"Caravan" (1968)

This debut album is a big step forward fromthe music of the Wilde Flowers, of which all four founders ofCaravan had been members over the years. While most of thesongs have psychedelic flavour that may sound dated now, all theelements that would later typify the classic Caravan sounds arepresent : the contrasted voices of Pye Hastings and Richard Sinclair,the predominating sound of David Sinclair's organ, the jazzy chordsand distinctively British melodies. Highlights include "A Place Of MyOwn", Hastings' first-ever composition, "Love Song With Flute", whichfor the first time features Pye's brother Jimmy on flute, and most ofall "Where But For Caravan Would I", an epic composition co-writtenby ex-Wilde Flowers leader Brian Hopper. This song predates theprogressive direction of the next two albums, with a rhythmicsophistication and a band interplay absent from the rest of thealbum.

"If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'dDo It All Over You" (1970)

The first classic Caravan album! Mostof the material is organised in suites, the most notable of which issurely the classic "For Richard", largely written by David Sinclairand dedicated to his cousin (who himself contributed the famousriff). Jimmy Hastings makes major contributions on both saxophone andflute, as he would on most of Caravan's subsequentefforts, though he never was a permanent member of the band. Thematerial is a very original mixture of styles, a very successfulamalgam of pop, jazz and classic music, close in many ways to whatother 'progressive' bands were doing at the time, but surely the mosttypically 'British' of all.

"In The Land Of Grey And Pink" (1971)

This is for many the best-everCaravan opus! The previous album's recipe is used to evengreater success, whether in Richard Sinclair's witty and wonderfullyBritish pop songs "Golf Girl" and "In The Land Of Grey And Pink", orDavid Sinclair's sidelong epic "Nine Feet Underground". The extendedinstrumental sections again showcase the extraordinary talents of thelatter on fuzz organ (his solo on "Winter Wine" is maybe his bestever), and Jimmy Hastings on saxophone and flute. The writing iscomplex and varied, with a soft jazzy flavour and a perfect balancebetween vocal (equally shared between Pye Hastings and RichardSinclair) and instrumental sections. In The Land Of Grey And Pink is quite simply one of the best albums of itstime.

"Waterloo Lily" (1972)

The first of many line-up changes occurredin August 1971 with the unexpected departure of David Sinclair. Hewas quickly replaced by Steve Miller, former leader of the blues-rockband Delivery, which also included his brother Phil on guitar and PipPyle on drums. Miller was a blues and jazz pianist rather than anorganist, and his arrival caused a dramatic change of style inCaravan's music. The musical direction of Waterloo Lily wasambivalent, with a very jazzy first side (that had guest appearancesby Delivery's Lol Coxhill and Phil Miller), mainly written by RichardSinclair and Phil Miller, and a poppier second side that was more thework of Pye Hastings, and was notable for the long suite "The Love InYour Eye", which featured a string orchestra as well as a delightfulflute solo courtesy of Jimmy Hastings. Overall, Waterloo Lily isless inspired and focussed than its predecessors, and it's nosurprise that the band broke soon after, with Sinclair and Millerdeparting to the reformed Delivery (which soon evolved into Hatfieldand the North), and Hastings and Coughlan recruiting newmembers.

"For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night" (1973)

Very long in the making (more than sixmonths), this album was recorded during a period of line-upinstability. In July 1972, viola player Geoffrey Richardson wasrecruited as well as Derek Austin on keyboards and Stuart Evans onbass and vocals. This quintet toured Europe that Autumn, thenAustralia and New Zealand in early 1973, and started recording a newalbum, which was stopped when Austin and Evans left. John G. Perryjoined on bass and vocals in February, and the sessions were resumed.With no new keyboard player in sight, the band asked David Sinclairto guest on the album and subsequent tour. Eventually, that line-upstayed together for nearly a year and a half.
For Girls Who Grow Plump In TheNight is a fine return to form,although it is a further step away from Caravan's classicstyle. Almost all the material is written by Pye Hastings, and issong-based with the exception of the closing instrumental epic "A-Hunting We Shall Go". A few songs ("Headloss", "Hoedown", "Be AllRight") are intended as heavy rock pastiches, influenced by touring'down under' with Slade and Status Quo, while others ("The Dog, TheDog He's At It Again", "Chance Of A Lifetime") have the acousticjazzy flavour of Hastings' contributions to Waterloo Lily.Overall, in spite of the more commercial direction, For Girls... remainsamong Caravan's best (and best-loved) albums.

