xchè il nord è tanto così cool? Hatfield and the North - The Rotters Club (1975) 1 - Share It (Sinclair/Pyle) 00:00 2 - Lounging There Trying (Miller) 3:03 3 - (Big) John Wayne Socks Psychology on the Jaw (Stewart) 6:18 4 - Chaos at the Greasy Spoon (Sinclair/Pyle) 7:02 5 - The Yes No Interlude (Pyle) 7:32 6 - Fitter Stoke Has a Bath (Pyle) 14:34 7 - Didnt Matter Anyway (Sinclair) 22:07 8 - Underdub (Miller) 25:40 9 - Mumps (Stewart) 29:37 a) Your Majesty Is Like a Cream Donut (Quiet) 29:37 b) Lumps 31:36 c) Prenut 44:28 d) Your Majesty Is Like a Cream Donut (Loud) 48:22 Personnel Phil Miller: Guitar Dave Stewart: Fender Rhodes electric piano, Hammond organ, Minimoog, Piano, Tone generator Richard Sinclair: Bass guitar, Lead vocals, Guitar (7) Pip Pyle: Drums Jimmy Hastings: Saxophone (5 & 9), Flute (6-8 & 9) Barbara Gaskin, Amanda Parsons & Ann Rosenthal: Backing vocals (6 & 9) Lindsay Cooper: Bassoon (3 & 5) Tim Hodgkinson: Clarinet (3 & 5) Mont Campbell: French horn (3 & 4) Share It (Sinclair/Pyle) – 3:03 Lounging There Trying (Miller) – 3:15 (Big) John Wayne Socks Psychology on the Jaw (Stewart) – 0:43 Chaos at the Greasy Spoon (Sinclair/Pyle) – 0:30 The Yes No Interlude (Pyle) – 7:01 Fitter Stoke Has a Bath (Pyle) – 7:33 Didnt Matter Anyway (Sinclair) – 3:33 Underdub (Miller) – 4:02 Mumps (Stewart) – 20:31 Your Majesty Is Like a Cream Donut (Quiet) 1:59 Lumps 12:35 Prenut 3:55 Your Majesty Is Like a Cream Donut (Loud) 1:37 The Rotters Club Studio album by Hatfield and the North Released March 1975 Recorded Saturn Studios, Worthing, January–February 1975 Genre Progressive rock (Canterbury scene) Length 50:15 Label Virgin Records Producer Hatfield and the North Professional ratings Allmusic 4/5 stars 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. Hatfield and the North were an experimental Canterbury scene rock band that lasted from October 1972 to June 1975, with some reunions thereafter. Career The band grew out of a line-up of friends in mid-1972 consisting of Phil Miller (guitar, from Matching Mole), Phils brother Steve Miller (keyboards, from Caravan, Pip Pyle (drums, from Gong) and Richard Sinclair (bass and vocals, from Caravan). The band played a few live shows between July and September that year, and gained their first record contract with Virgin Records with the Sinclair cousins...as Steve Miller was 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 bands appearance (with Robert Wyatt on guest vocals) on the French TV programme Rockenstock, and was quickly replaced by Dave Stewart (from Egg) before the bands first recordings were made. The band recorded two albums, Hatfield and the North and The Rotters Club.[1]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 formed National Health with Alan Gowen from Gilgamesh; Phil Miller was a member throughout the bands 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 In March 1990, the group reformed to record a TV show with Phil Miller, Richard Sinclair and Pip Pyle joined by Sophia Domancich (keyboards, Pyles then-girlfriend and band mate in EquipOut). In January 2005, the band reformed again with Alex Maguire (from Pip Pyles 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 European dates in June 2005, Mark Fletcher (from Millers 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 Pyles 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, distributed by the UK label Burning Shed. Both releases contained a mixture of BBC radio sessions and live recordings, along with the odd demo, which are still available on CD and support the musicians and family of Pip Pyle. 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 Hatfields Rifferama). Jonathan Coes novel The Rotters Club takes its title from the bands second album. The novel also mentions them several times. Discography Hatfield and the North (studio LP, Virgin 1974; CD, Virgin 1990) The Rotters Club (studio LP, Virgin 1975; CD, Virgin 1990) – UK No. 43 Afters (Virgin, 1980) Live 1990 (live CD, Demon, 1993) Hatwise Choice: Archive Recordings 1973-1975, Volume 1 (Hatco CD73-7501, distributed by Burning Shed, 2005) Hattitude: Archive Recordings 1973-1975, Volume 2 (Hatco CD73-7502, distributed by Burning Shed, 2006) Recensione di Geppo (rottersclub) Dopo linsuccesso commerciale del primo disco gli hatfield, incoraggiati dalla Virgin e consci delle proprie caratteristiche peculiari, registrano il materiale per un secondo album. Ne viene fuori un altro capolavoro, purtroppo nuovamente rimasto ai margini del fenomeno progressivo dellepoca, ed in Italia viene anchesso quasi subito ristampato per la serie economica Orizzonte. La conseguenziale insoddisfazione causerà, da lì a poco, lo scioglimento del gruppo. Tutti i brani sono eccellenti composizioni, collegate senza soluzione di continuità, con liniziale Share it, canzone fresca e con piglio da hit parade nella sua pur articolata concezione, segue Louging there trying , guidata dalla calda chitarra di Miller, conduce in territori più jazz per poi passare in una vena più sperimentale con la sequenza di(Big) John Wayne socks psychology on the jaw, Chaos at the greasy e The yes no interlude con il timbro distorto e particolarissimo della chitarra a tessere intriganti trame, mentre le tastiere di Stewart impongono deliziose fratture sonore degnamente supportate dallarticolata base ritmica di Pyle e Sinclair. Per pochi minuti pare ritornare alla forma canzone, ma Fitter stoke has a bath è un brano strumentalmente ben più articolato ed affascinante; alla successiva Didnt matter anyway spetta il compito di sintetizzare la canzone trasognata e romantica, con la calda voce di Sinclair ed il prezioso solo Jimmy Hastings al flauto. Si ritorna su scenari jazz con Underdub, ma ci troviamo sempre ai vertici di una combinazione di elementi romantici e tecnicamente ineccepibili che sfociano, attraverso lintroduzione del coro delle Northettes, nellapoteosi della suite Mumps, brano quasi totalmente strumentale che nelle sue variegate e stupende articolazioni sonore non manca di procurare dolci brividi corporali. Probabilmente il culmine ineguagliato della cosidetta scuola di canterbury, ove la pregiata tecnica strumentale si combina mirabilmente con una magica ispirazione. Nella versione ristampata su cd troviamo altri cinque brani, un valore aggiunto non indifferente trattandosi di inediti ed esecuzioni live originariamente pubblicati su LP Afters. Signori, giù il cappello davanti a The Rotters Club ! Review by Dave Lynch (ALLMUSIC) (4 stars) Featuring some of the most stunning musicianship ever associated with Englands Canterbury scene, Hatfield and the Norths second LP features, like their eponymous debut, Dave Stewart on keyboards, Phil Miller on guitar, Richard Sinclair on bass and vocals, and Pip Pyle on drums (supplemented by a few guest instrumentalists and the ever-ethereal Northettes with their la la backing vocals). The participants show an admirable sense of restraint and, like their Canterbury peers, are careful to avoid the