Caravan - Blind Dog At St. Dunstans (1976)

Artista: Caravan

Álbum: Blind Dog At St. Dunstans
Año: 1976
Género: Escena Canterbury
Duración: 46:19
Nacionalidad: Inglaterra

Lista de Temas:
1. Here Am I
2. Chiefs and Indians
3. A Very Smelly, Grubby Litle Oik
4. Bobbing Wide
5. Come on Back
6. Oik (reprise)
7. Jack and Jill
8. Can You Hear Me?
9. All the Way (With John Wayne's Single-Handed Liberation of Paris)

Alineación:
- Richard Coughlan / drums
- Pye Hastings / vocals, guitars
- Geoffrey Richardson / viola, flute, electric guitar, night-shift whistle
- Jan Schelhaas / keyboards
- Mike Wedgwood / bass, vocals, congas
with
Irene & Doreen Chanter / vocals (6)
Jimmy Hastings / sax (2-5-9), flute (9), clarinet (4-5)

Seguimos cono los discos de Caravan compartidos por Wan... Ahora el disco del perrito, quizás un álbum que no tendría que ser tomado muy en serio aunque tampoco sea malo.
Vamos directamente a un comentario del disco.

Es el séptimo disco de estudio y octavo de la discografía de Caravan. Fue producido por David Hitchcock. Mientras que el anterior disco se grabó para DECCA éste es para un nuevo sello: BTM Records, propiedad de Miles Copeland, quien ya les había conseguido actuaciones en Estados Unidos en 1974.
Así, el disco se edita el 23 de abril de 1976. Sus bases se grabaron en los Basing Street Studios de Londres, con pistas añadidas en el Graveny Village Hall (Kent). Las mezclas se hicieron en los estudios AIR de Londres. Y es que una de las cosas que sucede con Caravan - tal y como ha agradecido Pye Hastings - es que pudieron trabajar en muy buenos estudios. ¡De ahí que todos sus discos suenen tan bien!
El título y la portada:
El autor de la portada es David English y creo que está muy bien elegida. Aparecen varios elementos relacionados con Canterbury. En la portada, una ciudadanía de perros ha tomado las calles e incluso uno de ellos porta una pancarta que protesta porque “Los humanos están tomando el mundo”. Todos llevan bolsos, sombreros, abrigos... hay un vendedor ambulante de “humanos calientes” y para más cachondeo, el autobús de dos pisos de la portada es el K9, que en inglés se pronuncia muy parecido a canine, es decir, ¡canino!
Todo ello tiene lugar en la Old West Gate de Canterbury.
St. Dunstan era Arzobispo de Canterbury en el siglo X y era además el patrón de los ciegos. En el número 16 del fanzine del grupo Where But For Caravan Would I? se explica que el título del disco proviene de la explicación de Noel Coward a un niño a su pregunta acerca de por qué un perro estaba “encima de otro”. Coward – del que desconozco datos salvo que aparece en los agradecimientos del disco - responde que uno de los perros es ciego y que el otro le está empujando hacia St. Dunstan´s (que es una escuela para ciegos).
Pues bien... todo este humor se va a ver reflejado también en la música. Y es que como veremos, este disco es bastante divertido. happy
Caravan en 1975-1976:
En junio de 1975 Dave Sinclair anuncia que abandona el grupo, aunque aparece en los conciertos que el grupo tenía contratados previamente a esa decisión. Coincide que el uno de junio había tenido lugar el último concierto de Hatfield And The North, de manera que Dave y Richard Sinclair llevan a cabo una serie de ensayos con John Murphy a la guitarra y Les Feast a la batería. Recordemos que ya en 1971 Dave Sinclair y John Murphy habían tocado juntos después de que Sinclair abandonase el grupo por primera vez y que más de la mitad de Cunning Stunts (The Dabsong Conshirtoe y The Show Of Our Lives) se debe a ambos. Desconozco si parte de la música que ensayaron se recogió en el disco de Dave Sinclair Moon Over Man, editado por Voiceprint 16 años después de grabarse. Sinclair no da mucha información en el libreto del disco, aunque comenta que dejó el grupo por "management problems" y que todo su equipo permaneció con el grupo salvo un Hammond A 100.
Así, en julio de 1975 y prácticamente coincidiendo con la edición de Cunning Stunts se incorpora al grupo un nuevo teclista, el tercero en el grupo tras Dave Sinclair y Steve Miller. Se trata de Jan Schelhaas.
