Peter Geoffrey Richardson (born 15 July 1950), is a British

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

player and

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

best known for his work with Caravan,

Murray Head Murray Seafield St George Head (born 5 March 1946) is an English actor and singer. Head has appeared in a number of films, including a starring role as the character Bob Elkin in the Oscar-nominated 1971 film ''Sunday Bloody Sunday''. As a mus ...

and the

Penguin Cafe Orchestra The Penguin Cafe Orchestra (PCO) were an avant-pop band led by English guitarist Simon Jeffes. Co-founded with cellist Helen Liebmann, it toured extensively during the 1980s and 1990s. The band's sound is not easily categorized, having elemen ...

Career

Richardson's father was a semi-pro musician. Richardson himself studied at

Winchester School of Art Winchester School of Art is the art school of the University of Southampton, situated 10 miles (14 km) north of Southampton in the city of Winchester near the south coast of England. History The Winchester School of Art was founded in 187 ...

. Richardson joined

Spirogyra ''Spirogyra'' (common names include water silk, mermaid's tresses, and blanket weed) is a genus of filamentous charophyte green algae of the order Zygnematales, named for the helical or spiral arrangement of the chloroplasts that is characteris ...

in 1972, but the band broke up shortly after and he joined Caravan on viola. In the mid-1970s, he diversified into session work, including with

Kevin Ayers Kevin Ayers (16 August 1944 – 18 February 2013) was an English singer-songwriter who was active in the English psychedelic music movement. Ayers was a founding member of the psychedelic band Soft Machine in the mid-1960s, and was closely assoc ...

Café Jacques Café Jacques are a progressive rock band originally formed in Edinburgh, Scotland and most active in the 1970s. An early version of Café Jacques numbered seven musicians, but the most successful line-up was a trio, consisting of Chris Thomso ...

, and

The Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...

. He left Caravan in 1978, but returned in 1980, playing on ''The Album''. Later in his career, he toured with Murray Head, Penguin Cafe Orchestra and

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Rock music in Ireland, Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved ...

. He has also recorded with Murray Head, including ''Between Us'' (1979), ''Innocence'' (1993) and ''Pipe Dreams'' (1996). He released a solo album, ''Viola Mon Amour'', in 1993, followed by three albums with fellow Caravan band member

Jim Leverton Jim Leverton (born 1946, Dover, Kent, England) is an English professional musician, with a career spanning nearly fifty years, including as a sidesman to the Jimi Hendrix Experience's Noel Redding, Steve Marriott, Blodwyn Pig and the Canterbur ...

, ''Follow Your Heart'' (1995), ''Poor Man's Rich Man'' (2000) and ''The End of The Pier Show'' (2006). In 2011 he released another solo album, ''Moving Up A Cloud'', with Jo Hook, and in 2016 the first album for which he wrote the songs and performed the vocals, ''The Garden of Love''. As of 2016, Richardson continues to be an active member of Caravan, having toured in 2011 and performed on a cruise with the group in 2015.

Discography

Photo - Festival de Cornouaille 2013 - Murray Head en concert le 28 juillet - 016

Filmography

* 2015: '' Romantic Warriors III: Canterbury Tales'' (DVD)

References

External links

*
Calyx biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Geoff Canterbury scene English rock guitarists English male guitarists English violists English multi-instrumentalists 1950 births Living people People from Hinckley Caravan (band) members Musicians from Leicestershire Penguin Cafe Orchestra members