Robert Wyatt
| Robert Wyatt | |
|---|---|
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Wyatt in London, April 2006
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Robert Wyatt-Ellidge |
| Born |
28 January 1945 Bristol, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instruments | Vocals, drums, percussion, piano, keyboards, guitar, bass guitar, trumpet, cornet |
| Years active | 1963–present |
| Labels | Virgin, Rough Trade, Domino |
| Associated acts | The Wilde Flowers, Soft Machine, Matching Mole, Kevin Ayers, Henry Cow, Brian Eno, Nick Mason, Michael Mantler, Ben Watt, David Gilmour |
Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career. He is married to English painter and songwriter Alfreda Benge.
Wyatt was born in Bristol. His mother was Honor Wyatt, a journalist with the BBC, and his father, George Ellidge, was an industrial psychologist. Wyatt had two half-brothers from his parents' previous marriages, Honor Wyatt's son, actor Julian Glover, and George Ellidge's son, press photographer Mark Ellidge. His parents' friends were "quite bohemian", and his upbringing was "unconventional". Wyatt said "It seemed perfectly normal to me. My father didn't join us until I was six, and he died ten years later, having retired early with multiple sclerosis, so I was brought up a lot by women." Wyatt attended the Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, Canterbury and as a teenager lived with his parents in Lydden near Dover, where he was taught drums by visiting American jazz drummer George Neidorf. It was during this period that Wyatt met and became friends with expatriate Australian musician Daevid Allen, who rented a room in Wyatt's family home.
In 1962, Wyatt and Neidorf moved to Majorca, living near the poet Robert Graves. The following year, Wyatt returned to England and joined the Daevid Allen Trio with Allen and Hugh Hopper. Allen subsequently left for France, and Wyatt and Hopper formed the Wilde Flowers, with Kevin Ayers, Richard Sinclair and Brian Hopper. Wyatt was initially the drummer in the Wilde Flowers, but following the departure of Ayers, he also became lead singer.
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