Antes de su entrada en Caravan el nuevo teclista había sido bajista en bandas locales y había tocado en grupos de soul y rock progresivo. Pasó a los teclados durante su estancia en Scaffold y en 1971 graba ya con ese instrumento el disco Albert One con la National Head Band. Posteriormente aparece en el disco de debut de Gary Moore y tras un par de años como músico de distintas sesiones le ofrecen el puesto de teclista en Caravan. Si es recordado, se debe sobre todo a su estancia en Caravan y posteriormente en Camel. Desconozco el resto de grupos y discos que se mencionan en este párrafo, de manera que invitaría desde estas líneas a comentar algo a quienes sí los conozcan para conocer mejor el perfil de este teclista. En cualquier caso veremos que como sucedió con Steve Miller, no estamos ante un teclista interesado en continuar la labor de Dave Sinclair, aunque Schelhaas y a diferencia de Miller no participa en las tareas de composición de este disco ni es clave en el proceso creativo.
Tarda poco en estrenarse con Caravan en directo, dado que en agosto el grupo emprende una gira que llega a varios países de Europa, tocando en España por segundo año consecutivo. La grabación para el Festival de Reading está disponible de manera no oficial. Pasan el resto del año tocando en Estados Unidos y, después de unos conciertos más en Europa, a finales de año empiezan a planear un nuevo trabajo, cuyas sesiones empiezan en enero de 1976. Después de muchos conciertos en marzo (algunos de ellos suspendidos tras serles sustraído el equipo) se edita en abril el nuevo disco de Caravan: Blind Dog at St. Dunstans.
Como vemos, en lugar de su foto en la contraportada aparece una caricatura de todos los músicos de pie alrededor del perro de la portada, que está tan pancho con sus gafas de sol, su pajarita y su americana sentado en un sillón. Richard Coughlan le ha servido una copa de licor y Jan Schelhaas le está dando fuego.
El disco:
Here Am I (6:19) inaugura la cara a del disco con gran celeridad, buena temperatura y muchos sonidos de sintetizadores. El tema es cantado animadamente por Pye Hastings. Hay acentos de piano eléctrico, la guitarra suele ser rítmica aunque hay un solo muy limpio de Pye Hastings. Se sigue de un solo de sintetizador a cargo del nuevo teclista, Jan Schelhaas y el tema vuelve a la entrada inicial. Se trata de un tema muy vital, sin duda (y si no, ¡atentos a la letra!) pero también hay hueco bien entrado el tema para un solo de viola por parte de Geoffrey Richardson que calma el tema de manera notable. Schelhaas hace un uso importante del piano eléctrico y el órgano suena suave y no procede a esos solos que esperaríamos de Dave Sinclair.
Todas las piezas del disco son de Pye Hastings salvo la siguiente. Chiefs And Indians (5:17) está escrita por el bajista Mike Wedgewood, que tras una breve introducción al piano procede a cantarlo él mismo – con toda la sorna del mundo, ¡todo sea dicho! - mientras le acompaña Geoffrey Richardson a la viola. Después de una parte en que Hastings añade coros el tema cambia de rumbo totalmente hacia terrenos algo más enroquerizados. El estribillo cuenta también con los coros de Pye Hastings y con su hermano Jimmy al saxo. La letra, por cierto, es totalmente irónica y ataca – según la entiendo yo - la falsedad que aparece en algunas relaciones sociales. Posteriormente hay un solo de guitarra, otro de viola y dos solos de Schelhaas, uno al piano eléctrico y otro al sintetizador. Es decir, ninguno de los dos es de órgano, que en el disco lo utilizará sobre todo como acompañamiento. Si mis oidos no me engañan hay un breve fragmento con dos bajos. Vuelta al estribillo y el tema termina con el piano y con Mike Wedgewood tal y como empezó. La estructura de este tema es un ejemplo de que con este disco hay otro paso hacia planteamientos algo más pop que en discos previos.
El resto de la cara b es un largo tema de unos trece minutos que está dividido en cuatro partes, algo que recuerda a los temas largos que aparecieron en los discos previos. A Very Smelly, Grubby Little Oik (4:13) comienza moviéndose en unos parámetros similares al tema Stuck In A Hole del disco previo. ¿Estarán empezando estos músicos a tener menos ideas? El caso es que el tema es tremendamente fresco, muy saltón y tiene buen humor por todas partes. Sea quien sea el sujeto del que habla Pye Hastings, desde luego resulta despreciable. ¡Podría ser un ejecutivo agresivo! En breve aparece un “primer plano” para Jan Schelhass que aporta un vuelo al sintetizador mientras marca el ritmo con el piano eléctrico. ¡Realmente es un buen teclista! Y es distinto a Dave Sinclair, sí. También hay hueco para Pye Hastings a la guitarra eléctrica. Así, en este disco vemos cómo los solos son acompañados por el resto de músicos dejando que la música avance, sin romper el tema en ningún momento ni influir claramente en la actitud