CARAVAN

I have had a major battle with this album. I first thought it was something wrong with me. But no, I am fine. The problem is this album.

Caravan has arrived on their success formula on this, their second album. A mix of Wilde Flowers, jazz and pop. The Canterbury sound in other words. The opening song, the title track is cheesy as heck and more like a BBC jingle. That put me off. The rest of the album is thankfully more like a mix of pop and jazz; the Canterbury sound.

The music varies between whimsical pop and long improvised jazz pieces. Some of the tunes are pretty cheesy too. My gripe here is that I do not think the songs are as strong on this album as on the following albums. I directly dislike a couple of tunes here. I love the sound though. The bonus tracks are also not as strong as the original album. I therefore cannot give it four stars and I almost hate myself for talking bad about a band I really admire. Honesty hurts.

3.75 stars

This album was a sort of new depature. Richard Sinclair was gone and his cousin found his way back on keyboard. But it was all Pye Hastings. The sound is harder and the previous charm is gone. Instead we are served a soiid bunch of tunes, perfectly preformed with Richardson and Perry on board. But i do miss the charm of the old line up. But you still found some "Cantarbury style" tunes, most prominent on "The dog ..." This is a well produced and preformed album. It is a shame that Dave Sinclairs contribution is low key (he did not write anything for the band at this stage). and his classic organ is not at the front. For me, Caravan was at their top when they managed to mix solid performance and eclectic British humour!

This is my favorite Caravan album after "In the land of grey and pink". Maybe the more "jazzy" direction the band opted for after Dave Sinclairs departure is not everybodys cup of tea, but I found Steve Millers contribution a step in a right direction. Let´s not forget that Miller wrote the masterpiece "Songs and signs". And to be honest, apart from "Nothing at All", the album has still very much a classic Caravan sound. On the second side of the original album you found some of Pye Hastings best tunes ever. And as a nice bonus you get "Looking left, Looking right", another gem from Mr Hastings. In short, a must for every fan of the "Canterbury" genre!

I can't really make myself give this album a high rating.

I remember when it arrived, for I was actually pretty excited about it. The album art was definitely interesting, and the track listing was pretty interesting. I was especially curious about the title track and the epic at the end. And it was my first introduction to the 'Canterbury Scene'.

I put it in, and Golf Girl immediately underwhelmed me. Wasn't this Caravan, one of the pre-eminent Canterbury bands? Wasn't this In the Land of the Gray and Pink, their biggest album? The one that I have heard called "the definitive Canterbury" album? My reactions pretty much matched that straight through the album.

I realised that I had been fooled! This was no masterpiece at all! That, or I was missing something. So I gave myself some time, then listened to it again. And, listening to it, expecting a not-masterpiece, I found the music to actually be enjoyable.

After a few listens, I felt that I had reached a point where I understood the album. For sure, it wasn't about the same thing that I thought of other prog rock as being about. What we had here was five songs of varying quality that were each fun in their own way, and that sort of worked well together.

I stopped listening to it for a while, and then recently started listening to it after a long break. And my initial reaction hasn't really changed, except that I now know that my appreciation for the music probably isn't going to grow with time (or else, it will take more time). This album is fun but it is not amazing. A masterpiece? This album does not come close to the majesty of other albums that deserve that title.

Golf Girl and Love to Love You are both fun, catchy tunes, but not really much more. Winter Wine and In The Land of the Gray and Pink are similar, but I tend to think of them as more acoustic based songs. The title track itself is actually pretty good, and perhaps one of the more enduring songs off the album.

If I had heard the first four songs without knowing that the fifth was an epic, I never would have expected it to be an epic, but an epic we have, and it is mostly instrumental. Overall, I'd actually rate it pretty low on the epic scale. It's got some good music in it, but it doesn't ever really feel like it's going anywhere to me, and there aren't a lot of moments that give me a huge emotional boost. Even the musicians don't seem to be virtuoso's, so when I'm bored by it, I can't listen to it and think, "Man, that must have been hard to do." So while it is pleasant and listenable, it definitely does not rank high.

I'll end by saying that this album ranks as three stars, but as far as three star albums go, there are better you can get. But if you are looking for laid back, fun music that carries the label 'prog', this is a good album to have on hand. Unexciting, but still alright.

After some repeated listenings whilst on my travels, it's Caravan's "For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night" thats got the monicker of most listened too, overtaking "If I Could do it again.....". Not sure why that it is but there is a solid melodic theme running through the album that suits my style as I reach forty-something plus a bit.

