Hatfield and the North
Encyclopedia
Hatfield and the North were an experimental
Canterbury scene
rock band
that lasted from October 1972 to June 1975, with some reunions thereafter.
grew out of a line-up of Delivery
in mid-1972 consisting of Phil Miller
(guitar
, from Matching Mole
), Steve Miller(†) (keyboards
; Phil's brother
), Pip Pyle
(†) (drum
s, from Gong
) and Richard Sinclair
(bass
and vocals, from Caravan
).
The band played a few live shows between July and September that year, but with Steve Miller being replaced by Dave Sinclair
(from Matching Mole
and Caravan
), the band soon changed their name to Hatfield and the North. The Delivery line-up reunited for a BBC session in November 1972 with Steve Miller, Phil Miller, Lol Coxhill
, Roy Babbington
(bass), Pip Pyle, and Richard Sinclair
on vocals. (Steve Miller went on to release a couple of duo albums with Coxhill in 1973/74.)
Dave Sinclair left in January 1973, shortly after the band's appearance (with Robert Wyatt on guest vocals) on the French TV programme "Rockenstock", and was quickly replaced by Dave Stewart (from Egg
) before the band's first recordings
were made.
The band recorded two album
s, Hatfield and the North
and The Rotters' Club
.Backing vocals on the two albums were sung by The Northettes: Amanda Parsons, Barbara Gaskin
and Ann Rosenthal. On the Autumn 1974 "Crisis Tour", which Hatfield co-headlined with Kevin Coyne, the opening act was a duo
of Steve Miller and Lol Coxhill
(also previously of Delivery) and Coxhill usually guested with Hatfield on the jamming sections of "Mumps".
After disbanding, Dave Stewart joined National Health
with Alan Gowen
from Gilgamesh
; Miller was a member throughout the band's existence, and Pyle joined in 1977. (Richard Sinclair also sat in on a couple of gigs and a BBC radio session that year.) Hatfield and the North and Gilgamesh had played a couple of shows together in late 1973, including a joint "double quartet" set, in some ways the prototype for National Health. Miller, Stewart, Pyle and Sinclair also worked together in various combinations on other projects.
The name of the band was inspired by the road signage on the main A1 road heading north from London, where the a succession of signs referred to the first major town, and the overall direction, as 'A1 Hatfield & the North'. This style of sign from the 1970s has now been replaced by a slightly different variant, as shown in the current picture to the right.
In March 1990, the group reformed to record a TV
show with Phil Miller, Richard Sinclair and Pip Pyle joined by Sophia Domancich (keyboards, Pyle's then-girlfriend and band mate in Equip'Out).
In January 2005, the band reformed again with Alex Maguire (from Pip Pyle's Bash!) on keyboards and toured between 2005 and 2006 (notable appearances included a short Japanese tour in late 2005, and the BajaProg and NEARfest
festivals in North America). On a small number of Europe
an dates in June 2005, Mark Fletcher
(from Miller's In Cahoots
band) reinforced the band while Pyle was recuperating from a back operation and only played on part of each gig. Pyle died in August 2006 after travelling back from a Hatfield show in Groningen. Following Pyle's death, Hatfield played two previously booked gigs with Mark Fletcher on drums, including the Canterbury Festival
in October 2006.
In 2005/2006, the band released two archival collections, Hatwise Choice and Hattitude, featuring the classic Miller/Pyle/Sinclair/Stewart line-up and distributed by the UK label Burning Shed
. Both releases contained a mixture of BBC radio sessions and live recordings, along with the odd demo.
In 2007, Cuneiform Records
re-released two albums by Steve Miller and Lol Coxhill with bonus material including 20 minutes of material by the proto-Hatfield and the North line-up of Delivery playing "God Song", "Bossa Nochance/Big Jobs", and "Betty" (a variation on some of the Sinclair bass riffs that also produced Hatfield's "Rifferama").
Jonathan Coe
's novel The Rotters' Club takes its title from the band's second album. The novel also mentions them several times.