de los otros músicos hacia la pieza. Así, el tema se cae en Bobbing Wide (2:31), que es absolutamente delicioso. Con un efecto de estudio la voz de Hastings se alarga como si fuese una capa más. Jimmy Hastings aporta un solo de flauta de lo más reposado, marca de la casa. Sin artificios. El final del tema es para él y para el piano eléctrico de Schelhaas… ¡es como cuando deja de llover! La música se anima poco a poco con Hastings entonando las primeras frases Come On Back (3:57), en algunas de cuyas partes aparecen unas congas, piano eléctrico y finalmente todo el grupo arranca de manera decidida con el estribillo del tema, que es totalmente juguetón, jovial… Pero la letra no es nada inocente… ¡Casi parece describir los efectos de la cocaína! ¿Le dará al perico el ejecutivo del inicio de la canción? Hay un solo de Jimmy Hastings al saxo y posteriormente el grupo en pleno ataca de nuevo con el estribillo confirmándonos la mayor orientación pop del disco. En una segunda vuelta Jimmy Hastings usa el clarinete entrando en la parte más festiva del tema. Sin duda es un tema que anima lo suyo y que es conducido por el propio Hastings hasta Oik (2:27), el reprise, protagonizado por las Chanter Sisters a las voces y por el propio Hastings al clarinete. ¡El tema termina de manera bastante jocosa! ¡Ya hemos comentado que es un disco bastante divertido! Pero después de las risas hay que darle la vuelta al disco...
Tras escuchar una voz que cuenta en inglés hasta tres, el bajo, la viola y la batería van dando forma a Jack And Jill (6:28). El tema tiene un aire claramente funky pero no termina de salirse del esquema que se marcan los músicos inicialmente. No obstante sí permite escuchar un solo de órgano de Jan Schelhaas. La letra es bastante cachonda, pues trata de una chica en apuros que no puede conseguir agua y promete al protagonista una cálida recompensa si le ayuda... Hacia el final el tema comienza a sonar como si el disco se hubiese rayado, hace un fundido y vuelve con gran cachondeo ¡¡y ladridos de perros!! Entre ellos aparece una voz aniñada que pregunta "What are those two doggies dog doing over there?". (es decir: ”¿Qué están haciendo esos perritos allí?”. A lo que otra voz – adulta y convencida le contesta: "Well, the doggie in front is blind and his friend behind is pushing him all the way to St Dunstan's" (”Bien... el perrito de delante es ciego y el amigo que está detrás le empuja de camino a St. Dunstan´s”. Es decir… “le lleva” a la escuela para ciegos de dicho nombre. ¡Desconocemos si la explicación convenció al rapaz! ¡Curiosamente los ladridos empiezan a repetirse con una cadencia que sirven de coros a Pye Hastings!
Can You Hear Me? (6:21) es el segundo tema de la cara y es también muy marchoso. La forma en que canta Pye Hastings es todo lo que uno espera de Hastings, pero por las mismas y aunque no es una canción de amor nada típica tampoco abre nuevo terreno a Caravan. ¡Ah! Mucho clavinet y órgano (ahora sí) por parte de Schelhaas. Al final del tema aparece un solo de viola que menciona el tema escocés. Parece The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond. ¿Alguien sabe si realmente lo es?
All The Way (With John Wayne's Single-Handed Liberation Of Paris) (8:59) es el tema que cierra el disco. Desde su inicio hasta su final es una maravilla de tema que no hay que perderse. Lo abre Jan Schelhaas a los teclados, haciendo un solo sobre cuerdas sintetizadas. Tras ello Pye Hastings canta de manera totalmente sentida una canción de amor de lo más personal. ¡Las aportaciones de Jimmy Hastings al saxo alto y la flauta así como las de Geoffrey Richardson a la viola son preciosas! ¡Y ese estribillo tan dulce, que se repite una y otra vez hasta el final del tema y termina por grabarse en la mente! Cuando parece que el tema va a terminar en fundido queda tan sólo alguien que parece alejarse silbando la melodía una y otra vez.
Así que...
... para mi gusto no es de los mejores discos de Caravan aunque probablemente sea el último disco que es bueno como tal, más allá de canciones aisladas. Tiene su momento aunque no sea ni una obra maestra ni uno de sus discos más notables. Es claramente Hastings, en cualquier caso. ¡Y es suficientemente desenfadado como para hacerte pasar un buen rato!
Para quien no conozca al grupo, éste no es quizá una buena carta de presentación. Y a quien ya los conozca y domine los discos previos siempre se le puede animar a escuchar este disco, pues no es excelso pero sí agradable.