"Memory Lain/Headloss" is a great opener and most of the tracks are good standalone items, with no really weak (ie skip) ones. I'm not much for band family trees and history and prefer to listen to the music for what it is. Caravan came to me late and having owned the vinyl in the late seventies it didn't suit me then, so why does it seem so good now. It's British (or English) prog at its best, querky, good fundamental rhythm and it sucks you in.

"C'Thlu Thlu" stalks you and like Stockholm syndrome you begin to love your attacker. Bit cheesy ? maybe a great change from some of the other tracks. "The dog, the dog, he's at it again" picks itself up and leads out with an enticing melody which keeps you interested through-out......

Overall, recommended easy going prog that captures the aura of cheesecloth shirts, the use of the flute and melodic prog from the 70's. Good stuff....

Very, very Cantebury.

While I've heard a couple of Gong albums before this one (both are great by the way), I feel that Caravan's IF I COULD DO IT... album represents what I think of first when I think of the Cantebury scene. All tracks are loaded with rich, pastoral organs, subtle guitar lines and a propulsive rhythm section. Add that with joyous, tasteful vocals, extended organ solos, witty lyrics and the occasional woodwind and you've got one of the most delightful musical experiences.

The structures here may teeter towards pop music a bit, but something about the music makes this album rise above the typical pop range. I'd say about 40-60% of the music is in some sort of weird time signature e.g. the entirety of the title track is in a seven. I tend to think that this factor is only one of the reasons why this is more than just pop, and maybe the soundscapes and textures have more to do with how deep the album sounds.

There's only a few boring spots, most of them coming from the ''For Richard'' suite, but the fuzzy organ thing at the end (I believe it's the ''Warlock'' section) makes up for any previous shortcomings. ''Hello, Hello'' and the title track are nice, delectable little tunes that are short enough for numerous repeated listenings. It is ''And I Wish I Were Stoned/Don't Worry'' that exemplifies what the album is all about and what heights Caravan are capable of achieving. Even a little sleeper track like ''Asforteri'' doesn't sound weak to my ears. Getting past the quiet beginnings of both ''As I Feel I Die'' and ''With An Ear to the Ground...'' is hard, but the ''eruptions'' (the band really doesn't get too loud) right after are just splendid and set the pace for the remainder of the song.

I'd say this a great place to start if you want to know what Caravan are all about. Psych, pop, rock, fusion and pastorals musics blended perfectly into a thing that is nice enough for traditional progsters but will have things that virtually anyone can get into.

Last words: Props to the piano excursion at the end of ''With An Ear to the Ground...''

Sometimes, expectations can vary (in fact, results of those expectations may vary). After their masterpiece, "In the Land of Pink & Grey", I heard a lot about this album. And was surprised by first song (which serves as intro track here I suppose), but sadly, I was surprised badly. Absolutely nothing that I expected. This is bad side of expectations, you can feel cheated (which is entirely not true, because music itself is innocent). Weird intro yes, good one ? No. Don't fit me in entire composition (even this is playful album, it's still more 60s, than "In the...").

Fortunately, And I wish I were stoned - Don't worry saves the day. Combination of keyboard driven (sometimes driving force is in background), with so called "a shadow from the past, good memory on your days, spent playing in the sun". And even I never did this stone business , I can appreciate this. In the middle, keyboard changes and we can hear typical sound of "Land of...". I'm glad, that this is different, yet still good than their other one I know, previously mentioned successor. Of course, jamming outro is here too. but this album sounds kinda pastoral, with many quite parts, jamming parts, weird parts, parts that I didn't understand yet, parts that I'll never understand. Simply many parts. While "Grey & Pink" is quite the same, there is different approach to listeners ear.

4(-), something beyond my reach. Yet. Candidate on 5 star, later.

An Alternative Side to 60's Psychedelia

Caravan's In the Land of Grey and Pink leads the Canterbury top albums list here on PA and not surprisingly was the first album in the genre I picked up. My first impression was being completely underwhelmed. The first side of the album is well-executed pastoral folky psychedelia, which is actually a type of music I enjoy quite a bit. Intentionally whimsical (how many times has that word appeared in these reviews) the music is entertaining but does very little to truly impress. There is a nice long jam that comprises the entirety of side two, but again the instrumentation is only slightly more complex typical 60's rock. At the same time, this was Caravan's 3rd record, released in 1971! So this emerges at the same time as Nursery Cryme, The Yes Album and Fragile, and already more daring sounds were coming out of Canterbury with Khan, Egg, and Soft Machine.

To be fair, this is a very good piece of music that succeeds at pretty much everything it attempts to do. The word "Prog" probably never entered the musician's minds. They were updating some of the giants of psychedelia, the Doors and the Beatles, and upping the ante on musicianship in the genre. Richard Sinclair's vocals are accessible, well sung, not the acquired taste of some of other Canterbury singers. The musicians complement each other well, the humor works, the production is appropriate. This IS a good record, clearly a successful piece of music.

