Review: Hatfield And The North – s/t (1974)

Hatfield And The North is the first studio album by the band of the same name.

Hatfield And The North was formed in 1972 by guitarist Phil Miller and drummer Pip Pyle. The band went through several line-up changes in the early days, with David Sinclair, Steve Miller, Alan Gowen and Roy Babbington among the band’s members. Shortly before the recording of this debut album, however, the line-up was settled on Miller, Pyle and new additions bassist Richard Sinclair and keyboardist Dave Stewart.

Despite the relatively young age of the players, the foursome that was eventually assembled already had a considerable amount of experience. Phil Miller had played with jazz-rock band Delivery and Matching Mole, led by Robert Wyatt. Pip Pyle had played on two Gong albums. Bassist Richard Sinclair was perhaps the most successful member of the group as a founder member of Caravan, having a relatively successful album on his CV, In The Land Of Grey And Pink (1971). Keyboardist Dave Stewart, on the other hand, may have been the most accomplished instrumentalist and composer of the bunch and had made a couple of very complex albums as a member of Egg and played with Steve Hillage in Uriel and Khan. What the quartet had in common was that they had all played in bands in the so-called Canterbury scene. Hatfield And The North could be considered the first Canterbury supergroup. Unfortunately, this supergroup status never translated into very healthy sales figures.

hatfield
Richard Sinclair, Dave Stewart, Pip Pyle, Phil Miller.

Hatfield’s debut is an excellent combination of the warm melodicism of Caravan and the more experimental and complex edge of Egg and Soft Machine (Richard Sinclair has defined Hatfield’s music as ”four times more challenging” than Caravan’s with playful precision). The album consists of short tracks, mostly only a couple of minutes long, that form a kind of suites-like whole. The two longer pieces, Stewart’s ten-minute composition ”Son of ’There’s No Place Like Homerton'” and Pyle’s nine-minute ”Shaving Is Boring”, stand out more clearly. The most complex offering on the album, ”Son Of…”, is the highlight of the album, and is at times reminiscent of Henry Cow, not least because it features former member of that band Geoff Leigh on saxophone and flute.

The second of the long songs, ”Shaving Is A Boring” is interesting because it would fit directly on Gong’s You album. Its tasty, jammy and psychedelically pulsating spacerock style with its 5/8 riffs is pure Gong of the You era. Although Hatfield’s debut was released several months before You. Well, Pyle had played in Gong a few years earlier, so maybe he already had the style in his blood. A great song anyway.

The third song that deserves a special mention is Sinclair’s ”Rifferama”. The fast-paced and otherwise rowdy track, which, as its name suggests, is bursting with great riffs for both keyboard and electric guitar, is also a great listen.

Hatfield And The North is mostly instrumental, but there are some vocals on the album. The high priest of the Canterbury scene, Robert Wyatt, sings vocals on one song ”Calyx” without lyrics, but the more prominent role is played by a trio of three female singers, the so-called The Northettes, Amanda Parsons, Barbara Gaskin (Dave Stewart’s future wife) and Ann Rosenthal. Naturally, Richard Sinclair’s warm and melancholic singing voice also finds a place in a few songs.

Hatfield And The North’s debut album is a great combination of Canterbury-esque laid-back hippy-dippy attitude and skilful technical playing, and is one of the finest albums of its genre. But the following year, 1975, the band went one better and with The Rotter’s Club, they produced a true masterpiece.

Parhaat biisit: ”Rifferama”, ”There’s No Place Like Homerton”, ”Shaving Is Boring”.

Rating: ****½

Author: JANNE YLIRUUSI

Tracks:

  1. ”The Stubbs Effect” (Pip Pyle) – 0:22
  2. ”Big Jobs (Poo Poo Extract)” (Richard Sinclair, Pyle) – 0:36
  3. ”Going Up To People and Tinkling” (Dave Stewart) – 2:25
  4. ”Calyx” (Phil Miller) – 2:45
  5. ”Son of ’There’s No Place Like Homerton'” (Stewart) – 10:10
  6. ”Aigrette” (Miller) – 1:37
  7. ”Rifferama” (Sinclair; arranged by Hatfield and the North) – 2:56
  8. ”Fol de Rol” (Sinclair, Robert Wyatt) – 3:07
  9. ”Shaving Is Boring” (Pyle) – 8:45
  10. ”Licks for the Ladies” (Sinclair, Pyle) – 2:37
  11. ”Bossa Nochance” (Sinclair) – 0:40
  12. ”Big Jobs No. 2 (By Poo and the Wee Wees)” (Sinclair, Pyle) – 2:14
  13. ”Lobster in Cleavage Probe” (Stewart) – 3:57
  14. ”Gigantic Land Crabs in Earth Takeover Bid” (Stewart) – 3:21
  15. ”The Other Stubbs Effect” (Pyle) – 0:38

Band:

Phil Miller: guitars Dave Stewart: Fender Rhodes electric piano, Hammond organ, Hohner Pianet, piano, tone generator, Minimoog Richard Sinclair: bass guitar and vocals
Pip Pyle: drums, percussion, sound effects

Vierailijat:

Robert Wyatt: vocals Barbara Gaskin: vocals Amanda Parsons: vocals Ann Rosenthal: vocals Geoff Leigh: tenor saxophone, flute (5 & 13) Didier Malherbe: tenor saxophone Jeremy Baines: pixiephone, flute Cyrille Ayers: vocals Sam Ellidge: voice

Producers: Hatfield And The North and Tom Newman

Label: Virgin

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