pomposity and bombast of better-known prog rockers of the era, such as Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Yes. The Hatfields convoluted instrumental passages segue into the occasional Sinclair vocal vehicle, in which the exemplary bassist sings in a polite and mellow croon that utterly avoids melismatic displays, histrionics, or over-emoting; in other words, his style -- closer to, say, Bing Crosby than, say, Joe Cocker -- would likely cause many 21st century pop music listeners to scratch their heads with bemusement. And the songs rather whimsical lyrical content, while perhaps another conscious attempt to steer clear of the pretentiousness of the typically overbearing prog rock song style, certainly reflects a 60s/70s mindset more than a 21st century one, so todays jaded listeners should realign their expectations. Things get off to a strong start with Share It, a catchy little number with Sinclair expressing some idealistic and hard-to-criticize Brit hippie sentiments. Elsewhere, the songs are few and far between, but crop up in odd spots nevertheless; the Hatfields were masters of the segue and the most masterly demonstrations of instrumental technique wind up bleeding into ditties that might seem out of place to some. But Stewart, Miller, Sinclair, and Pyle all make wonderful instrumental statements. Particularly noteworthy are Millers two short jazzy numbers, Lounging There Trying and Underdub, which, with their sparkling electric piano work from Stewart, have a light and airy improvisational feel despite rather thorough scoring; Pyles propulsive Yes No Interlude with its furious melding of Stewarts keyboards and the sax of guest Jimmy Hastings; and Stewarts 20-minute opus Mumps. The latter is particularly impressive, with everything anyone would want from an extended-form Canterbury-style workout. The piece ebbs and flows through nimbly executed thematic passages and variations, featuring one of Stewarts most compelling themes and also one of the best fuzz organ solos that he (or Mike Ratledge or David Sinclair for that matter) ever recorded. Smack dab in the middle of it all, another Sinclair-sung tune arrives, this time making punning use of letters of the alphabet. But the suite gets back on track with a dramatic instrumental coda, melding spacy effects, more great organ playing from Stewart, and spectacularly executed unison lines from Miller and Hastings in crescendo before the final fade. The Virgin Records CD reissue features several live bonus tracks (also found on the Afters compilation), including two comparatively crazed and heavy Miller instrumental pieces recorded in France and, from a date at the Rainbow Theatre in London, Sinclairs Halfway Between Heaven and Earth, which has a bit more of the feel of his vocal work with Caravan than with the Hatfields. Too bad theres a premature fadeout during another great Stewart organ solo. One wonders where the band was headed with that. Recensione di fusillo (DeBaser) (5 stars) Introduzione: da un intervista di metà anni novanta rilasciata dal Sig.Richard Sinclair, 45 anni, celibe. Domanda: “Progetti per il futuro? Risposta: “Guarda, vorrei fare il musicista professionista, ma per ora cè troppo gente che vuole che gli ripari il bagno...” Due considerazioni due: La prima: Poveri, poveri musicisti che non arrivano a fine mese senza un lavoro part time. La seconda: povere, povere massaie che per trovare un idraulico lo devono cercare fra i musicisti. Scegliete voi quella che vi piace di più. Fine dellintroduzione. Un passo indietro ora: in principio erano i Soft Machine ma non si dovette aspettare molto perchè arrivassero i Matching mole. Già cerano i Caravan che non si scomposero quando si formarono gli Egg i quali, fra un tea e un biscotto, divennero molto amici dei Gilgamesh dato che degli Arzachel già si diceva: “che fine hanno fatto?”: Tutti sti gruppi e gruppetti sono nati e defunti allinterno della cinta di mura di Cabterbury, città di San Tommaso Beckett, Martire. “Beh, e ora che si fa?” disse qualcuno a un certo punto. “Formiamo gli Hatfield che lè ora...” Hatfield and the North: Dave Stewart (tastiere dagli Egg), ldraulico Richard Sinclair (Basso e voce, dai Caravan), Phil Miller (chitarra, dai Matching Mole) e Pip Pyle (batteria dai Gong). Con questa formazione gli hatfield girarono gli scantinati dei colleges, e i teatri più off di mezza europa dal 1972 al 1976 e incisero due album che sono credo le pepite più dorate delle miniere auree di Canterbury. Lomonimo del 1973 e “The Rotters Club” del 1975. Di questultimo mi va di parlare. La prima è “Share it”: “Please do not take it seriously... Rotters club... Spread the meaning of this song and shaaaaaaare it”. Così canta Richard Sinclair anima canzonettistica della banda dei brocchi (The Rotters club appunto). Richard pare un Buster Keaton lungo, biondo e sorridente; la sua voce è inconfondibilmente british ma per farla più british lha tenuta a lungo a bagno nellunderstatement. Con questa voce esitante Richard pare che dica “vorrei essere altrove...” e invece ci invita ad essere semplici, a non prenderci sul serio, e a condividere il feeling della band: a sentirci tutti un po brocchi, insomma. E allora Dave Stewart che ti fa? Si traveste da Keith Emerson e decolla in un assolo però senza le sue (di Keith) fanfaronate. Tutto così normale, intelligente e bello che non ti sembra manco vero. Poi? Poi si attacca con la sbrodolata (ma brodo buono eh!!) di “Lounging There Trying” dove la chitarra di Phil Miller insegna la melodia agli altri che si dicono: “Beh, e non gli andiamo dietro?”. Si parte così su una LOVE BOAT ebbra e scaltra che attraverso marosi e tempeste si dirige verso acque tranquille. E tu puoi andare sul ponte, ballare e baciar la tua bella al chiar di luna... “(Big) John Wayne socks Psychology on the Jaw” è una introduzione orchestrale dal titolo maestoso (traducete e ridete, se volete), di una qualche solennità che altro non serve che a presentare “Chaos at the Greasy Spoon” dove la mano sinistra di Stewart disegna il ritmo (taaan taan ta taaan, taa taa, taaan, taan ta taan, ecc...) e la mano destra ti appioppa un ceffone di reef che se sei sei volente ti trascina, se sei nolente ti ritrovi un livido. Mentre sfuma “ Chaos...” incomincia la seconda, meravigliosa canzone di Sinclair con testo di Pyle. “Fitter Stoke has a bath” Ecco saggi del Pyle pensiero presi dal refrain del pezzo in questione: “bing billy bong, silly song, going wrong, ding dong ding, dong ding dong, ping pong ping, my heads gone...” Tutto ciò mentre si suppone Fitter Stoke stia annegando nella sua vasca da bagno... In questo pezzo si fa la conoscenza delle Northettes, anzi delle Very Wonderful Northettes (così nelle note di copertina). Tre cantanti che se allepoca erano sbarbine, oggi saranno matrone: Amanda Pearson, Barbara Gaskin e Ann Rosenthal (alias Northettes) gorgheggiano e acutizzano quà e là nel disco per sottolineare, solennizzare e aerare alcuni pezzi che se no ne sarebbero