But where other prog artists were putting out music that looked forward, this Caravan album is looking most definitely back at the previous decade. The prog elements are scattered, and the songs themselves lack depth beyond the simple pleasure of the humor and the mood. There are not many composed interlocking lines that are what really draw me in as a prog fan. (The very end of the sidelong jam is a pleasant exception) There are no harmony vocals. The jazziness is more in feel and rhythm than actual chord progression or true stretching of musical boundaries.

I like this album. I like this kind of sound, as it is well done here. But it is not my prog buttons that get pushed when I listen to In the Land of Grey and Pink. Over many listens, my appreciation has grown quite a bit. But I find it hard to rate this even as excellent on a prog site. 3.5 stars rounded back to the middle.

3.5 stars...

Legendary UK band,found in 1968 and being the other half of the disbanded ''The Wilde Flowers'',the other one being ''Soft Machine''.Original members were Pye Hastings,Richard Coughlan,Richard Sinclair and Dave Sinclair.They were the first band from UK to sign with MGM/Verve and released on this label their eponymous debut in 1969,a good album deep rooted in psychedelia as well as English folk music.Verve soon closed their rock department and CARAVAN,under new manager Terry Smith , moved to UK label Decca Records.

A year later CARAVAN published their sophomore work,presented here,which was undoubtfully a big step forward compared to their debut.The psychedelic and slight folk elements are again present and obvious,but this time they are supported by jazzy structures and a richer musicianship.Most of the compositions feature strong doses of Pye Hastings'/Richard Sinclair's sweet vocals surrounded by the psych passages of the dated-sounding Hammond organ and the trully strong rhythm section with intense drumming and difficult jazzy bass lines.Moving forward by listening to this work,the instrumental parts are increasing,delivering somewhat improvisational musicianship with excellent melodic guitars and really frenetic jazzy bass and drums in a very delicate way and even some light flutes and saxes pop out here and there,played by Hasting's brother Jimmy.CARAVAN seemed to have established their own sound with this release,which meant to be a historical one for the sound of Canterbury rock.Strongly recommended to anyone deep into both psychedelia and prog rock.

I'll start review with something urgent. Not so usual, but there it's needed. It's nice to see so many people giving this album five stars, when (sad thing) there is this "Love To Love You" track. I know few people who listens to this album and are instantly skipping this track. I do it too.

So I suppose there can be masterpiece (you are so overwhelmed by your feelings that you don't see any flaw, or any bigger flaw, so you rate it with best mark. But when you hate one song of five here (even the shortest one), things are bad. I wonder what was others thinking about this song (I don't read other reviews before writing mine, because of I would be directly influenced minutes before writing and that's not right, I could be even using other's words and that's even worse), because you can 1)like it 2)hate it, or 3)don't mind it at all. When you choose first choice, you know that even you like it, it's not prog. First I hated it, but then I turned to third option, for sake of improving my way of approaching the album.

"Golf Girl" is nice introduction. I'm so glad that this was first song (and album) of Cantenbury style I've ever heard. Because when you (by accident) choose harder, more difficult to approach album as your first, things can be much worse. For example you can begin to look with despect to entire genre. Music here is (some may say weak) tender. It's the beauty of poetry. Even in this song about golfing, there is something beautiful. Maybe flute whistling solo instead of guitar. But this tea thing seems like pretty British stereotype. Nice one though.

"Winter Wine" presents us far better music and lyrics. Although I like Golf Girl (sole this idea is song which reminds fantasy topics. I'm reading lyrics now (good to understanding it at all) and what was my surprise, it's some kind of dream vision. Even better, various themes while dreaming about things he can't normally do. After some glasses of red wine. Well, maybe white, because winter is also white, but red wine is more suitable (and widespread). From 3:35 to 5:55 expect wonderful solo, last half of it is guitar solo, one of the magnificent ones which you can listen over and over again. Because of softness which is

then some unknown track which I heard that is here, but never found it. Probably something not important (childish, I know). By the way, the rest of album songs were written by Sinclairs, this one is by Pye Hasting. He has nice vocal, indeed. But writing skills on this album not so good. Well, it's worst song by my opinion here. Indeed, this song has refrain, to worse it all.

"" reminds me much of The Lord of the Rings, book version. By my opinion its intoxication is even bigger than Winter Wine, which is quite remarkable.

And final epic is one of these epics which you'll like for sure. Nothing to complain about, maybe it uses parts of previous songs (except Love and Golf), changes styles like roller coaster, one song calm, another fast and wild. And then calm again. It's probably purpose.

5 stars