole World'and the 'family tree' then branched out to include many other players and groups.
The result has been over 35 years of wonderful original music, an undulating, delightfully inventive blend often based on Anglican church hymnery, jazz, folk music, early 20th century classical music, (all done up with rock instruments and amplification) which has positively "stood the test of time".
Several websites are devoted to it and much has been written on all aspects of the music and musicians responsible. Those original albums, beginning for Richard with 'Caravan' first from 1968, are all being re-released and made available again. For a good reason! And Richard Sinclair, present at the creation, is one reason for the continued interest.
Presently, for Richard new music is underway: as just one example there is a Trio act
rehearsing and recording, with pianist David Rees Williams and Theo Travis on sax and flutes. The new music is very much an extension of the classic recordings we remember: tuneful, cheery, thought-provoking and fairly demanding of multiple listenings. It will be released on Richard's own label 'Sinclair Songs'
He reappeared in 2002 with occasional concerts and archival live releases, but the most exposure came with the reunion of Hatfield and the North in 2005-06, which came to an abrupt end when Pip Pyle died in August 2006. Shortly after that, he left his longtime Canterbury home to move permanently to Italy, living in a trullo in Martina Franca.[citation needed] In 2010, he joins the trio douBt (Alex Maguire, Michel Delville and Tony Bianco) on the album Never Pet a Burning Dog (Moonjune Records) and tours Japan and Europe with the band. In 2013-2014 he tours Italy with the Italian band PropheXy, recording two live bonus tracks (Disassociation, Golf Girl) for their album Improvviso.
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1962 various artists Canterburied Sounds, Vol.s 1-4 (released 1998)
1965 The Wilde Flowers The Wilde Flowers (released 1994)
1968 Caravan Caravan
1970 Caravan If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You
1971 Caravan In the Land of Grey and Pink
1972 Caravan Waterloo Lily
1974 Hatfield and the North Hatfield and the North
1974 Robert Wyatt Rock Bottom
1975 Hatfield and the North The Rotters' Club
1977 Camel Rain Dances
1977 Camel Unevensongs
1978 Camel Breathless
1978 Camel A Live Record
1980 Hatfield and the North Afters
1981 Alan Gowen, Phil Miller, Richard Sinclair & Trevor Tomkins Before A Word Is Said
1982 National Health D.S. al coda
1982 Caravan Back to Front
1983 Hugh Hopper & Richard Sinclair Somewhere in France (released 1996)
1989 Phil Miller Split Seconds
1990 Hatfield and the North Live 1990 (one-off reunion, with Sophia Domancich subbing for Dave Stewart
1990 Hatfield and the North Classic Rock Legends (DVD) (same show as above)
1990 Caravan Classic Rock Legends (DVD)
1992 Richard Sinclair's Caravan of Dreams Richard Sinclair's Caravan of Dreams
1993 Caravan of Dreams An Evening of Magic
1994 Richard Sinclair R.S.V.P.
1996 Richard Sinclair, David Rees & Tony Coe What in the World
1998 Pip Pyle 7 Year Itch
2002 Richard Sinclair Live Tracks
2003 Camel Live Tracks
2003 Dave Sinclair Full Circle
2003 Dave Sinclair Into The Sun
2003 Theo Travis Earth to Ether
2005 Hatfield and the North Hatwise Choice: Archive Recordings 1973—1975, Volume 1
2006 Hatfield and the North Hattitude: Archive Recordings 1973-1975, Volume 2
2006 In Cahoots Conspiracy Theories
Bandology
1964-1965 The Wilde Flowers (with Kevin Ayers, Robert Wyatt, Hugh Hopper et al.)
1968-1972, 1982 Caravan
1972-1975 Hatfield and the North
1976 Sinclair and the South
1977-1979 Camel
1982-1984 In Cahoots
1988 Skaboosh
1991-93 Caravan of Dreams
1994-1996 R.S.V.P. (with Pip Pyle, Didier Malherbe and Patrice Meyer)
1995- ? Richard Sinclair Band with Tony Coe and David Rees Williams
2005-2006 Hatfield and the North reformed