"Cunning Stunts" (1975)

After spending most of 1974 on the road, andreplacing the departing Perry with Mike Wedgwood, Caravan finally gotaround to recording a new studio album. With David Sinclair settlingpermanently in the line-up (or so it seemed), more than half ofCunning Stunts was penned by him and his songwriting partner JohnMurphy, notably the 18-minute epic "The Dabsong Conshirtoe", whichhas some superb instrumental sections as well as delightful vocals byPye Hastings and Wedgwood, who himself contributes two, morecommercial tunes, the romantic "Lover" and the more energetic and'funky' "Welcome The Day". This leaves Pye Hastings with only twosongwriting credits. The production is more polished than everbefore, especially with regard to keyboards sounds (electric pianoand Moog synthesizer in particular), on which Sinclair displays anamazing variety of talents, as does Geoffrey Richardson on guitar andflute as well as viola. This cleaner, poppier approach may not be tothe taste of fans of Caravan's classic albums, but Cunning Stunts isone of the strongest efforts of the band's later years.

"Blind Dog At St. Dunstans" (1976)

With David Sinclair departing once more inJuly 1975, and his replacement with Jan Schelhaas, an excellentkeyboard player but not very prolific writer, the compositional focusis once again on Pye Hastings and the material logically poppier andpurely song-based. There are still instrumental sequences, but theseare rather bridges within songs than proper developments. Solos aresplit among Geoffrey Richardson, on both guitar and viola, JanSchelhaas on synthesizer, and Jimmy Hastings on saxophone and flute,and vocals are all by Hastings with the exception of Mike Wedgwood's "Chiefs And Indians" on which the bassist sings. Blind Dog... isexcellent sophisticated pop music, not so much in the progressivestyle anymore but still a very nice album.

"Better By Far" (1977)

The tongue-in-cheek title is unfortunatelyno indication of this album's musical interest, as it is for the mostpart a collection of very catchy poppy tunes, with only a couple oflonger tracks. Wedgwood has been replaced by ex-Darryl Way's Wolfbassist Dek Messecar, and the production work is handled by theprestigious Tony Visconti. There is little variation from theverse/chorus structures, all the listener is left with is theexcellent musicianship and the melodic and reedy vocals of PyeHastings. On the whole, Better ByFar leaves one wondering whetherthis is still the same band which once released "In The Land Of GreyAnd Pink"...

"The Album" (1980)

With commercial success waning,Caravan ground to a halt in the summer of 1978 following thesuccessive departures of Richardson and Schelhaas (who joined Camelalongside David and Richard Sinclair). Following aborted attempts ata solo album (documented on the CoolWater CD), Hastings reformed theband in the autumn of 1979 with almost the same line-up except the(once more) returning David Sinclair. Caravan touredEngland and Europe and signed to their manager Terry King's new labelKingdom Records. The original idea of recording a live album wasdropped when it appeared that a studio album could be made for thesame amount of money, only with minimal overdubs. The result wasThe Album, a very inconsistent collection of songs lacking anygeneral musical direction, but enhanced once more by the greatinstrumental prowess of Geoffrey Richardson and David Sinclair, andthe vocals of Hastings (less so by those of Richardson and DekMessecar).

"Back To Front" (1982)

With both Richardson and Messecarunavailable for the recording of the follow-up to The Album,Caravan reverted to its original line-up for what isarguably its best album since CunningStunts. While most ofBack To Front remains faithful to the song format of previousefforts, some of Caravan's classicfeatures are back, most notably on the instrumental sections of DavidSinclair's closing epic "Proper Job/Back To Front", not forgettingthe welcome return of Richard Sinclair's vocals on three songs (hisown "Back To Herne Bay Front" and "A.A. Man", and his cousin's"Videos Of Hollywood"). Pye Hastings' contributions stick to hispastiche approach (of rock'n'roll and disco), with the exception of"All Aboard", a sweet song about past French tours. On the whole arather pleasant album, although it obviously pales in comparison tothe line-up's glory days.
Note : An additional track, "One MoreTime", composed by David Sinclair with lyrics and vocals by JohnMurphy, was recorded during these sessions but eventually left offthe album.

"The Battle Of Hastings" (1995)

Apart from the odd reformation gig,Caravan was inactive for most of the eighties. The originalline-up, with the permanent addition of Jimmy Hastings, got backtogether in 1990 to play at the annual Canterbury Festival and recorda televised concert for Central TV's "Bedrock" series. This led toseveral London gigs over the following couple of years. Butdisagreements over musical direction between Pye Hastings and RichardSinclair made it hard for the band to work on new compositions.Eventually, Hastings assembled a slightly different line-up in thespring of 1995 to record The BattleOf Hastings, with new bass playerJim Leverton and the returning Geoffrey Richardson. Written almostexclusively by Hastings (the exception being Dave Sinclair'syankee-flavoured "Travelling Ways"), this collection of songs carrieson the vein of latter day Caravan albums, butbrings back the classic sound of the band circa 1971-73, with adelightful sonic variety (flute, viola, organ, saxophone...), whichmakes for a very pleasant listen. In spite of its lack of'progressiveness', this is certainly Caravan's mostconsistent effort since For Girls WhoGrow Plump In The Night.