digiuni. Qui le possiamo vedere mentre, costume da bagnine addosso, salvano Fitter dallannegamento. E ora che cè? Ora, cè un intermezzo ludico con la voce di Sinclair che diventa piffero e un altro intermezzo (che fan due) in cui gli strumenti giocano come bambini discoli, ognun per il ritmo suo. Quindi il gelo: latmosfera si fa cupa e un quasi silenzio potrebbe far dire a qualcuno: “Prevedo tempeste”. Ciò che si dischiude invece alle orecchie dellascoltatore degno è un barattolino contenente una delle melodie più straordinarie dei 70. “It didnt matter anyway”. Brano in cui Richard Sinclair sintrattiene con il flauto di Jimmy Hastings (ehi, chi si vede...) a ragionare su un amore finito. Il flauto di Jimmy, uno dei molti hatfiled aggiunti, avendo ragionato meglio, conclude con un assolo che ti mette addosso un disagio così gradevole e un urgenza così logica che devi dire: “ULLAPEPPA!!!” Con “Underdub” si sale di nuovo sulla LOVE BOAT dI “ Lounging There Trying” stavolta con clandestini a bordo: Jimmy Hastings e il suo flauto che in barba ad ogni logica si fan capitani del battello, conducono la rotta e ci portano verso “Mumps”. “Mumps”, che nel vinile occupava da solo il lato b, è invece una suite in quattro movimenti composta da Stewart che si dipana fra assoli di tastiere e chitarre, brontolii di basso, momenti ora bucolici ora esotici creati dalle Northettes e altre stramberie. Lapice di Mumps lo trovi nella canzone “The Alphabet Song”, dove un Sinclair in vena di celie è impegnato nel salvataggio delle lettere dellalfabeto da pericoli sconosciuti allumile recensore. Passa in rassegna le lettere una per una e dedica ad ognuna un pensiero carino. Il tutto per poter dire Io sono un uomo di lettere, per Dio” (beh, che cè, non ridete?!? Neanchio...). Oh, qui il vinile era finito, ma la ristampa su CD recupera tre pezzi che prima non avevi. “Halfway between Heaven and Hearth” dallintro mozzafiato e dallaria da Standard del Jazz, “Oh, Lens Nature”, crimsoniana dei crimson di “Larks...” “Red” e “Starless...” e “Lying and Gracing” che non vi dico comè perchè ne ho dette fin troppe. Ciao e statemi tutti bene. Rewiew by JOHN KELMAN (allaboutjazz) Hatfield and the North: Hatfield and The North / The Rotters Club Amongst the more revered of 1970s Canterbury bands—including Egg, Soft Machine, Caravan, Gilgamesh and Gong—Hatfield and the North has always occupied a special place in the hearts of fans of this distinctly British amalgam of complex progressive music, singular lyricism and self-directed humor. A band that was seemingly over before it began, Hatfield and the North represented a major step forward for all its members; a group that seamlessly blended jazz-like improvisational abandon with detailed composition, occasional pop tendencies and a sense of humor that eliminated any potential for excess and self-indulgence...unless the group did so intentionally and with complete self-effacement. Keyboardist Dave Stewart had already established a name for himself with Egg and Khan, though in the former the compositional duties were largely assumed by the vastly undervalued Mont Campbell, and the latter was more of a vehicle for guitarist Steve Hillage, whod previously intersected with Stewart and Campbell in the more psychedelic, pre-Egg group Uriel (whose long out-of-print album, along with an archival disc of Egg oddities, was finally released on CD in 2007 through UKs Burning Shed). By the time Stewart was recruited for Hatfield and the North, replacing original keyboardist, Caravans Dave Sinclair, hed gone—seemingly overnight—from a talented, post-Keith Emerson keyboardist to one with a decidedly greater jazz bent, albeit one with a harmonic language strangely distanced from the American tradition. Guitarist Phil Miller and drummer Pip Pyle went back to the mid-1960s and the group Delivery, though both made greater names for themselves in other places. Miller was the guitarist in ex-Soft Machine drummer/singer Robert Wyatts Matching Mole (a clever pun on the French translation for Soft Machine, Machine Molle), which released two studio albums and, in recent years, has seen some fine archival performances issued, including On the Radio (Hux, 2007). A curious musician who, as Wyatt once wrote, would rather play a wrong note than a note that somebody else had ever played, Millers rapid evolution from Matching Moles quirky but oftentimes sloppy guitarist into one with a richer vernacular and lither but still idiosyncratic approach to melody, remains one of the more underappreciated stories in modern jazz; one that continues to this day with his group In Cahoots, and releases including All That (Cuneiform, 2003) and the more ambitious Conspiracy Theories (MoonJune, 2007). Pyle played in the early incarnation of Gong responsible for its nascent classic Camembert Electrique (Charly, 1971) before returning to England in 1972 to reunite with Miller, his brother Steve (keyboards) and bassist/vocalist Richard Sinclair—the latter two having left Caravan, of which Sinclair was a founding member—for a new version of Delivery. An early glimpse of this group, which was the germinal Hatfield, can be heard in the bonus tracks of Cuneiforms wonderful 2007 collection of Steve Miller and saxophonist Lol Coxhills Miller/Coxhill Coxhill/Miller / The Story So Far... ...Oh Really?. Pyle—who sadly passed away in 2006 at a time when Hatfield had reformed (with keyboardist Alex Maguire replacing Stewart) for some live dates and the promise of new material—was a drummer who, more than many, combined the energy and backbeat-driven approach of rock with jazzs looser interpretive aesthetic, and whose group Equip Out demonstrated an even more fervent realignment to the jazz world in later years on albums like Instants (Hux, 2004). Richard Sinclair had already established himself as a talented bassist, composer and singer with Caravan, especially on its early milestone, In the Land of Grey and Pink (Decca, 1971). With a curiously deadpan delivery, his mellifluous voice was one that never aimed for excess melisma, yet was immediately recognizable. As a bassist, while his playing with Caravan was nothing short of superb, it was with Hatfield that he had the opportunity to really stretch out and prove himself a more sophisticated player, both as a member of the ensemble and as a distinctive soloist. But in typical Canterbury fashion—the scene so deeply incestuous and, from an archivists point of view, so interwoven as to make documenting the period an almost insurmountable challenge (though Aymeric Leroy, through his Calyx: The Canterbury Webite and numerous CD liner notes, has become its undisputed expert)—there were some changes in store before the final, classic line-up was cemented into place. Steve Miller left Delivery, to be replaced by Richard Sinclairs cousin Dave (also from Caravan) and a subsequent renaming of the group to Hatfield and the North (taken from road signs out of London, pointing to the A1 motorway). Within months Dave