BBC RADIO 1 LIVE IN CONCERT

For those who love long, instumental sections (like me). The best Caravan's live album. Most energetic version of "For Richard". Unbelivale viola solos by Geoff Richardson. All musicians in the best form. Want more?

Recorded after the release of Cunning Stunts but also some from Girls Who Grow Plump In the Night, it features mostly stuff from that lp and therefore.....plus For Richard. The sound is from the beeb so as usual , excellent. I just wished they had thought up of a keen cover .

CARAVAN perhaps best exemplified the early 70s British musical movement known as the Canterbury Scene - a scene which gave rise to the careers of, among others, Robert Wyatt, SOFT MACHINE, Steve HILLAGE, NATIONAL HEALTH and HATFIELD AND THE NORTH. CARAVAN's "Live at the BBC" displays their live capabilities which IMHO greatly outshines their studio work. This album highlights their ability in combining their proficient jazz-rock improvisation with both large symphonic structures and charming, somehow very English songwriting. This performance was recorded at London's Paris Theatre in March 1975, at essentially the midpoint of their decade-long career. The band's line-up at this point was: Mike Wedgewood (bass); Richard Coughlan (drums); Geoff Richardson (violin and guitar); Pye Hastings (guitar and vocals); and David Sinclair. With virtuosic bravura they perform a set of songs from throughout their career, including the epic, sprawling "Dab Song Concerto".

"BBC Live In Concert" of CARAVAN released in 1998. It is a sound source of BBC collected with Paris Theatre on March 21, 1975. A lineup at that time is a member of "Cunning Stunts". The masterpiece that represents CARAVAN such as "Love In Your Eyes" and "For Richard" and "The Dab Song Concerto" is performed. It is a work to understand this group is not a mere pop group well. I am guessing that there is a tune collected further because it is unnatural between MC of the introduction and the first tune.

A great document of Canterbury ...

The containing 4 tracks are from a concert in London 1975. First of all - the sound quality is really excellent! I would say this is the best line-up ever. Mike Wedgewood seems to be a great substitute on the bass. He plays like a long time member of the band - fantastic!

The first 3 long tracks have the wellknown complex song structure - perfectly performed and played in this typical Canterbury style - Jazz Rock with a classical and symphonic background. Geoff Richardsons violin playing is very impressive and he also plays the second guitar on 'For Richard'. I never have heard a better live performance by CARAVAN.

So this is nearly a masterpiece - but 'Hoedown' has not the quality of the 3 tracks before - 4.5 stars.

I love canterbury and I love live recordings but this is not really my cup of tea. So I'm warning you: there's a good chance that you will love it much more than me. It seems most of people do. However, Caravan Live: something is missing, it's really hard to say what. First of all, all songs drag a lot, and second, I can't hear the substance. It sounds like they're doing long intros without really getting into themes; and when the themes are finally there they're shallow in the worst case, or moderately good - but I can't attach my attention to them. I'm missing bits of furiosity. Guitars are furious - at the moment, there's a pure metal riff - but again it goes on and on. Slow development. Too slow. And not developed enough. Violin is giving same fake innuendo of loveliness. Vocals and dedicated melodies are mediocre. Sorry I must say the same for keys. In general there are very few moments on this recording I'm able to enjoy. Everything is cold and static, despite the lenghts. And after a listening, I don't remember a thing.

Sounds like not the best live record around; in a contradiction with announcement at the beginning. To be honest, as much as I love canterbury scene, I never heard a live album that I would really like; I prefer studio albums from this genre. This one is no exception, but it's also a lowest point so far. Just...no.

A well hidden gem....

Behind a ghastly cheap cover, this gemstone is hidden. Ignore it at your peril. I walked past it several times in the local record-store before I had a look at this webpage and then ran back to the shop. The shop even gave me a very generous discount and the CD was mine. My point is; this album is easy to ignore as cheap worthless stuff. It is not !

The sound is brilliant from beginning to end. The first three tracks (of the in total four tracks) Love In Your Eye, For Richard, The Dab Song Concerto and Hoedown is all lengthy song. They clocks in at over fifteen minutes long each. They are filled with lenghty solos and improvisations in the best Canterbury scene tradition. The music is both playful and intelligent. It is also swinging like mad and I am dancing at the same time as writing these lines. Thank God for the laptop computers ! The violins of Geoff Richardson, the guitars of Pye Hastings and the keyboards of David Sinclair often goes into lenghty solos. Lenghty and infectious playful. The rest of the band is superb too and I cannot fault them on anything. I do not know the studio versions of Love In Your Eye, For Richard and The Dab Song Concerto. But these live versions are really great.

The last song Hoedown are a much more stripped down Caravan song and probably the weakest song of them all. It is only five minutes long too. I really enjoy the first three songs and this album is for me a solid kick up my backside and will lead me to go back to the Caravan albums. With the exception of In The Land Of Grey & Pink, I have not been listening to their albums for ages. This live album is highly recommended for anyone into Caravan and the Canterbury Scene.

3.75 stars.