Dave Sinclair (first from right) as part of the band Caravan in 1974
David Sinclair (born 24 November 1947) is a British keyboardist (organ, piano, harpsichord, electric piano, Mellotron, Davolisint, etc.) associated with the psychedelic/progressive rockCanterbury Scene since the late 1960s. He became famous with the bandCaravan and was responsible as a songwriter for creating some of their best-known tracks: "For Richard", "Nine Feet Underground", "The Dabsong Conshirtoe", "Proper Job/Back to Front".
Biography
Sinclair was born in Herne Bay, Kent, England. Having started his musical career 1966–67 with the Wilde Flowers, he founded Caravan in 1968 with his cousin Richard Sinclair (bass/vocals), Pye Hastings (guitar/vocals), and Richard Coughlan (drums) and was in and out of the band for 35 years (so far 1968–71, 1973–75, 1979–82, 1990–2002). Over the course of Caravan's first three albums he developed his playing enormously on his favoured model of Hammond organ, the A-100 (similar in configuration and features to the B3 and C3 models, but slightly smaller in overall bulk), culminating in his soaring work on what is perhaps their most celebrated album, In the Land of Grey and Pink (1971).
Calyx, The Canterbury Website, compiled by the French music expert Aymeric Leroy, refers to him as "master of the typical Canterbury organ sound/playing". However, from the second album onwards, he also added other keyboards to his palette, including piano, harpsichord and Mellotron. On his return to Caravan for their fifth album, For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night, he pioneered the Davolisint.
In the early 2000s he released two solo albums, Full Circle and Into the Sun (both 2003). Since then, he has been engaged in a solo career, including concert appearances in Japan and England. A 30th anniversary re-release of his Moon Over Man album (originally issued on CD by Voiceprint in 1993) appeared in 2006. Like the earlier Voiceprint release, this consisted of demos for an unreleased solo album recorded 1976–77, featuring contributions from vocalists Tim Lynk and Gay Perez; however, the sound quality of the old analogue tapes was greatly improved and bonus tracks from the same sessions were added.
Two solo albums, PianoWorks1 – Frozen in Time and Stream (the latter featuring several distinguished guest artists) were released in 2010 and 2011 respectively; licensing problems have so far prevented Stream from being officially issued outside Japan, although it has recently become available in other territories.
The Little Things, intended as a follow-up to Stream, was released in 2013, the Japanese version being slightly different in packaging and content from the international version.
In May 2015 a series of well-received concert dates with saxophonist Jimmy Hastings took place in Japan.[3]
Dave Sinclair's most recent solo album, Out of Sinc, was released in June 2018. In 2021, he released a compilation album Hook, Line & Sinclair, containing unreleased demos, alternate versions and new material.
In October 2022, Dave released an episodic documentary mini-series, Dave Sinclair ... The Lost Interview, talking about his music career with Caravan, Matching Mole, Hatfield and the North and Camel. Made for non-profit media, the videos are exclusively available via his YouTube channel.[4][5]
52 years after the release of In the Land of Grey and Pink (1971), on April 8th 2023, Dave launched a crowdfunding campaign via Indiegogo. The campaign revealed that his original Hammond A-100 organ that he used with Caravan, Matching Mole and Hatfield and the North, was in need of immediate rescue and restoration.[6]
In May 2023, Dave listed his solo catalog on Bandcamp[7]
Discography
Solo
1993 – Moon Over Man (Voiceprint VP119CD)
2003 – Full Circle (DSincs-Music 001)
2003 – Into The Sun (DSincs-Music 002)
2006 – Moon Over Man [30th Anniversary Edition] (Eclectic Discs)
2009 – Treasure Chest (DSincs-Music)
2010 – Pianoworks I – Frozen in Time (CRSCNT 001)
2011 – Stream (CRSCNT 002)
2011 – Makino [Single] (DSincs-Music)
2012 – Blue Bread Song [Single] (DSincs-Music)
2013 – The Little Things (DSincs-Music)
2018 – Out Of Sinc (DSincs-Music)
2018 – Island Of Dreams [Single] (DSincs-Music)
2021 – Hook, Line & Sinclair (DSincs-Music)
Caravan
1968 – Caravan (Verve VLP 6011 now released on HTD Records as HTDCD 65)