Sinclair left the band for the same reason hed left Matching Mole—too much emphasis on improvisation—returning to Caravan for a series of classics including For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night (Decca, 1973) and Caravan and the New Symphonia (Decca, 1974). Dave Sinclairs ultimate replacement by Stewart was, however, the final piece in the puzzle that would make Hatfield and the North a group which may never have received the appreciation or commercial attention it deserved, but to which time has been extraordinarily kind. With a distinctive complexion that blended stunning solos with compositions from everyone in the group—often joined together to create lengthy, side-long suites that were invariably far greater wholes than the sum of their parts—Hatfield and the Norths music remains both of its time and thoroughly timeless. It was and is music that reflected the musical fearlessness and unfettered stylistic cross-pollination of its time, and a cultural personality that kept its distance from the fusion efforts of its American counterparts. Unmistakably British, Hatfield and the North is a group that would have sounded completely different had it emerged a few years earlier or later, and with the same careful treatment from Esoterics Mark Powell as he applied to other Canterbury releases including the two National Health albums from 1978 that would find Stewart, Miller and Pyle back together again, Esoterics reissues of both Hatfield and the North and The Rotters Club are unequivocally definitive. With clearly improved sonics, albeit often more in the nuances and less in-your-face, Esoteric has also collected all the bits and bobs from samplers and singles as bonus tracks on both reissues, including material from the 1975 Virgin label sampler V, the 1976 Chrysalis compilation of live performances from a number of groups at North Londons heralded The Rainbow Theatre, Over the Rainbow and Hatfields posthumous collection, Afters (Virgin, 1980). New liner notes by Sid Smith shed further light onto the groups history. When combined with two recent archival collections of live and radio performances, released by the group through Burning Shed—Hatwise Choice: Archive Recordings 1973-1975, Volume 1 (2005) and Hattitude: Archive Recordings 1973-1975, Volume 2 (2006)—the full story of Hatfield and the North is now available, in the best possible form. Hatfield and the North Hatfield and the North Esoteric Records 2009 (1974) Within the first six minutes of Hatfield and the North, almost every defining marker of the group is laid bare with four miniatures: Pyles electronic, 23-second intro The Stubbs Effect that would bookend the album; Sinclairs equally pithy lyrical intro to the group, Big Jobs (Poo Poo Extract)—Heres a song to begin the beginning/a few notes which are, arbitrary/but we try our best, to make it sound right/and hope that the music turns you on to our latest LP/should be a laugh certainly; Stewarts effortlessly building, metrically shifting and harmonically challenging Going Up To People and Tinkling, where the keyboardist and Miller solo in tandem, orbiting around each other and the still-under-three-minute songs singable melody, while responding to each other with early empathic chemistry; and Millers Calyx, with its serpentine melody and some fine lyric-less vocal interplay between Sinclair and guest singer Robert Wyatt. A lesser-known tidbit about the opening and closing The Stubbs Effect comes from Aymeric Leroy: The Stubbs Effect, in the incarnation(s) that features on the album, is not actually by Pip Pyle. Pip had written a piece by that name, which was a tape collage and deemed too long and experimental by the others, so Stewart quickly put together the multiple speeded-up pianets thing, which retained the title and credit to Pyle but he actually had nothing to do with it. Pyle would later recycle his The Stubbs Effect in the middle of The Yes / No Interlude on The Rotters Club. With titles like these, as well as Sinclairs reprise of Big Jobs, Big Jobs No. 2 (by Poo And The Wee Wees) leading into Stewarts contrapuntally complex yet eminently thematic Lobster In Cleavage Probe, featuring the angelic Northettes (singers Barbara Gaskin, Amanda Parsons and Ann Rosenthal), its clear that this is a group for whom humor is an equal component to some undeniably serious music. With Monty Python at its peak, the kind of titular, lyrical and musical absurdity thats found on the following Gigantic Land Crabs In Earth Takeover Bid—a more foreboding and high octane piece that, throughout, reprises Pyles lengthy, atmospheric but rhythmically insistent and improv-heavy Shaving Is Boring as a feature for Miller at his most abstruse, before turning lighter for a more restrained organ solo from Stewart, and finally climaxing thematically into Pyles The Other Stubbs Effect—is definitive of the entire album. Frank Zappa -esque but with a decidedly British slant, Hatfield may or may not have been influenced by the late guitarist/composers episodic approach to side-long epics in the days of LPs, but theres a link just the same. Millers Aigrette may amble along amiably enough, but its snaking acoustic guitar theme—doubled by Sinclairs voice—never repeats itself once for the first minute of its entire 98 seconds; one of the longest melodies ever written to remain, strangely enough, singable and easy to recall. Segueing into Sinclairs only slightly longer (well, at 2:56, nearly double Aigrettes length) Rifferama, Hatfield closes its first side with a truly mammoth collection of riffs that, nevertheless, manage to hang together as the group builds to a viscerally funky climax of solo trade-offs between the oblique Miller, guest saxophonist Didier Malherbe (from Gong) and Stewart, who succeeds in playing wah-wahd lines that are both knotty and inherently humorous, as the song builds to a cacophony of multi-tracking that ends the only way it can—with the recording (this is, after all, before the days of sampling) of a large audience, laughing wildly. And now...Hatfield and the...North, say some unidentified voices, as Sinclairs Fol De Rol kicks off a second side-long suite that runs the gamut from Sinclairs change-heavy solo and quirky themes like those of Shaving Is Boring—early proof of Pyles compositional acumen—to the bassists Licks For The Ladies, where he gives some deep insight into Hatfields modus operandi: In the end, choosing notes to see if they make friends/A D-sharp minor flattened 5th will go to C/dotted crotchets usually divide by three/We dont really know now exactly what we mean/still we had the gist of it till the chords changed... Its a challenge to know whether to be more impressed by the groups ability to create deeply complex music with solos peppered throughout in an impressive demonstration of form-meets-freedom, or by its ability to make the entire process somehow unostentatious, even as it makes music that would challenge most to play, let along recall in performance