IN THE LAND OF GREY AND PINK

Caravan's mature style can roughly be described as follows: upbeat pop/rock songs and gentle ballads, interspersed with fairly simple bass riffs over which Pye Hastings (electric guitar), Jimmy Hastings (flute), David Sinclair (typically Canterbury "fuzz-box" organ) and/or others improvise their extended solos. Even a 23-minute suite such as "Nine feet underground" does not deviate from this basic pattern.

For some proggers with Oh So Sophisticated Tastes such a style may seem a little simplistic. Pye Hastings' songs are too chirpy, the band's suites aren't intricate enough and the instrumental solos are too placid.

Well, I too like complicated music, but I find Caravan an incredibly likable and irresistible bunch. Virtually all the melodies on GREY AND PINK sound fresh and charming. The instrumental solos (splendidly accompanied by Richard Sinclair on bass and by Richard Coughlan, a superb drummer) are exhilerating, and they all reach proper climaxes. Over the past thirty years I've played this album innumerable times, and I invariably enjoyed it. Caravan may be a rather modest band, but this album deserves to be heard.