Caravan recommendations?

[bertrand]

I am really digging my vinyl of In The Land of Grey And Pink, as well as a Live 1990 session I downloaded.

I plan to buy the CDs of Grey And Pink, If I Could Do It All Over..., Waterloo Lily and For Girls Who Grow Plump. Any others worth picking up? I know some of the later ones are not supposed to be very good.

Thanks,

Bertrand.

[A Lark Ascending]

You don't need anything more than what you have mentioned there. If, Grey and Waterloo are the heart of their pastoral proggery. Lots of lovely Jimmy Hastings on flute.

There's a live album from around that time with orchestra (a concert I attended) which is nice but duplicates what you find elsewhere. Also one recorded in Croydon that I've never heard but will probably be much the same.

'Cunning Stunts' (dreadful title but Caravan seemed to delight in toilet humour) has its moments but they 'rawk-out' to fill up the time in too many places.

Better to look into the Egg, Hatfield and the North and National Health records which operate in a similar zone.

Having said that, I was a listener when these things came out so might simply be unsympathetic to what came after. They still play quite regularly.

Here are a couple of them receiving "honorary fellowships by Canterbury Christ Church University" for services to music. Not to literature, I notice:

http://officialcaravan.co.uk/blog/2012/11/23/pye-hastings-and-geoffrey-richardson-receive-honorary-fellowships/

Edited January 4, 2015 by A Lark Ascending

[bertrand]

The only one I forgot to mention is the first album. How is that one?

Bertrand.

[A Lark Ascending]

I only heard it a long time after release - late 1990s. So it was interesting to hear where they came from. But I can't have played it more than 3 or 4 times.

[Homefromtheforest]

I love the first album!

The first 4 Caravan albums are my favorites, and I do not own anything beyond those.

[A Lark Ascending]

I'll have to play it again!

[felser]

The first album was tentative - they hit their groove on "If I Could". That one, Grey and Pink, Waterloo Lilly, and Girls Who Grow Plump are the canon. I am also a fan of the Live at Drury Lane LP with the orchestra. I like the side-long "Dabsong conshirtoe" from Cunning Stunts quite a bit, but the rest is filler (really, all of their albums have some filler). The 4CD box set is very good, and likely all one person needs.

[GA Russell]

I think in the '70s I had all of them. By coincidence, for Christmas I received something called Caravan Live which I haven't opened up yet.

In my view the first three are much better than the others, with If I Could being the best.

After those three, I would look at Blind Dog at St. Dunstan's.

[RogerF]

I would agree with the above sentiments. For me "If" and "Grey" are the ones I would go for, "Plump" isn't bad and I haven't heard "Waterloo" (not sure why) but the two Hatfield albums with Richard Sinclair would be the albums to go for next. Those elevate the Caravan sound to a different level.

[bertrand]

I ordered the first five Caravans and the two Hatfields. Lots of music on the way.

Bertrand.

[GA Russell]

I think in the '70s I had all of them. By coincidence, for Christmas I received something called Caravan Live which I haven't opened up yet.

In my view the first three are much better than the others, with If I Could being the best.

After those three, I would look at Blind Dog at St. Dunstan's.

This evening I opened up the Caravan Live album I received for Christmas.

It was recorded July 24, 1990, with the lineup of David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings, Richard Coughlan and Jimmy Hastings. Those are the real guys!

All of the songs were from '70s albums. I would not say that this is as good as the original albums, but I enjoyed very, very much hearing the band for the first time in so many years.

So if you already have their '70s albums, I can recommend this one highly.

http://www.amazon.com/Live-Caravan/dp/B0000011PQ/ref=sr_1_2_twi_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1421453885&sr=1-2&keywords=caravan+live

[bertrand]

The first five records are great, as are the 2 Hatfields. Heard Cunning Stunts and Blind Dog and do not need to get those. I have a download of Live 1990.

How is Caravan and the New Symphonia? Did this one come out after Plump and before Cunning Stunts?

Bertrand.

[A Lark Ascending]

It was recorded around the time Plump appeared (autumn 1973). I recall buying the record in the spring of 74. It's not a great deal different to the original recordings but enjoyable.

'Waterloo Lily' is always interesting to me - Dave Sinclair, very much a rock player, had left and was replaced by Steve Miller (Phil's brother). Steve Miller was a more blues/jazz based player and the album is dominated by his piano/e-p rather than Sinclair's organ. There's a fairly workaday blues workout on side 1, livened up considerably by his playing. Some wonderful tunes on that record - where that gift for melody evaporated to after 1973 I'm not sure (Sinclair returned for record 5).

Here's another great recording from that time from Steve Miller:

Combines two albums plus some unreleased music. Much more jazzy and instrumental, as you'd imagine.

I'd also strongly recommend:

Edited January 19, 2015 by A Lark Ascending