without charts (as Hatfield did, back in the day). Either way, Hatfield and the North remains a remarkable debut; an album that, when it was released in 1974, bore the personalities of its members while sounding absolutely like nothing that had come before it. 35 years later, and despite its influence, it remains a unique album that still sounds like nothing else, and with Esoterics attentive remastering, it sounds better than it ever has. The addition of Hatfields only single—1974s Lets Eat Real Soon (by Sinclair and Pyle), backed by Pyles Fitter Stoke Has A Bath, which would appear on The Rotters Club with slightly altered lyrics—is a window into a band trying to write radio-friendly material but still unable to desert its own markers. Hatfields later Hatwise Choice and Hattitude would make the groups constant reworking of its material more self-evident in its live and radio recordings, but back in the day, the long-lost Your Majesty Is Like A Cream Donut incorporating Oh What A Lonely Lifetime was an early indicator, for those unable to hear Hatfield live, of how the group would reorganize and rearrange its material, with Your Majesty Is Like A Cream Donut a part of Stewarts Rotters Club epic Mumps, and Oh What A Lonely Lifetime a previously unrecorded Sinclair tune that foreshadows a later tendency towards singer/songwriting and less focus on the more progressive tendencies of his early career. Hatfield and the North The Rotters Club Esoteric Records 2009 (1975) If Hatfield and the North was a shot across the bow of progressive rock, fusion jazz and pop songwriting, The Rotters Club was an even more mature effort, taking all the groups many distinctive qualities to the next level. That it did so in such order is all the more remarkable. Sinclairs buoyant Share It, which opens the disc, is the most concise pop song Hatfield ever recorded, and would have stood a far better chance at radio success than its previously released single. It also features one of Stewarts best solos, on Minimoog; perfect in construction, its proof that his strength as a focused soloist was intact, whether it was over longer stretches, or as here over a single verse and chorus. Like its predecessor, The Rotters Club is largely a continuous experience, with the first sides seven tracks—ranging from another serpentinely elliptical instrumental from Miller, Lounging There Trying, to Pyles riff-based The Yes / No Interlude, which features Stewarts powerfully overdriven organ, a wind duet and powerful saxophone solo courtesy of Caravans Jimmy Hastings, and one of Millers most outrageous solos of the set—linked together with clever segues. The side ends with Pyles lyrically rewritten but still hauntingly prescient Fitter Stoke Has a Bath, and Sinclairs Didnt Matter Anyway, one of the bassists most poignant songs, also featuring some beautiful flute work from Hastings. Throughout, both the groups collective chemistry and individual strengths have evolved palpably. Stewart, playing more electric piano than on Hatfield and the North, is especially notable, with his solo on The Yes / No Interlude representing one of the most harmonically deep, melodically labyrinthine improvisations of his tenure with Hatfield. His voicings are unmistakable and, without any doubt, jazz-centric in nature. Hatfield may have been dismissed by those who believed that jazz was proprietary to its American roots, but despite the pop songwriting that was an undeniable part of who Hatfield was, it was equally and undeniably a jazz group, where improvisation and sophistication were given an accessible veneer that masked the challenging music going on under the hood. Two of Hatfields best instrumental (largely) works make up side two of the original LP. Millers Underdub is an exercise in a different kind of swing, with a knotty set of changes and another winding melody that, here, is all the more beautiful for its doubling by Stewart on electric piano and Hastings on flute. Stewart works his way through Millers complex changes before the group returns to its lengthy theme and the albums only fade-out and clearly intended/lengthy pause, which sets up the ethereal and atmospheric opening of Mumps, Stewarts most advanced writing to date. Stewarts use of The Northettes heavenly vocals—another of Hatfields most definitive colors—allows him to layer theme after theme without ever becoming overly dense. And as Mumps progresses from its initial quiet version of Stewarts memorable Your Majesty Is Like A Cream Donut theme (forgetting about the humorous Monty Python reference of the title) into its second segment, Lumps, Stewart takes his most vibrant organ solo of the album, bolstered by Pyles flexibly responsive rhythm and Sinclairs remarkable ability to simultaneously play anchor and foil. The Northettes, Sinclair, Miller and Stewart enter a passage of pure contrapuntal wizardry, with Pyle the only rock keeping a steady pulse; a lead-in to the knotty song form of The Alphabet Song, towards the end of Lumps. Puns galore—as Sinclair sings: I have minded my Ps and Qs/Tried not to damage any Ws/And if I tread upon a B/Ill pick it up and tell it earnestly, ending with the almost painful Balancing syllables upon my knees/Ive flown through the air with the greatest of Es/I did what you told me to/Now I only have Is for U—its an early sign of Stewarts comedic writing, something that would become increasingly evident on his liner notes to later compilations like National Healths Complete (East Side Digital, 1990) and even more so in Copious Notes (Egg Archive, 2007), Stewarts collection of recollections about Uriel and Egg by himself and others involved. The near-perfect construction of the 20-minute long Mumps stands as some of Stewarts most profound writing ever—and some of Hatfields best playing. Its near-classical use of thematic iteration, in a context that, at times, rocks with great energy but, elsewhere, demonstrates remarkable nuance and understatement, makes it in some ways a sad closer to The Rotters Club. While Stewart would go on to great compositional heights and more ambitious orchestration with National Health, the confluence that made Hatfield and the North what is was would never be recaptured, begging the question of where would this band have gone had it not broken up, the result of great artistic success that remained unsupported by anything more than minimal commercial achievement. The live bonus tracks here are the same as those on the original Virgin CD issue, except that Stewarts brief (Big) John Wayne Socks Psychology On The Jaw and Pyle/Sinclairs Chaos At The Greasy Spoon that segued into the bassists Halfway Between Heaven and Earth are omitted, but the version of Halfway is the full version, fading up on Sinclairs bass solo rather than the slightly edited take on the Virgin release where its cut out. Yet another example of Sinclairs romantic lyric writing, but with a more complicated underlying context, Sinclair also demonstrates a distinctive