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
Canterbury scene
Canterbury Scene
The Canterbury scene is a term used to loosely describe the group of progressive rock, avant-garde and jazz musicians, many of whom were based around the city of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s...
rock band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
that lasted from October 1972 to June 1975, with some reunions thereafter.
Career
The bandBand (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
grew out of a line-up of Delivery
Delivery (band)
Delivery was a British blues/progressive rock musical group, formed in the late 1960s. The band was one of the wellsprings of the progressive rock Canterbury scene....
in mid-1972 consisting of Phil Miller
Phil Miller
Phil Miller is an English progressive rock/jazz guitarist who was part of the Canterbury scene.He was a member of the bands Delivery, Matching Mole, Hatfield and the North, National Health, Short Wave and has since worked in solo projects and in his band In Cahoots, which he founded in 1982...
(guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, from Matching Mole
Matching Mole
Matching Mole was a short-lived UK progressive rock band from the Canterbury scene best known for the song "O Caroline". Robert Wyatt formed the band in October 1971 after he left Soft Machine and recorded his first solo album The End of an Ear...
), Steve Miller(†) (keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
; Phil's brother
Sibling
Siblings are people who share at least one parent. A male sibling is called a brother; and a female sibling is called a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together and spend a good deal of their childhood socializing with one another...
), Pip Pyle
Pip Pyle
Phillip "Pip" Pyle was an English-born drummer from Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, who later resided in France...
(†) (drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s, from Gong
Gong (band)
Gong is a Franco-British progressive/psychedelic rock band formed by Australian musician Daevid Allen. Their music has also been described as space rock. Other notable band members include Allan Holdsworth, Tim Blake, Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle, Gilli Smyth, Steve Hillage, Francis Moze, Mike Howlett...
) and Richard Sinclair
Richard Sinclair
Richard S. Sinclair is a progressive rock bassist, guitarist and vocalist who has been a member of several bands of the Canterbury scene.-Biography:...
(bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and vocals, from Caravan
Caravan (band)
Caravan are an English band from the Canterbury area, founded by former Wilde Flowers members David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan. Caravan rose to success over a period of several years from 1968 onwards into the 1970s as part of the Canterbury scene, blending...
).
The band played a few live shows between July and September that year, but with Steve Miller being replaced by Dave Sinclair
Dave Sinclair
David Sinclair , is a keyboardist who has been part of the progressive rock Canterbury Scene...
(from Matching Mole
Matching Mole
Matching Mole was a short-lived UK progressive rock band from the Canterbury scene best known for the song "O Caroline". Robert Wyatt formed the band in October 1971 after he left Soft Machine and recorded his first solo album The End of an Ear...
and Caravan
Caravan (band)
Caravan are an English band from the Canterbury area, founded by former Wilde Flowers members David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan. Caravan rose to success over a period of several years from 1968 onwards into the 1970s as part of the Canterbury scene, blending...
), the band soon changed their name to Hatfield and the North. The Delivery line-up reunited for a BBC session in November 1972 with Steve Miller, Phil Miller, Lol Coxhill
Lol Coxhill
Lowen Coxhill, generally known as Lol Coxhill is a free improvising saxophonist and raconteur...
, Roy Babbington
Roy Babbington
Roy Babbington is a rock and jazz bassist. He became well known for being a member of the Canterbury scene progressive rock/jazz fusion band Soft Machine.-Biography:...
(bass), Pip Pyle, and Richard Sinclair
Richard Sinclair
Richard S. Sinclair is a progressive rock bassist, guitarist and vocalist who has been a member of several bands of the Canterbury scene.-Biography:...
on vocals. (Steve Miller went on to release a couple of duo albums with Coxhill in 1973/74.)
Dave Sinclair left in January 1973, shortly after the band's appearance (with Robert Wyatt on guest vocals) on the French TV programme "Rockenstock", and was quickly replaced by Dave Stewart (from Egg
Egg (band)
Egg were an English progressive rock band formed in January 1969.-Career:The founding members of the group were Dave Stewart who played organ , Mont Campbell on bass and vocals and drummer Clive Brooks...
