Camel Band Members through Time
The following list was compiled by Lasse Ødegård, for his Moonmadness website. Lasse's website is no longer available; the page has been provided here for archival reasons, though without explicit permission.This is a list over all the musicians that have participated on one or more albums for Camel. They are sorted by apperances.
This list is not complete. I don't have information on all the persons mentioned below. If you have some information, please mail me when you have time.
| Name: | Participated on: | Information: |
| Andy Latimer Guitars, vocals, keys, flutes | All albums | Latimer is the only one remaining of the founder members. I'll make a html file about him soon, so I ain't going to write more here. |
| Peter Bardens Keys & vocals | Camel, Mirage, TSG, Moonmadness, Rain Dances, A Live Record, Breathless, The Single Factor, Pressure Points, Live On The Road '72 | Bardens begun his career before joining Camel. Not long ago, (winter '95), he was touring Europe with a band called Mirage. The band included Andy Ward, Dave Sinclair and several more ex-Caravan related members. |
| Andy Ward Drums & perc. | All --> Stationary Traveller and on Live..'72 | Ward was the last to leave Latimer from the original group ('82). he was forced to leave Camel in 1982 because of a hand
injury. at that time, he was already involved in several local bands in
Canterbury with Richard Sinclair and guitarist Mark Hewins. in 1983, he
joined the neo-progressive band Marillion, but this didn't last long
because Andy was going through a hard drinking period at the time. later he
played again with Richard Sinclair and was the drummer in his band Caravan
Of Dreams between 1991-93. then he formed Mirage with Peter Bardens (in
1994) but was replaced with an American drummer, Dave Cohen. nowadays, Andy
tours with Bevis Frond and records with singer/guitarist Todd Dillingham. |
| Doug Ferguson Bass & vocals | Live On the Road'72, Camel, Mirage, Moonmadness and A Live Record | Ferguson was the first to leave. He left because he didn't like the new jazzier approach Camel was developing. Now a days, he plays for fun with Big Jim Sullivan and others. |
| Mel Collins Saxes, flutes etc. | Rain Dances, A Live Record, Breathless, I can see your House from Here, Nude, Stationary Traveller and Pressure Points |
His first professional band was Circus (1967-70), with whom
he recorded an album. then he joined King Crimson (1970-72), playing on
three studio albums and one live album. in the following period he gained
fame as a top session musician and mainly worked in the studio, although he
was also a member of Kokomo (1973-76). after Camel he continued his career
as session musician, was also noted for playing live with Dire Straits and
Roger Waters. (Also: Clannad, Eric Clapton, Anthony Phillips, Tears for Fears, blabla, I can go on forever) Nowadays he is still a session musician although he's less
active. |
| Colin Bass Bass & vocals | I can see y.h.f.h., Nude, Pressure Points, Dust And Dreams, Never Let Go, Harbour of Tears | He first became known as the bass player and one of the
singers in the British band Clancy. then he had a spell in Steve Hillage's
backing band (1976-77). when Camel didn't work during part of the 80's,
Colin was involved in the band 3 Mustaphas 3. |
| David Paton Bass and vocals | The Single Factor, Live on the road '82, Stationary Traveller, Dust and Dreams and Harbour of Tears |
He has been involved in the Scottish rock scene since the
mid-60's as a professional musician. in the early 70's, he was the bass
player and singer with the band Pilot, also featuring Ian Bairnson
(guitars) and Stuart Elliott (drums). Pilot was absorbed into the Alan Parsons Project
and Paton played on all of Parsons' albums between 1975-85.
later he played for Kate Bush, Chris DeBurgh, Chris Rea, Rick Wakeman and Elton John among others.
In the early 80's, he joined Fish's backing band (he left in the early 90's). He also
released a solo album around 1993, but its release was quite confidential |
| Paul Burgess Drums | Stationary Traveller, Pressure Points, Dust and Dreams and Never Let Go | He was the drummer in 10cc when Godley & Creme left the band in 1976. He stayed for several years, and worked with musicians like Duncan MacKay and Stuart Tosh in 10cc. In 1983, he drummed for Jethro Tull for one tour. Burgess is now the father of a young son and is not sure about his future in Camel as he hesitates between carrying on as a musician or choosing a quieter life with his family. |
| Chris Rainbow Vocals | The Single Factor, Stationary Traveller, Pressure Points and On the Road'82 | Christopher Harley (his real name) is a Scottish singer/songwriter much influenced by the Beach Boys. Was a singer with Alan Parsons Project and did some solo stuff. He also recorded with Jon Anderson (ex Yes) and with Culture Club. |
| Ton Scherpenzeel Keys | Stationary Traveller, Pressure Points and Dust and Dreams | Is a main member of Kayak and does some solo work as well. |
| Richard Sinclair Bass & vocals | Rain Dances, A Live Record |
Sinclair is a former Caravan member, and was supposed to tour with Mirage in winter '95.