variation on scatting, with an underwater sound that, as it turns out after seeing him perform with the reformed Hatfield at the 2006 La Festival des Musiques Progressives de Montréal, was nothing more complicated than wobbling his lips with his finger or rapidly undulating his tongue while he sings. Two Miller tracks close out the disc, as they did the Virgin issue: the monster riff-driven Oh, Lens Nature! and more jazz-centric Lything and Gracing—the former an anagram renaming of Nans True Hole from Matching Moles Little Red Record (Columbia, 1972), and the latter a retitling of Little Red Records Righteous Rhumba. Again, not particularly revealing since the release of Hatwise Choice and Hattitude, but in the day shedding some light into the improvisational prowess of the group in performance, they remain strong reminders of Millers ability to find the absolute opposite of what might be expected. Which, at the end of the day, is as good a way to describe Hatfield as any. Lyrical, funny, muscular, subtle, improv-rich but composition-heavy, there was and remains no group remotely like Hatfield and the North. Three-quarters of the group would, following its break-up in 1975, once again find themselves together in 1978 with National Health, a group that, by that time, had become more distinctly driven by Stewarts vision. Hatfield, on the other hand, was always more egalitarian, as Stewart recently described, I always saw Hatfield as Pips band because he pulled the personnel together. Musically it started off as a four-way thing which tilted in my direction after the introduction of my longer pieces, but I feel it remained a compositional collective to the end and was arguably a better, more varied band for that. With Pyles recent demise, Esoterics definitive reissues of Hatfield and the North and The Rotters Club are even more important documents of a very specific time and place—and a group that successfully managed to create music of great depth and complexity, while retaining a sense of levity and lack of pretention that made it a model for progressive jazz groups for years to come, including Frances Forgas Band Phenomena, and Italys Picchio dal Pozzo and D.F.A. That the group lasted for such a short time is a tragedy; but that it left two albums that are as close as it comes to perfect is something for which to be very, very grateful. Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny (ALLMUSIC) Emerging from the Canterbury, England musical community that also launched Gong and Kevin Ayers the Whole World, the whimsical progressive rock unit Hatfield and the North formed in 1972. Named in honor of a motorway sign outside of London, the groups founding membership brought together a whos who of the Canterbury art rock scene -- vocalist/bassist Richard Sinclair was a former member of Caravan, guitarist Phil Miller had tenured with Robert Wyatt in Matching Mole, and drummer Pip Pyle had served with both Gong and Delivery. After a series of lineup shuffles, keyboardist Dave Stewart (an alumnus of Egg) was brought in to complete the roster, and in tandem with the Northettes -- a trio of backing vocalists consisting of Barbara Gaskin, Amanda Parsons, and Ann Rosenthal -- the group began gigging regularly. Upon signing to Virgin, Hatfield and the North recorded their 1974 self-titled debut LP, a jazzy work halfway between melodic pop and more avant-garde stylings. A single, Lets Eat (Real Soon), appeared at the end of the year, and in 1975 the group resurfaced with The Rotters Club; although the record briefly landed in the U.K. charts, their commercial future looked dim, and so Hatfield and the North disbanded within months of the albums release. Sinclair soon joined Camel, while Stewart recorded with Bill Bruford before finding pop success in 1981 with ex-Zombie Colin Blunstone on a cover of the Jimmy Ruffin chestnut What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? Stewart then continued in a pop direction in a duo with former Northette Barbara Gaskin, releasing a cover version of Its My Party, which became a number one pop single in the U.K. during September 1981. Stewart & Gaskin continued issuing singles and albums throughout the 80s, although none achieved the pop success of Its My Party. In 1989, Hatfield and the North reunited for a series of live dates featuring Miller, Sinclair, Pyle, and -- in place of Dave Stewart -- keyboardist Sophia Domancich (Pyles girlfriend at the time and also a member of his band Equipe Out); a document of a March 1990 performance by this lineup in Nottingham, Live 1990, arrived in 1993, followed by the Classic Rock Legends DVD in 2002. This incarnation of the group was short-lived, although Hatfield and the North would return in the mid-2000s with keyboardist Alex Maguire replacing Domancich. The band toured during 2005 and 2006, making festival appearances at such events as BajaProg in Mexico and NEARfest in the United States. On August 28, 2006, Pip Pyle died at age 56 in a Paris hotel room shortly after returning to his adopted home country of France following a Hatfield and the North show in Groningen, The Netherlands. Biografia di Piero Scaruffi Nel 1967 Dave Stewart e Steve Hillage erano i leader degli Uriel. Da quella formazione ebbe origine unaltra dinastia di Canterbury. Nel 1968 il complesso cambio` nome in Egg, e, perso Hillage, divenne un trio alla Nice: ovvero Dave Stewart (tastiere), Mont Campbell (basso), Clive Brooks (batteria). Gli Egg debuttarono con il singolo Seven Is A Jolly Good Time/ You Are All Princes (1969), a cui fece seguito lalbum Egg (Nova, 1970) che contiene pezzi surreali come The Song of McGillicudie The Pusillanimous e la suite classicheggiante, imperniata sulle tastiere di Stewart, Symphony No.2 di ventun minuti. Il successivo The Polite Force (Deram, 1971) era ancor piu` ambizioso, vantando una Contrasong con Miles Davis alla tromba e Bob Downes alle tastiere, e tre pezzi estesi: Long Piece No.3, la loro Valentyne Suite (venti minuti di scorrevole jamming classico, jazz e rock), il collage dadaista e cacofonico di Boilk (nove minuti), e A Visit To Newport Hospital (otto minuti). Ancor meglio orchestrato, The Civil Surface (Caroline, 1974) usci` quando il gruppo si era ormai sciolto, ma contiene due delle loro composizioni piu` ambiziose: lincalzante e fantasiosa Germ Patrol di otto minuti e la cupa e cerebrale Enneagram di nove minuti. Seven Is A Jolly Good Time (Miles, 1985) e` unantologia della carriera degli Egg. Nel frattempo (1966) il pianista Steve Miller e suo fratello Phil Miller (chitarra) avevano formato un gruppo di jazz-rock, i Delivery, che arrivarono allalbum con Fools Meeting (B&C, 1970 - Cuneiform, 1999), sul quale canta Carol Grimes e suonano il sassofonista Lol Coxhill, il bassista Roy Babbington e il batterista Pip Pyle. Pyle passo` poi ai Gong. Nel 1973 il bassista Richard Sinclair, che aveva iniziato collaborando ai capolavori di Kevin Ayers e di Lol Coxhill, lascio` i Caravan e formo` gli Hatfield and