For their first album,
Caravan was surprisingly strong. While steeped in the same British
psychedelia that informed bands such as
Love Children,
Pink Floyd, and
Tomorrow,
Caravan relates a freedom of spirit and mischief along the lines of
Giles, Giles & Fripp or
Gong. The band's roots can be traced to a British
blue-eyed soul combo called
the Wilde Flowers. Among the luminaries to have passed through this
Caravan precursor were
Robert Wyatt,
Kevin Ayers, and
Hugh Hopper and
Brian Hopper (pre-
Soft Machine, naturally). By the spring of 1968,
Caravan had settled nicely into a quartet consisting of
Pye Hastings (guitar/bass/vocals),
Richard Coughlan (drums),
David Sinclair (organ/vocals), and
Richard Sinclair (bass/guitar/vocals). Inspired by the notoriety and acclaim that
Soft Machine encountered during the burgeoning days of London's underground scene,
Caravan began a residency at the
Middle Earth club. Additionally, the band was shopping a homemade demo tape around to local record companies. Before long, entrepreneur
Tony Cox worked out a deal for them to record on the newly founded U.K. division of the
Verve label.
Caravan's self-titled debut is equally as inventive and infinitely more subtle than
the Soft Machine's
Volume One or
Pink Floyd's
Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Two of the album's best tunes -- the ethereal
"Place of My Own" was backed with the dreamlike
"Magic Man" -- were issued as the band's first single. Those tracks accurately exemplify the subtle complexities that
Caravan would hone to great effect on later recordings. The same can also be said for album cuts such as
"Love Song With Flute" and the extended nine-minute
"Where but for Caravan Would I?" The latter title aptly exemplifies
Caravan's decidedly less than turgid attitude toward themselves -- a refreshing contrast from the temperamental and serious Art School approach adopted by
Pink Floyd and
the Moody Blues. The mono and stereo mixes of the long-player are striking in their disparities. The stereo mix is at times opaque and virtually swallows the vocals most specifically on the tracks
"Policeman" and
"Grandma's Lawn." Otherwise, there are numerous additional nuances that discern the two. The single version of
"Hello Hello" is also included as a bonus. This track was the follow-up 45 to
"Place of My Own" and would appear in a slightly different form on their next LP,
If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You. Potential consumers should note that the sound quality on this package is indescribably better than the
HTD Records 1996 CD pressing. ~ Lindsay Planer
