(Canterbury) Richard Sinclair - Caravan of Dreams - 1992/1999, FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

Richard Sinclair biography
Richard Sinclair is a pillar of the 'Canterbury Sound'. His compositions,his significant voice, his sophisticated bass playing and his witty lyrics are important features of the 'Canterbury Sound', that are to find as well on his solo records.

He played in the following bands : Wilde Flowers (1964-65), Caravan (1968-72, 1981-82, 1990-92), Delivery (1972), Hatfield and the North (1972-75), Sinclair and the South (1975-76), RSVP (1977), Camel (1977-79), Gowen Miller Sinclair Tomkins (1981), In Cahoots (1982-85), Richard Sinclair Band (1986), Skaboosh! (1988), Going Going (1990), Caravan of Dreams (1991-94), Richard Sinclair/RSVP (1994-96)

Richard Sinclair started his musical career with 'The Wilde Flowers', founded in late 1964, featuring also Robert Wyatt, Hugh and Brian Hopper, and Kevin Ayers. When 'The Wilde Flowers' folded in mid-1967 the remaining members - Pye Hastings, David Sinclair, Richard Coughlan and Richard Sinclair- formed 'Caravan'. Richard Sinclair remained with 'Caravan' for the first four albums. The second record 'In The Land Of Grey And Pink' (1971) features three Sinclair classics : "Golf Girl", "Winter Wine" and the title-track. Richard Sinclair formed then together with Pip Pyle and Phil Miller 'Hatfield and the North' (later joined by Dave Stewart). After having recorded two studio records, the band split up in 1975.

In 1975-76, Sinclair led several line-ups going under the name of 'Sinclair and the South' including David Sinclair, John Murphy, Dave Arbus and Mark Hewins and later in 1976, Sinclair formed 'RSVP', including Richard Folds, Perry White and Vince Clarke. During that period, Sinclair earned his living as a carpenter like his father.In 1977 he joined 'Camel' and recorded two studio albums and one live record with the band and in early 1978 he rejoined 'Caravan' to help in the recording of the 'Cool Water' sessions.

In 1981 Richard Sinclair took part in the recording of the Gowen-Miller-Sinclair-Tomkins album 'Before A Word Is Said', 'National Health's D.S. Al Coda and Caravan's Back To Front and in 1982, he became a founding member of 'In Cahoots', Phil Miller's band, with Elton Dean and Pip Pyle.In 1983 he recorded 'Somewhere In France' with Hugh Hopper which was only released in 1996.He took part in a 'Caravan' reformation concert during the 1984 Canterbury Summer Festival, toured Holland in April 1986 with Geoff Leigh, Wim Pop, Henk Weltevreden and Coen Delbaerts, and briefly joined Anthony Aldridge's band 'Skaboosh'.

For a TV show, Sinclair took part in the reformation of 'Hatfield and the North' in 1990, reunited with Hugh Hopper in the shortlived 'Going Going' which also featured Mark Hewins, Andy Ward and Vince Clark, and formed 'Caravan Of Dreams' with Mark Hewins and Andy Ward. This line up recorded a self-titled album which was released in 1992.

Sinclair's next record 'R.S.V.P', was released in 1994 and between 1995 and 2002, he kept doing solo tours. In September 1996 he was the main act of the 'Canterbury Music in Harlingen' festival in the Netherlands. Occasional on-stage reunions with Phil Miller led to the latter joining Sinclair's live band alongside Theo Travis, Alex Maguire and Roy Dodds which in turn led to a 'Hatfield and the North' reunion in 2005, with a line-up of Sinclair, Miller, Maguire and Pip Pyle. Richard Sinclair continues to tour with 'Hatfield' and plays also with David Rees-Williams and Theo Travis.

From www.progarchives.com:

Two decades after "Winter Wine" and "Golf Girl," canterbury singer and bassist Richard Sinclair released his first solo album with an band containing Jimmy Hasting on woodwinds, Dave Sinclair on his trademark fuzzy keyboards, and Andy Ward on drums. Two thirds of the album are studio recordings of never before seen tracks while the last third is an excerpt of a live concert, containing a couple Hatfields classics and some amazing vamps. The set starts with "Going for a Song" a never recorded Hatfield and the North warhorse with a gorgeous jazzy melody carried by guitar, flute, and Sinclair's beautiful voice, which has only improved with age. It sets the tone for the entire album, gentle and breezy compositions which combines whimsical folk with jazz in short 3 to 7 minute bursts. The lyrics, written by Pip Pyle, Hugh Hopper, and Richard himself are of the same quirky and good natured style as classic Canterbury. "Only the Brave" brings us up to speed on the non-musical endevours of scene stalwarts Pye Hastings, Richard Coughlin, Dave Sinclair, and Daevid Allen in a little under two minutes. The high point of the studio work is the recording debut of Sinclair's 80's composition "Keep on Caring" which is one of his best compositions ever, with lyrics imploring you to keep on dreaming even though you have abondoned the dreams of youth and got a job. Heavy stuff, but in the Sinclair style it sounds profound and childlike; "all week struggle/to earn those green vouchers/to pay for the beer/and somewhere to sleep it all off." The concert material is highlighted by the new quirky instrumental "Felefal Shuffle" and spritely versions of "Didn't Matter Anyway" and "Halfway Between Heaven and Earth," segued together with an exciting passage of the band trading 8's. Canterbury's smoothest crooner is still playing and still writing songs that live up to the legacy.

-Richard Sinclair /vocals,guitar,bass
- Andy Ward / drums
- David Sinclair / keyboards [1/4/6/8-10])
- Jimmy Hastings / saxophone [7-8] ,flute [4/6/7/9-10]
- Rick Biddulph / bass [8-10])