the North proprio con Phil Miller alla chitarra, Pip Pyle alla batteria e Dave Stewart alle tastiere. Il super-gruppo registro` Hatfield And The North (Virgin, 1974), con cui intraprese un dignitoso revival del jazz-rock surreale dei Matching Mole, sfoggiando una grande maestria strumentale. A brillare sono soprattutto la musica per banda jazz alla Frank Zappa di Theres No Place Like Homerton (composta da Stewart) e la jam di dada-jazz dissonante alla Soft Machine Shaving Is Boring (composta da Pyle). Il secondo album, Rotters Club (1975), affondo` invece in ballads anemiche e stralunate assai meno avvincenti (migliore Fitter Stoke Has a Bath). Meta` del disco e` occupato dalla suite Mumps di Stewart. Afters (Virgin, 1980) e` unantologia degli Hatfield. Hatwise Choice (Burning Shed, 2005) collects rarities and unreleased material. Dalle ceneri di questo complesso, abbandonato da pubblico e discografici, naquero nel 1977 i National Health, ovvero Jimmy Hastings (flauto), Phil Miller (chitarra), Pip Pyle (batteria), Dave Stewart (tastiere), e il tastierista Alan Gowen dei Gilgamesh, mentre Sinclair migrava nei Camel. National Health (1978) contiene quattro lunghi brani di jazz-rock soffice ed etereo strutturati come suite. Tenemos Road fa leva sugli effetti surreali dellorgano strozzato di Stewart e su eterei vocalizzi. Elephants (14 minuti) sfodera unouverture di dissonanze e jazzati gorgheggi di sintetizzatore. Brujo e` invece un brano rilassato, quasi da cocktail lounge. Alla convulsa improvvisazione dei Matching Mole si alternano atmosferici passaggi strumentali, solfeggi spaziali, astrattismi fauve. Dominano le tastiere di Stewart e Gowen, e il canto spaziale di Amanda Parsons, ospite donore. Of Queues And Cures (Charly, 1978), con John Greaves al posto di Hastings al basso e senza Gowen, e` il loro capolavoro. Con elastiche jam di jazz-rock di Stewart (Bryden 2-step, un ibrido di bandismo zappiano e di flash-rock melodico) convivono esotismi cacofonici (il Collapso) ed esperimenti di musica totale, come Squarer For Maud (di Greaves) che incorpora dissonanze e minimalismo in una piece densa e frenetica per piccolo ensemble (violoncello, oboe, clarinetto). Pyle e Greaves compongono una delle sezioni ritmiche piu` creative dellepoca, mentre Stewart e Miller sono due fantasisti di gran classe (come dimostrano lattacco sfrenato dorgano e il funky sgangherato di Dreams Wide Awake). Nel 1981 Gowen muore di leucemia poco dopo aver terminato la registrazione Two Rainbows Daily (Red, 1980), una collaborazione con Hugh Hopper, e di Before A Word Is Said (Europa, 1982), con laiuto di Phil Miller, Richard Sinclair e Trevor Tomkins (batteria). Before A Word Is Said e` di Gowen, ma le altre composizioni sono in gran parte di Miller (Above & Below, Fourfold, A Fleeting Glance). Ad memoriam viene pubblicato DS Al Coda (1982), accreditato ai National Health ma in realta` raccolta di materiale in gran parte firmato dallo scomparso ed eseguito dai National Health (Portrait Of A Shriking Man, Shining Water, Toad Of Toad Hall). Anni dopo uscira` anche un volume di Improvisations (Voiceprint, 1996) fra Gowen e Hopper. Complete (East Side Digital, 1990) comprende i tre album dei National Health piu` inediti. Missing Pieces (East Side Digital, 1996) comprende altri inediti. Playtime (Cuneiform, 2001) e` un live. Dopo aver sciolto i National Health, il chitarrista Phil Miller fondo gli In Cahoots, che comprendevano Elton Dean al sassofono, Peter Lemer alle tastiere, Hugh Hopper al basso ed il batterista Pip Pyle. Questi e Dave Steward erano gia presenti sul primo album solista di Miller, Cutting Both Ways (Impetus, 1988), che conteneva le distintive composizioni/improvvisazioni Green & Purple e Eastern Region, e Split Seconds (Reckless, 1989). Questultimo includeva le sofisticate jams And Thus Far e Your Root 2. Il terzo lavoro solista di Miller, Digging In (Cuneiform, 1991), includeva le tre lunghissime composizioni No Holds Barred, Digging In, Bass Motives e lincantevole Speaking To Lydia. Live 86-89 (Mantra, 1991) e Live In Japan (Crescent, 1993) ritraggono la band al suo culmine. Miller collaboro con il bassista Fred Baker su Double Up (Crescent, 1992), che per lo piu riprende vecchie composizioni di Miller. Baker fu assorbito nella line-up degli In Cahoots, come fu anche il trombettista Jim Dvorak, quando Hopper abbondo la band. Recent Discoveries (Crescent, 1995) fu unimpressionante prodezza. Solo Recent Discoveries e Tide si ricollegano al canone milleriano. Parallel (Crescent, 1996) fu lultima testimonianza di Miller: un insieme di lunghe, armoniose e criptiche composizioni/improvvisazioni: Simmer, Parallel , Ed Or Ian, Half Life , Sitdown , Billow . Out Of The Blue (Crescent, 2001) continua su quella falsa riga con tre juggernauts piu jazz: Delta Borderline Phrygian Blues, Slime Divas. Pip Pyle ha realizzato solo due albums con il gruppo Equipe Out: Equipe Out (52e Rue, 1987), con Elton Dean al sax, Sophia Domancich alle tastiere, High Hopper al basso e lo stesso Pyle come batterista, e Up (Too much, 1991), con Dean, Domancich e Paul Rogers. Le composizioni del primo sono equidistribuite tra gli elementi del gruppo: Foetal Fandango e di Pyle, Midnight Judo di Hopper, Janna di Dean e Porc-Epic di Domancich. Il secondo e quasi interamente coperto da Amba e Thunder di Dean, ma include anche Cauliflower Ears di Pyle, e Bimbo di Domancich. Pyle ha quindi realizzato il suo primo album solista, 7 Year Itch (Voiceprint, 1998). Pip Pyle, Philippe-Marcel Iung, John Graves hanno poi registrato The Pig Part (Voiceprint, 2001). Dave Stewart, invece, si e votato ad una carriera pop con la vocalist Barbara Gaskin. I primi singoli, collazionati su Up From The Dark (Rykodisc, 1985), rivivono motivetti dai Sixties alla Disco degli di Lesile Gore a Siamese Cat Song di Peggy Lee, fino alla Im in a Different World firmata da Holland/Dozier/Holland, e cosi via. The World Spins So Slow e quella che piu savvicina ad una canzone decente tra tutte quelle realizzate dal duo. Broken Records (1986) euna raccolta di hit singles. Gli album che seguirono, The Big Idea (Midi, 1990) e Spin (Midi, 1991), continuavano a riciclare covers. Il primo disco ospita i nove minuti di New Jerusalem, ma comunque Stewart e riuscito a ridicolizzarsi come nessun altro nella storia della Scuola di Canterbury. Richard Sinclair inizia un nuovo progetto con Caravan Of Dreams (HTD, 1992), una collezione di motivi pop eleganti e divertenti, per formare presto un trio insieme al cugini David Sinclair (tastiere) e Andy Ward (batteria), con i quali fara An Evening Of Magic (HTD, 1993). Daltra parte, R.S.V.P (Sinclair, 1994), e un suo album solista realizzato con amici, rimpinzato per lo piu di pastose canzoncine pop (ma in mezzo a queste i 12 minuti di Out Of The Shadows e la surreale Outback In Canterbury). Pip Pyle e` morto nel 2006. Biography by .... (calyx.perso.neuf) Hatfield and the North was formed in the autumn of 1972. But its roots were older than that. Guitarist