Haskell gained recognition as bass player for the Fleur de Lys in 1966, and subsequently spent a short period in King Crimson.

After leaving King Crimson, Haskell continued as a solo musician, reaching international fame in 2001 with his hit "How Wonderful You Are" and the platinum-selling album Harry's Bar.

During his last years at Wimborne Grammar School, class mate Robert Fripp introduced him to the bass guitar and the two friends played together in The Ravens, their first band.

While playing bass in the psychedelic pop band the Fleur De Lys, who were hired by Atlantic Records as a full-time session band, Haskell recorded a few singles with the group to minimal success but achieving a No 1 and No 3 in South Africa and Australia as a songwriter with his song "Lazy Life".

A song from the album, Zanzibar, was covered by Wanda Arletti, and reached No 2 on the singles chart in South Africa on January 1st, 1971.

However, Haskell's preference for Nat King Cole and Ray Charles songs led to frustration in Fripp's band, and his folk and blues-oriented interests were in conflict with Crimson's more complicated progressive rock musical style.

The album has guest appearances from top session musicians, notably John Wetton, who would join King Crimson in late 1972.

His debt eventually eliminated, he returned to England and continued playing solo and small-band gigs in tiny pubs and clubs.

After releasing the album Butterfly in China in (1996), he then did a small tour of America which delighted King Crimson fans even though he was only there to do solo material and see if he could get a record deal.

Haskell accepted, but specified that he wanted to make his record the old-fashioned way: live, no overdubs, and grounded in solid songwriting and classically styled performances.

[8] As "How Wonderful You Are" scaled the UK Singles Chart, the British press began to pay attention to the story of its unsung creator.

Called The Lady Wants to Know, it contained eleven tracks, was produced by Hamish Stuart and featured Tony O'Malley and Robbie McIntosh.

A DVD, "The Road To Harry's Bar", was released in 2005 and Haskell also published his autobiography under the same title, with the foreword written by David Nobbs, creator of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.