CARAVAN

A vastly mature psychedelic pop-prog graces the two sides of the self-titled debut album by English band Caravan, with the Canterbury scene innovators releasing their very first work as early as September of 1968, which is rather incredible to think about, as this timing is right around the dawn of the progressive movement and the steady, gentle fade of the psychedelic rock craze. With a strong, ostensible inspiration coming from Pink Floyd's 'Piper' without a doubt, as well as throwing in a couple of references to The Doors, 'Caravan' is a delightful treasure of an album and a great precursor to the excellent fusion-y music the band would go on to explore during the 70s, and while this rather short (and imperfect) studio recording only gives us frail traits of the mighty Canterbury scene, it remains an interesting glimpse into that transitional period of the late 60s, for its proto-progressive blueprints.

With the songs centered around the protruding Hammond organ sounds as well as the strong melodies and vocal harmonies, 'Caravan' is a record that is much in the style of the early Soft Machine 'Volumes' as well as some of those Cream and Floyd-ish exploratory pop tunes. The band's very own debut album already positions Caravan as a band aware of their fine songwriting capabilities, as they explore them quite interestingly and present a lush collection of moods and tones, with some songs being whimsical and uplifting, while others are being more pensive and even gloomy. Album opener 'Place of My Own' is melancholic and distantly menacing, a great song, while 'Ride' might turn out to be too trippy for some tastes. A string of three absolutely excellent numbers follow on side one, and the already impression of the album is of a very consistent, well-organized work. Just three songs on side two, among which the 9-minute closing suite 'Where but for Caravan Would I?' stands out as the first really impressive piece with more complex, challenging arrangements from Caravan. And as poor as the mixing is, and as distracting as this can be, 'Caravan' is a worthy anticipator of the Canterbury scene and a fine late 60s work that still echoes the tastes of The Wilde Flowers and the entire psychedelic rock ooze.

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