Search - Caravan :: Canterbury Tales: Best of 1968-1975

Irreplaceable magic from the early 70s!

Tracy Deaton | Douglas, Wyo. | 09/18/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"1 of the VERY best -- & least recognized -- art-rock bands of all-time, Caravan had beautiful musical interplay, gorgeous vocals, & a great sense of humor. Keyboardist David Sinclair provided 1-of-a-kind early-70s organ sounds, & the vocals by guitarist Pye Hastings & bassist Richard Sinclair (& later John Perry) weaved 2gether beautifully. This 2-CD set captures many (but not ALL) of their high-points, & is WELL WORTH the price. In fact, they coulda made it a 4-CD set....
5-star-worthy tracks include "Place of My Own," "And I Wish I was Stoned," "Aristocracy," "Golf Girl," "Nine Feet Underground" (especially the section called "Dissociation"), "The World is Yours," "The Love in Your Eye," "Songs and Signs," "Memory Lain/Hugh/Headloss," "The Dog, the Dog, He's at it Again," "Be All Right," "A Hunting We Shall Go," the live-concert version of "For Richard," & "Virgin on the Ridiculous." Several other tracks R just SLIGHTLY less than perfect, & it all SOUNDS great, of course.
(2 bad they left out "The Dabsong Conshirtoe," "With an Ear to the Ground You Can Make It," & "Surprise, Surprise," & U don't really need the original studio version of "For Richard" that's included here, I guess 4 contrast -- it sounds like a blueprint 4 the later live version.)
U should also check out Caravan's 1973 album FOR GIRLS WHO GROW PLUMP IN THE NIGHT (worth 4 stars EZ, tho U get more than 1/2 of it in this set), & when the booklet inside this package downplays some of their later work, don't Blieve it -- their 1976 album BLIND DOG AT ST. DUNSTANS is worth 4 stars, 2.
Fans of Camel, Happy the Man, Hatfield and the North, Soft Machine, National Health & NE early 70s British strangeness should really Njoy these guys, 2. If U've never heard them, & U Njoy off-the-wall musical brilliance, I can hardly Dscribe what U're missing -- check em out!"