Caravan

4-7-08 Caravan

CD BBC 1969 - 1973 pirate MY PHENIX ZA 88

LP CARAVAN MGM UK 2353 058

LP CARAVAN & THE NEW SYMPHONIA (Live) LONDON US PS 650

CD CARAVAN kami UNIVERSAL JPN UICY-9208

LP FOR GIRLS WHO GROW PLUMP IN THE NIGHT DERAM UK SDL-R 12

CD FOR GIRLS WHO GROW PLUMP IN THE NIGHT kami UNIVERSAL JPN UICY-9060

7" HEADLOSS (Mono) / (Stereo) promo LONDON US 5N-20080-DJ

7" HEARTBREAKER / IT'S NEVER TOO LATE KINGDOM UK KV 8009

CD IF I COULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN… kami UNIVERSAL JPN UICY-9065

LP IN THE LAND OF GREY AND PINK DERAM UK SDL-R 1

CD IN THE LAND OF GREY AND PINK kami UNIVERSAL JPN UICY-9058

7" STUCK IN A HOLE / LOVER DECCA UK FR 13599

LP WATERLOO LILY LONDON US XPS 615

CD WATERLOO LILY kami UNIVERSAL JPN UICY-9059

All hail the Canterbury magic of Caravan and all related bands! Hatfield & The North, Egg, National Health, Gilgamesh etc.

Alas, I came to Caravan rather late – I never knew about them until perhaps even “For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night”. I think I was shown this LP right around the time it came out – and the mixed message of the cover threw me – what could this sound like, by what the cover depicts? I did eventually hear it – but the one that has always been my favorite was “In The Land of Grey & Pink” – just a fantastic album.

As far as I got with the Canterbury boys was their first live album, “Caravan & The New Symphonia” – and I do not remember if they ever came and played in L.A. – if they did, I was unaware or uninterested at the time they came.

I recently got little paper album cover CD’s (kami sleeves) in Japan – of the first 5 albums, all resplendent with bonus tracks. Caravan were pretty straight-forward, for an early 70’s UK progressive rock band – along the lines of Genesis, for example. But I am always a little bit surprised that more people haven’t heard the ‘classic’ Caravan albums.

A while back, I got an interesting bootleg CD of Caravan (mono) BBC performances on a visit to Japan. Alas, this same material had now seen a legit release – but I have yet to find a copy of it.

It was not difficult to follow vocalist Richard Sinclair to Hatfield & The North – where he joined Egg’s keyboard player, Dave Stewart (no, not the Eurythmics guy) – who I followed to National Health. And all of these bands are related to the original ‘core’ group, Soft Machine. And almost all of them are from the south of England (we presume), hence the tag “Canterbury Scene”.

And Caravan were a band that made singles – I have been able to find three of them, so far. Imagine that! A non-commercial prog band that made a lot of 45’s!