Born in
Canterbury,
England, both his father (Dick Sinclair) and grandfather (also named Dick Sinclair) were musical entertainers around Canterbury. Richard was introduced to the
ukulele at age 3 and the guitar at 6, and was only 15 when he met
Hugh and
Brian Hopper when they came to see his dad's danceband. By the following year Sinclair was playing guitar (and occasionally singing) in the root Canterbury band
The Wilde Flowers. In 1968 he became a founding member of
Caravan, switching to bass guitar and sharing lead vocals with
Pye Hastings. His compositional output came to the fore on the band's third album, the classic
In the Land of Grey and Pink, on which he wrote and sang the title track, "Golf Girl" and the epic "Winter Wine". Sinclair left Caravan in 1972 to form
Hatfield and the North with ex-
Delivery members
Phil Miller and
Pip Pyle, lending his distinctive,
quintessentially English voice and increasingly impressive bass playing skills to their two albums, and writing some of their best-loved songs, "Share It", "Let's Eat (Real Soon)" (both with lyrics by Pip Pyle) and "Halfway Between Heaven and Earth". In 1974, he participated in
Rock Bottom, the second solo album by former
Soft Machine drummer
Robert Wyatt. The album was produced by
Pink Floyd's drummer
Nick Mason. After Hatfield broke up in 1975, Sinclair moved back to Canterbury, starting a carpentry/kitchen-fitting business while maintaining low-key musical activities, often under the humorous moniker Sinclair & The South. He came out of this semi-retirement in 1977 when he was asked by
Camel to replace their departed bass player. This stint lasted for two studio albums, a world tour, and half of the live set
A Live Record. In the 1980s, his activities were sporadic. He recorded a collaborative album with Phil Miller and
Alan Gowen,
Before a Word Is Said, in 1981, reunited with Caravan for the 1982 reunion effort
Back to Front, sang on one track of
National Health's swansong
D.S. Al Coda (also 1982), and joined
Phil Miller's
In Cahoots, for a residency at the London jazz club the Bull & Gate and, in 1984, a European tour. He left before the band undertook its first official recordings (though studio demos have surfaced). His voice or bass were barely heard until the end of the decade, save for a low-key Dutch tour in 1986 and a guest spot of
Phil Miller's album
Split Seconds (1989). In 1990, there was a one-off reformation of
Hatfield and the North and a longer-term reunion of the original
Caravan line-up in 1990-91. At this point, Sinclair formed his own group Caravan of Dreams, with ex-Camel drummer
Andy Ward and former Hatfield roadie Rick Biddulph on bass (live gigs only), plus occasional participation from cousin
Dave Sinclair and sax/flautist
Jimmy Hastings. Sinclair released the project's eponymous album in 1992. Sinclair's next effort,
R.S.V.P. (1994), was recorded with a fluctuating line-up including
Pip Pyle,
Tony Coe and former
Happy the Man keyboardist
Kit Watkins. Regular touring stopped in 1996 as Sinclair moved to the Netherlands for a few years. 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. In 2010, he joined the trio douBt (Alex Maguire,
Michel Delville and
Tony Bianco) on the album
Never Pet a Burning Dog (
Moonjune Records) and toured Japan and Europe with the band. In 2013-2014 he toured Italy with the Italian band
PropheXy, recording two live bonus tracks (
Disassociation, Golf Girl) for their album
Improvviso. In 2023 Richard listed his entire catalog on
BandCamp, including many previously unreleased recordings from Caravan, Camel, and Hatfield and the North. ==Discography==