Phil Miller and drummer Pip Pyle had played together in Delivery as early as 1966. Phil had later played with organist David Sinclair in Robert Wyatts Matching Mole. And his brother Steve Miller, after Deliverys split, had replaced David Sinclair in Caravan, meeting Davids cousin [bassist/vocalist] Richard Sinclair there. During 1972, Pip Pyle, back from his stint with Gong in France, began to work with the Miller brothers and Richard Sinclair. This eventually led to the formation of a new line-up of Delivery. Steve Miller and Richard Sinclair left Caravan in the summer, and as Matching Mole slowly ground to a halt after the sessions for Matching Moles Little Red Record, Delivery played a few gigs in August-September. But Steve Miller eventually left, and Richard Sinclairs cousin David joined the band, who then changed their name to Hatfield and the North. This was not the end of Delivery, though : in early 1973, Steve Miller formed yet another line-up, with Lol Coxhill on sax, Roy Babbington on bass and Laurie Allan on drums. The only testament left of Hatfields early days is a French TV program, featuring Hatfield and Robert Wyatt. This is apparently lost in the vaults of good old INA (Institut National de lAudiovisuel), or possibly destroyed. Anyone who viewed these tapes is welcome to tell us what they look like! David Sinclair left Hatfield (in January 1973) for the same reasons as a few months earlier, when hed quit Matching Mole: too much improvisation! He eventually rejoined Caravan, and was replaced by Dave Stewart. With Stewart on board, Hatfield really took off to unprecedented musical heights. In addition to his trademark heavily-treated organ, Stewart was asked to use the Fender Rhodes electric piano, which proved an unmistakeable feature of Hatfields sound. Between mid-1973 and early 1974, Hatfield and the North recorded their first album at the Manor Studios, after signing a contract with the Virgin label, then home of several Canterbury-related groups and artists (Henry Cow, Robert Wyatt, Mike Oldfield...). It was made up of compositions from all members, and was predominantly instrumental. Dave Stewart was the most prolific writer, penning almost half of the material.Phil Miller proved a very talented crafter of melodies (Calyx and Aigrette). Pip Pyle provided the excellent Shaving Is Boring, with highly complex time signatures and riffs. And Richard Sinclair wrote a few songs filled with his whimsical / nonsense, typically British lyrics. The core quartet was supplemented by a prestigious cast of guest participants: Robert Wyatt, the Northettes (three female backing vocalists, friends of Dave Stewart), and Geoff Leigh (still in Henry Cow at that time - sax and flute). In October 1974, Hatfield and the North entered Saturn Studios in Worthing and recorded three songs there: two sides of a single (released on November 15) - Lets Eat (Real Soon) (music by Richard Sinclair, lyrics by Pip Pyle), and Fitter Stoke Has A Bath (music and lyrics by Pip Pyle) - and a medley of Dave Stewarts epic Your Majesty Is Like A Cream Donut and Richards song Oh What A Lonely Lifetime (which later appeared on the Virgin V sampler). Needless to say, it was a flop. During the same period, Dave Stewart reunited with his former colleagues of Egg to record a posthumous third album, containing material dating from the trios latter days. In January 1975, the four musicians returned to the studio, this time Saturn Studios, to record their second, and unfortunately final, album: The Rotters Club. More than twenty years later, the results are still as amazing as they used to be, although the bands sound, making extensive use of effects and instruments typical of the 70s, may appear a little dated. Of course, Dave Stewarts 20-minute magnum opus, Mumps, is the high point of Hatfields short musical career. Seeing this suite performed on stage, with its constant harmonic and rhythmic changes (has anyone scored this?!?), must have been something! The piece is actually made up of two different compositions : Your Majesty Is Like A Cream Donut, presented in two versions (quiet, loud); and The Alphabet Song mentioned as such in the Virgin lyric archives. Maybe the latter does not fit in perfectly in the whole, as suggested by the fade out before the reprise of Your Majesty.... But this really is a minor criticism : this piece is so good, its imperfection is only marginal. The rest of the album is full of gems : from Phil Millers bossa-flavoured Underdub, featuring one of the greatest Fender Rhodes solos ever recorded (lets also mention the fuzz organ solo in Mumps and Jimmy Hastings flute solo in Richard Sinclairs Didnt Matter Anyway - theyre both incredible and sends a chill down your spine every time you listen to them!), to Pip Pyles superb Fitter Stoke Has A Bath, the ultimate Hatfield song. A masterpiece! Alas, Hatfield broke up soon after recording this album. But its members kept working together : by 1977, Phil Miller, Dave Stewart and Pip Pyle were all members of National Health (and Richard Sinclair took part in some of their concerts that year, as guest vocalist); in 1980, Stewart and Pyle were reunited in the short-lived Rapid Eye Movement; in 1982-85, Miller, Sinclair and Pyle were all members of In Cahoots; and in 1988, a track on Phil Millers Split Seconds (Dada Soul), featured Miller, Stewart and Sinclair. Lets also mention Pyles guest appearances on several early Stewart-Gaskin songs (Miller also guested on one). In 1990, Hatfield were briefly reunited for a TV show on UKs private Central Television channel. Well, almost... Dave Stewart declined the invitation, and was replaced by Pip Pyles then-girlfriend and EquipOut colleague, Sophia Domancich. Although an excellent jazz pianist, Domancich proved totally alien to the Hatfield style, and the performance was closer to a mix of In Cahoots and EquipOut with occasional vocals by Richard Sinclair, than a recreation of Hatfields spirit. Judged on its own merits, the gig was good : a good half was made up of new compositions (Pip Pyles epic Shipwrecked and Sophia Domancichs Blot (a.k.a. Blott On The Landscape), with a few classics thrown in (Share It, Halfway Between Heaven And Earth and Underdub, the latter not broadcast), as well as EquipOuts Cauliflower Ears and Richard Sinclairs Going For A Song (with lyrics by Pip Pyle). All former members of Hatfield and the North were reunited on Pip Pyles solo album 7 Year Itch (1998), thanks to the magic of multitrack recording. Phil Miller and Dave Stewart both play on several tracks, and are joined by Richard Sinclair on the opening track Seven Sisters, a song originally composed for National Health. More recently, Phil Miller and Richard Sinclair have appeared together at several concerts, most memorably on the first two edition of the Progman Cometh festival in Seattle. youtube/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=SZ9JqZor1gQ
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 07:34:46 +0000