Although he was contacted for it, he didn't play. Caravan Of Dreams stopped for good in 1994 (I was at their last
performance in London). now his band, when he has one (he does mainly solo
tours) is called RSVP, and features Patrice Meyer (guitar), Tony Coe
(clarinet) and David Rees-Williams (keyboards). he has released two solo
albums : "Caravan Of Dreams" (April 1992) and "RSVP" (June 1994). |
| Mickey Simmonds Keys | Never Let Go and Harbour of Tears | Played with some different famous musicians. One example is Mike Oldfield. One thing that is so special with him is his ability to play with his feet. On the tour in '92 (recorded as the Never let Go album) he played for 2 persons, making it possible to tour as a four-piece, not a five... Played an important role on first solo album of Fish, now has his own solo album |
| Jan Schelhaas Keys | Breathless, Nude | Ex Caravan member. he started in National Head Band in 1971-72, which was a Uriah Heep related band. then he was in Gary Moore's backing band, playing on his first solo album. eventually he joined Caravan in replacement for David Sinclair, from August 1975 to May 1978 when Caravan broke up. after he left Camel (his last tour was the "Nude" tour in 1981) he apparently owned his own studio but was also known to be a driving instructor (tutor?) |
| Kit Watkins Keys | I can see y.h.f.h., Camel On The Road '82 |
He was the founder and co-leader with Frank Wyatt of the
extraordinary progressive rock band Happy the Man, between 1972 and 1979.
The band released two albums for Arista, and recorded a third one in demo
form. It was released in 1983 and included HTM's version of "Eye Of The
Storm" which Kit brought to Camel at the time of "I Can See Your House From
Here". In the early 80's, Kit divided his time between England and America.
as a result, he didn't take part in the sessions for "Nude" and "The Single
Factor" but (like Jan Schelhaas) played on both tours. But he was
dissatisfied with life on the road and the impossibility to get more
involved in the composition process of Camel, so he went back to America
where he enjoys an honorable solo career as a mainly new-age artist. Of
note, though, was his participation in Richard Sinclair's 1994 album,
"RSVP". A reformation of HTM has been talked of for several years, but it
has still not happened because of incompatible schedules. |
| Duncan Mackay Keys | Nude and The Single Factor | He released several solo albums in the 70's, of excellent keyboard-based progressive rock (one of them was produced and partly sung by John Wetton). He was the keyboard player in Steve Harley's Cockney Rebel until he joined the Alan Parsons Project studio group in the late 70's. Little has been heard of him since his participation in Camel's "Nude" and "Single Factor". |
| John Burton French Horn | Dust and Dreams and Harbour of Tears | -Information- |
| Mae McKenna Vocals | Dust and Dreams and Harbour of Tears | she released a couple of solo albums in the 70's. |
| Hayden Bendall Keys | The Single Factor, Stationary Traveller, | |
| Neil Paton Oboe, sax and harmonium | Dust and Dreams and Harbour of Tears | -Information- |
| Phil Collins Percussion | I can see your House from Here | Phil was the lead vocalist and percussionist in Genesis at this time. He was also member of a jazzy group called Brand X. I suppose he was interrested in the jazzier Camel and said yes to helping them on the album. And I suppose it was because Peter Gabrial probably called up Phil and told
him to check out this new keyboard player in this band called Camel, because
Peter knew all about Kit Watkins from hanging out in the Washington DC area.
Gabriel had jammed with Happy the Man a bunch and tried to hire them as his
backup band, they refused (probably their big mistake).
For more reading, click |
| David Sinclair Keys | -none- | Played together with Schelhaas for Camel on the '78-'79 tour. He's a Caravan member, but surely hasn't been a stable-one. Played for them 1968-72, 1976-77, 1981-82, 1990-92. Apparently, he's playing for them again. between his stints with Caravan, he was also a member of
Matching Mole and Hatfield and the North, but left early in those bands'
careers (although he did play on MM's first album). on the compilation
album "Chameleon", he is mention as playing keyboards on "Rainbow's End"
from "Breathless". David Sinclair has been involved in all Caravan projects
since 1980 ("The Album" and "Back To Front" albums, reformation concerts in
1983 and 1985, reformation tours in 1990-92, and more recently he played on
"The Battle Of Hastings" (1995) and "All Over You" (1996) and the Autumn
1996 tour in England). |
| Francis Monkman Keys | The Single Factor | He was the founder of Curved Air with Darryl Way in
1969, one of the most famous progressive bands of the 70's. After a while,
he left and played sessions. he worked with Robert Wyatt and Phil
Manzanera. Eventually he formed the group Sky with several other studio
musicians (John Williams, Tristan Fry, Kevin Peek and Herbie Flowers). He
left Sky around 1982-83 then did sessions and solo albums. |
| Anthony Phillips Guitars and strings | The Single Factor | Founder of Genesis. Worked with Latimer for a while, but the work came to nothing. (Latimer played on some of his records). |
| Brian Eno Keys | Rain Dances | With Roxy Music and solo and lots of other projects. |
| Herbie Flowers Tuba | Nude | With Sky |
| Tristian Fry Glockenspiel | The Single Factor | Also with Sky |
| Fiona Hibbert Harp | Stationary Traveller | -Information- |
| Martin Drover Flugel Horn | Stationary Traveller | -Information- |
| Malcom Griffiths Trombone | Stationary Traveller | -Information- |
| Chris Green Cello | Nude | -Information- |
| Gasper Lawal Percussion | Nude | -Information- |
| Graham Jarvis Drums | The Single Factor | -Information- |
| Jack Emblow Accordion | The Single Factor | -Information- |
| Richie Close Keys | Pressure Points | -Information- |
| Christopher Bock Drums | Dust and Dreams | -Information- |
| Don Harriss Keys | Dust and Dreams | -Information- |
| Kim Venaas Harmonica | Dust and Dreams | -Information- |
| Stuart Tosh Drums and vocals | On the road '82 | -Information- |
| Andy Dalby Guitars | On the Road '82 | |
| John Xepoleas Drums | Harbour of Tears | -Information- |
| Barry Phillips Cello | Harbour of Tears | -Information- |
| Karen Bentley Violin | Harbour of Tears | -Information- |
| Anita Stoneham Violin | Harbour of Tears | -Information- |