) before the band's first recordings
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
were made.
The band recorded two album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s, Hatfield and the North
Hatfield and the North (album)
Hatfield and the North is the first album by experimental Canterbury scene rock band Hatfield and the North.In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came #34 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums"....
and The Rotters' Club
The Rotters' Club (album)
The Rotters' Club is the second album by Hatfield and the North. It was also in part an inspiration for novel of the same name by Jonathan Coe.-Track listing:#"Share It" – 3:03#"Lounging There Trying" – 3:15...
.Backing vocals on the two albums were sung by The Northettes: Amanda Parsons, Barbara Gaskin
Barbara Gaskin
Barbara Gaskin is a British singer who, with her musical partner, the keyboardist Dave Stewart, formed a duo in 1981. In September of that year they had a number one single in the UK with a cover version of the song "It's My Party"...
and Ann Rosenthal. On the Autumn 1974 "Crisis Tour", which Hatfield co-headlined with Kevin Coyne, the opening act was a duo
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
of Steve Miller and Lol Coxhill
Lol Coxhill
Lowen Coxhill, generally known as Lol Coxhill is a free improvising saxophonist and raconteur...
(also previously of Delivery) and Coxhill usually guested with Hatfield on the jamming sections of "Mumps".
After disbanding, Dave Stewart joined National Health
National Health
National Health were a progressive rock band associated with the Canterbury scene. Founded in 1975, the band included members of keyboardist Dave Stewart's band Hatfield and the North and Alan Gowen's band Gilgamesh, the band also included guitarists Phil Miller and Phil Lee and bassist Mont...
with Alan Gowen
Alan Gowen
Alan Gowen was a fusion/progressive rock keyboardist, best known for his work in Gilgamesh and National Health.-History:...
from Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh (band)
Gilgamesh were a British jazz fusion band in the 1970s led by keyboardist Alan Gowen, part of the Canterbury scene.-History:...
; Miller was a member throughout the band's existence, and Pyle joined in 1977. (Richard Sinclair also sat in on a couple of gigs and a BBC radio session that year.) Hatfield and the North and Gilgamesh had played a couple of shows together in late 1973, including a joint "double quartet" set, in some ways the prototype for National Health. Miller, Stewart, Pyle and Sinclair also worked together in various combinations on other projects.
The name of the band was inspired by the road signage on the main A1 road heading north from London, where the a succession of signs referred to the first major town, and the overall direction, as 'A1 Hatfield & the North'. This style of sign from the 1970s has now been replaced by a slightly different variant, as shown in the current picture to the right.
Reunions & archival releases
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
show with Phil Miller, Richard Sinclair and Pip Pyle joined by Sophia Domancich (keyboards, Pyle's then-girlfriend and band mate in Equip'Out).
In January 2005, the band reformed again with Alex Maguire (from Pip Pyle's Bash!) on keyboards and toured between 2005 and 2006 (notable appearances included a short Japanese tour in late 2005, and the BajaProg and NEARfest
NEARfest
The North East Art Rock Festival, or NEARfest for short, is a multi-day event celebrating the resurgence of progressive and eclectic music in the United States and around the world. The event is held annually in early summer in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, approximately one hour north of Philadelphia...
festivals in North America). On a small number of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an dates in June 2005, Mark Fletcher
Mark Fletcher
Mark Fletcher was the founder and CEO of the news aggregator website, Bloglines, and a Vice President of Ask.com until June 2006. Ask Jeeves acquired Bloglines on 8 February 2005....
