Caravan biography
Caravan are an English band from the Canterbury area, founded by former Wilde Flowers members David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan. Caravan rose to success over a period of several years from 1968 onwards into the 1970s as part of the Canterbury scene, blending psychedelic rock and jazz to create a distinctive sound like their contemporaries Soft Machine. Caravan still remains active as a live band in the 21st century.
History
Following the dissolution of their former band, Wilde Flowers, David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan formed Caravan in 1968. The band became the first British act to sign for American record label, Verve, who subsequently released the band's debut LP,
Caravan, later the same year. After this Verve closed their rock and pop division, causing Caravan to move to Decca Records for the release of
If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You in 1970, from which the title track gained the band an appearance on
Top Of The Pops, and then Deram (Decca's progressive subsidiary) for 1971's
In the Land of Grey and Pink. After the third album's release David Sinclair chose to leave the group, to be replaced by Steve Miller. The change in keyboardist caused a change in musical direction, and the band's next album,
Waterloo Lily, was distinctly more jazz influenced than earlier work. This caused some unrest for followers of the group and the band disintegrated soon after
Waterloo Lily's release, leaving just Hastings and Coughlan. The duo recruited viola player Geoffrey Richardson, bassist Stu Evans and keyboardist Derek Austin and toured extensively. This line-up did not make any recordings before Evans was replaced by John Perry and Dave Sinclair rejoined the group in 1973. The resulting album
For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night was well-received critically. Perry left soon afterwards and was replaced by Mike Wedgwood.
Despite considerable success in Continental Europe - particularly in France, the Netherlands and Germany where they played some of those countries' most prestigious venues and enjoyed healthy record sales - the band's chart performance in the UK and US was minimal, charting one album, Cunning Stunts at US#124. In the UK, Cunning Stunts (#50) and Blind Dog at St. Dunstan's (#53) were their only hits. A loyal following has ensured steady back catalogue sales and a lengthy live career for the band, who continue to this day featuring founder members Pye Hastings (guitar, vocals, songwriting) and Richard Coughlan (drums). Caravan's best-known recording is the 1971 set In the Land of Grey and Pink, their second album for Decca. Thirty years after its release this album finally received a platinum disc for sales of over one million units.
The album "showed off a keen melodic sense, a subtly droll wit, and a seductively smooth mix of rock, folk, classical, and jazz, intermingled with elements of Tolkien-esque fantasy". A fair summary of Caravan's late sixties to late seventies work. Prolific and inventive, the band appeared to have too many ideas to produce direct, radio-friendly singles. 21st century reissues of their albums featured lengthy tracks, previously unreleased, demonstrating the huge amount of releasable material that had failed to make their 1970s albums.
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