Caravan Biography, Songs, & Albums | AllMusic

Caravan were one of the more formidable progressive rock acts to come out of England in the 1960s, though they were never much more than a very successful ... AllMusic NewReleases FeaturedNewReleases Editors'Choice AllNewReleases Discover Genres  › Moods  › Themes  › Blues Classical Country Electronic Folk International Jazz Latin NewAge Pop/Rock Rap R&B Reggae Stage&Screen AllGenres Aggressive Bittersweet Druggy Energetic Happy Hypnotic LaidBack/Mellow Melancholy Passionate Romantic Sad Sentimental Sexy Trippy AllMoods BackgroundMusic Celebration Cool&Cocky Drinking HangingOut InLove Introspection LateNight Partying RainyDay Relaxation RoadTrip RomanticEvening Sex AllThemes Articles Features Interviews Lists Streams Videos AllPosts Recommendations MyProfile AdvancedSearch Facebook Twitter Tumblr RSS Overview ↓ Biography ↓ Discography ↓ Songs ↓ Credits ↓ Related ↓ Shareon facebook twitter tumblr ArtistBiography byBruceEder CaravanwereoneofthemoreformidableprogressiverockactstocomeoutofEnglandinthe1960s,thoughtheywerenevermuchmorethanaverysuccessfulcultbandathome,and,apartfromabriefmomentin1975,barelyacultbandanywhereelseintheworld.Theyonlyeverchartedonealbumintheirfirstsixyearsofactivity,buttheymadealotofnoiseintheEnglishrockpress,andtheirfollowinghasbeensufficientlyloyalandwidetokeeptheirworkinprintforextendedperiodsduringthe1970s,the1990s,andinthenewcentury. CaravangrewoutofthebreakupoftheWildeFlowers,aCanterbury-basedgroupformedin1964asanR&B-basedoutfitwithajazzy-edge.TheWildeFlowershadalineupofBrianHopperonguitarandsaxophone,RichardSinclaironrhythmguitar,HughHopperplayingbass,andRobertWyattondrums.KevinAyerspassedthroughthelineupasasinger,andRichardSinclairwassucceededonrhythmguitarbyPyeHastingsin1965.Wyattsubsequentlybecametheleadsinger,succeededbyRichardCoughlanondrums.HughHopperleftandwasreplacedbyDaveLawrence,thenRichardSinclair,andDaveSinclair,Richard'scousin,cameinonkeyboards.Finally,in1966,WyattandAyersformedSoftMachineandtheWildeFlowersdissolved.Inthewakeoftheearliergroup'sdissolution,Hastings,RichardSinclair,DaveSinclair,andRichardCoughlanformedCaravaninJanuaryof1968. ThegroupstoodatfirstsomewhatintheshadowofSoftMachine,whichbecameanimmediatefavoriteontheLondonclubsceneandinthepress.ThisworkedinCaravan'sfavor,however,asthepressandclubownersbegantakingalonglookatthembecauseofthemembers'previousconnections.AgigattheMiddleEarthClubinLondonledtotheirbeingspottedbyamusicpublishingexecutivenamedIanRalfini,whichresultedinapublishingdealwithRobbinsMusicandthen,byextension,arecordingcontractwithMGMRecordsontheirVerveRecordsimprint,whichtheAmericanlabelwastryingtoestablishinEngland.Theirself-titleddebutalbum,Caravan,wasahybridofjazzandpsychedelia,butalsoenoughofavirtuosoefforttorateasaseriousprogressiverockalbumatatimewhenthatgenrewasn'tyetfullyestablished;alongwiththeNicealbumsonImmediateandTheCheerfulInsanityofGiles,Giles&Fripp,itplantedtherootsofprogressiverock. TheCaravanalbumneversoldinseriousnumbers,andformuchof1968andearly1969,thememberswerebarelyabletosurvive--atonepointtheywereliterallylivingintents.Andthen,toaddinsulttoinjury,therecorddisappearedasMGM'sBritishoperationshutdowninlate1968.Outofthatchaos,however,thegroupgotanewmanagerinTerryKingand,withthehelpofafledglingproducernamedDavidHitchcock(who'dseenthebandinconcert),acontractwithEngland'sDeccaRecords,whichwasamajorlabelatthetime.TheirDeccadebutalbum,IfICouldDoItAllOverAgain,I'dDoItAllOverYou,releasedinearly1970,wasamajorstepforwardand,indeed,amilestoneintheirhistory,establishingthemixofhumorandprogressivesounds,includingclassical,jazz,andtraditionalEnglishinfluencesthatwouldcharacterizethebestoftheirworkoverthenextsixyears.Moreover,withDecca'sthen-formidabledistributionbehindit,thealbumgotintostoresandwasheardandevensoldwellonuniversitycampuses. Suddenly,Caravanwereanup-and-comingsuccessonthecollegeconcertcircuit,evenmakinganappearanceonBritishtelevision'sTopofthePops.Withnationalexposureandagrowingaudience,thegroupwasatamake-or-breakmomentintheirhistory.TheyrosetotheoccasionwiththeirsecondDeccaLP,IntheLandofGreyandPink,whichshowedoffakeenmelodicsense,asubtlydrollwit,andaseductivelysmoothmixofhardrock,folk,classical,andjazz,intermingledwithelementsofTolkien-esquefantasy.Thesongsrangedfromlight,easy-to-absorbpiecessuchas"GolfGirl"tothequietlymajestic"NineFeetUnderground,"a23-minutesuitethatfilledthesideofanLP.Oneofthehardest-rockingyetmusicallydaringextendedpiecestocomeoutoftheearlyprogressiverockera,"NineFeetUnderground"didn'tseemhalfaslongasits23minutesanditwasadazzlingshowcaseforPyeHastings'searingleadguitarandDaveSinclair'ssoaringorganandpianowork.Althoughfewobserversrealizeditatthetime,thesuite'slengthpointedupaproblemthatthegroupfacedfairlyconsistently--incontrasttomostprogressiverockoutfitsoftheera,Caravanwereinventiveenoughtojustifyextendingeventherelativelysimplesongsintheirrepertoiretorunningtimesofsixorsevenminutes,andtheywerealsoextremelyprolific.Thosetwosituationsmeantthattheywerefrequentlyforcedtoleaveperfectlygoodsongsofftheiralbumsandtoeditthosethattheydidissue.Mostlistenersdidn'tfindthisoutuntilawaveofCaravanreissuesarrivedin2001withtheirrunningtimesextendedtento25minuteseachbythepresenceofperfectlygood,previouslyunissuedsongsanduneditedmastersofpreviouslyreleasedsongs. KeyboardplayerandsingerDaveSinclairleftthegroup'slineupin1971,joininghisex-WildeFlowersbandmateRobertWyattinthelatter'snewgroup,MatchingMole,andhewassucceededbyStephenMillerofthejazz-basedbandDelivery,wholastedthroughonealbum,WaterlooLily(1972),movingtheminamuchmorebluesydirection.FrictionbetweenthemembersresultedinMiller'sdepartureandtheexitofRichardSinclair,whosubsequentlyjoinedHatfieldandtheNorth.Whenthesmokecleared,Caravanwerebackasafive-piecethatincludedGeoffRichardsonontheelectricviola,whichaddedanewandrichtimbretotheiroverallsound.Bythetimetheycuttheirnextalbum,ForGirlsWhoGrowPlumpintheNight,DaveSinclairwasbackonkeyboards.Thealbumwasasuccess,aswasitsfollow-up,Caravan&theNewSymphonia,alive1973performanceaccompaniedbyafullorchestra,releasedthefollowingyear. ThegroupwaspoisedtotryforabreakthroughinAmericaand,towardthatend,tookonMilesCopelandastheirmanager.Theyendedupona50-datetouroftheUnitedStatesandCanadawheretheresponsewaspositive.Theyalsoreleasedanewalbum,CunningStunts,thatbecametheirfirstchartLP,notonlyinEnglandbutalsoinAmerica(albeitatnumber124)andmostofEuropeaswell.Unfortunately,CunningStunts,forallofitssalessuccess,wasanendingratherthananewbeginning--thegrouppartedcompanywithDeccaRecordsafteritsrelease.TheyrecordedBlindDogatSt.Dunstan'sfortheCopeland-ownedBTMRecordsthefollowingyear,andBetterbyFarfortheAristalabeltheyearafterthat,butbythattime,theirmomentseemedtohavepassed,andtheyseemedincreasinglyoutofstepwiththeburgeoningpunkrockboom.Caravanceasedactivityintheearly'80s,followingthereleaseofTheAlbumandBacktoFront,bothrecordedforKingdomRecords,ownedbytheirformermanagerTerryKing. Theirhistoryseemedtohaveended,andthenin1990,theoriginalquartetofPyeHastings,RichardSinclair,DaveSinclair,andRichardCoughlanwerereunitedforwhatwassupposedtobeaone-offconcertforatelevisionspecial.TheperformanceandthesalesofanaccompanyinglivealbumprovedsoencouragingthatCaravancametogetheroncemoreforasecondcareer.Thegroupremainedbacktogetherintothenewmillennium(mostlyfilledoutbyex-membersofCamel,amongotherlatter-daypersonnel),withnewrecordingsemergingsporadicallyifsteadily.Equallyimportant,someoneatEnglishDecca(bythenpartofPolygram,whichbecamepartofMCA)tookituponthemselvestoraidthevaultsin1999-2000andpreparevastlyexpandedreissuesofthegroup'sentireVerve/Deccacatalogs.TheresultwastheavailabilityofmoreCaravanmusicandmoreoftheirclassic'60sand'70srecordingsthanhadbeeninprintatanytimeintheirhistory.Around2005,however,drummerRichardCoughlan'shealthissuesforcedhimtoceaseperforminglivewiththeband,andasMarkWalkersubsequentlytookoverdrumduties,Coughlanlimitedhisownroletopercussionist.CoughlandiedonDecember1,2013;hewas66yearsold. photocredit:MarcMarnie Caravan-ArtistDetails Active 1960s-2010s Formed 1968inCanterbury,Kent,England Genre Pop/Rock Styles ArtRockCanterburySceneProg-RockAlbumRockJazz-Rock GroupMembers GeoffRichardson PyeHastings RichardCoughlan RichardSinclair JanSchelhaas JohnG.Perry DekMessecar DerekAustin GeoffreyRichardson JimLeverton MarkWalker MikeWedgwood StuartEvans DaveSinclair SteveMiller SubmitCorrections