(from Miller's In Cahoots
In Cahoots
In Cahoots is a Canterbury scene band led by guitarist Phil Miller, their main composer.The band was formed in November 1982 by Miller with Pip Pyle , Richard Sinclair and Elton Dean , as the Phil Miller Quartet. It was expanded to a quintet and given its definitive name when Peter Lemer joined...
band) reinforced the band while Pyle was recuperating from a back operation and only played on part of each gig. Pyle died in August 2006 after travelling back from a Hatfield show in Groningen. Following Pyle's death, Hatfield played two previously booked gigs with Mark Fletcher on drums, including the Canterbury Festival
Canterbury Festival
The Canterbury Festival is Kent's international festival of the arts. It takes place in Canterbury and surrounding towns and villages each October and includes performances of a variety of types of music, ranging from Opera and Oratorio to art, comedy and theatre...
in October 2006.
In 2005/2006, the band released two archival collections, Hatwise Choice and Hattitude, featuring the classic Miller/Pyle/Sinclair/Stewart line-up and distributed by the UK label Burning Shed
Burning Shed
Burning Shed is an independent record label established in April 2001 by musicians Tim Bowness and Peter Chilvers, in association with duplication company manager and former Noisebox Records boss, Pete Morgan....
. Both releases contained a mixture of BBC radio sessions and live recordings, along with the odd demo.
In 2007, Cuneiform Records
Cuneiform Records
Cuneiform Records is an independent record label based in Silver Spring, Maryland.The label releases a mixture of musical styles, including progressive jazz, modern fusion music, progressive rock, the Canterbury Scene and electronic music...
re-released two albums by Steve Miller and Lol Coxhill with bonus material including 20 minutes of material by the proto-Hatfield and the North line-up of Delivery playing "God Song", "Bossa Nochance/Big Jobs", and "Betty" (a variation on some of the Sinclair bass riffs that also produced Hatfield's "Rifferama").
Jonathan Coe
Jonathan Coe
Jonathan Coe is an English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, What a Carve Up! reworks the plot of an old 1960s spoof horror film of the same name...
's novel The Rotters' Club takes its title from the band's second album. The novel also mentions them several times.
Discography
- Hatfield and the NorthHatfield and the North (album)Hatfield and the North is the first album by experimental Canterbury scene rock band Hatfield and the North.In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came #34 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums"....
(studio LP, VirginVirgin RecordsVirgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
1974; CD, Virgin 1990) - The Rotters' ClubThe Rotters' Club (album)The Rotters' Club is the second album by Hatfield and the North. It was also in part an inspiration for novel of the same name by Jonathan Coe.-Track listing:#"Share It" – 3:03#"Lounging There Trying" – 3:15...
(studio LP, Virgin 1975; CD, Virgin 1990) – UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#43 - AftersAftersAfters is a 1980 compilation album released by Canterbury scene band Hatfield and the North. Of the sixteen tracks, eleven are taken from the band's two studio albums Hatfield and the North and The Rotters' Club, three are live recordings, and the two remaining songs are those from their 1974...
(Virgin, 1980) - Live 1990Live 1990Live 1990 is a 1993 live album released by a reformed line-up of Canterbury scene band Hatfield and the North. This marked the band's first manifestation since its 1975 break-up. Original keyboard player Dave Stewart declined to take part and was replaced by French jazz pianist Sophia Domancich, at...
(live CD, Demon, 1993) - Hatwise Choice: Archive Recordings 1973-1975, Volume 1Hatwise Choice: Archive Recordings 1973-1975, Volume 1Hatwise Choice: Archive Recordings 1973-1975, Volume 1 is a 2005 compilation album by Canterbury scene band Hatfield and the North. The compilation features a mixture of on-stage live recordings, performances for radio, and a demo.- Track listing :...
(Hatco CD73-7501, distributed by Burning Shed, 2005) - Hattitude: Archive Recordings 1973-1975, Volume 2 (Hatco CD73-7502, distributed by Burning Shed, 2006)
External links
- www.hatfieldandthenorth.co.uk
- www.richardsinclair.net
- Hatfield and the North (Calyx)
- The Hatfield & the North page (Andy Murkin)
- Hatfield & the North CD retrospective series (Burning Shed)
- PUNKCAST#997 Live video from Bowery Poetry Club NYC on June 25, 2006
- Pip Pyle´s official website