Y vamos con comentarios en inglés, que nunca están demás:

There are still a fair bit of moments where you can see the bright past of this group but the constant personnel change is ruining this band. Yet another bassist Messakar (coming from Daryl Way's Wolf or Curved Air or both, if my memory serves me well), Jan Schelhaas (from the National Head Band but a Liverpudlian himself) is replacing the again-departed David Sinclair on KB and he does not fill up in the writing dept and this hurts group deeply.
Nevertheless, some tracks are still quite fine in their typical style, progressive enough to interest us and others are more straightforward in what would come close to AOR if it didn't sound so Caravanesque. Musically (sonically) speaking, we are really close to Cunning Stunts and there is still a very usual Caravan humour (Very Grubby little Oik) on this album. In the late 90's they re-recorded a few of these numbers, shedding a new light on them
Blind Dog just received in 2003 a remastering (as had all previous albums) but I have not yet heard it but I hope that the sound is better.

Sean Trane

Here is one of the most under-rated CARAVAN album of all time and is one of my personal favs. "Blind Dog at St. Dunstan"'s is a lesson in the prog Cantebury school of music really with some wonderful song writing. I think unfortunately the highest this album ever made it on the charts was something like 50 (UK) and never was really regarded as a classic CRAVAN album for some bizzare reason. Lineup juggles included Mike Wedgwood (CURVED AIR) on the bass/congas, Pye Hasting's wonderful guitar/voice, the lovely flute and viola of Geoff Richardson and the organ, moog, clavinet of Jan Schelhaas. Songs are quite soulful actually with some great deep song writing and complex musicianship throughout. When the band really gets groovin' their music actually reaches a semi-funk groove while holding onto a very much overriding Cantebury style. Brilliant music which really progresses...

James Unger

Blind Dogs showed maturity with more jazz overtones and is IMHO a highly underrated follow up to the ' Cunning Stunts'. These guys created strong melodies when prog music was seriously being eroded by the onslaught of punk which is why perhaps they were trying harder to be mainstream, Pearls are ' Here am I', ' Chiefs and Indians' and ' All the Way'. Pye Hastings oozes creativity on a well balanced offering of high quality songs.' Bobbing wide' is a beautiful instrumental up there with any of their earlier albums. Don't mess around and add it to your collection.

Chris S.

Just when I thought CARAVAN sunk to the bottom with "Cunning Stunts", I really felt they rebounded with "Blind Dog at St. Dunstans". The band at this point consisted of Pye Hastings, Richard Coughlin, Mike Wedgwood, Geoff Richardson, and new keyboardist Jan Schelhaas (David Sinclair left, once again pursuing other projects). The orchestrations, luckily were thrown in the trash, plus Mike Wedgwood is relegated back to CURVED AIR status by sticking mainly to just bass, and this time around only contributing one song. A lot of the whimsy has return as well.
The opening cut, "Here Am I" sounds encouraging, where I don't hear the orchestrated mush on "Cunning Stunts". Mike Wedgwood's only contribution here, "Chiefs and Indians" is luckily a more rocking number, which oddly reminds me of the ALAN PARSONS PROJECT (CARAVAN was recording for Arista at that time, just like the ALAN PARSONS PROJECT would soon be). The next song is really a suite consisting of "A Very Smelly, Grubby Little Oik", "Bobbing Wide", "Come on Back" and "Oik (Reprise)", which are stuffed with that wonderful CARAVAN whimsy I'm so glad has returned, same for "Jack and Jill", which harkens back to "For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night". "All the Way" is the only real soft rock number on this album, having an almost ALAN PARSONS PROJECT-like feel to it. This is the kind of album ALAN PARSONS should've produced (he didn't, David Hitchcock did, who produced their previous albums, as well as GENESIS' "Foxtrot"). The new keyboardist, Jan Schelhaas seems to have a more conventional prog rock approach than David Sinclair, as he tended to use Mini Moog, Hammond organ, clavinet, and Solina. Nice album, and definately their best album from the second half of the 1970s.

Ben Miler

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO ? PART TWO.
I guess that "Caravan" has listened many times to "Perpetual Change" (a great YesSong). It is really difficult to follow the "ins" and "outs" here. Countless!
Still, the opening number is rather catchy. More on the rocking side, but this is not a new feature for "Caravan". Their excellent album "For Girls" had already investigated in this direction. It is a very good start IMO. And even if "Chiefs & Indians" starts on the weak side, the upbeat instrumental part is more convincing : solid bass play for this jazzy section. This song is alternating with soft and mellow passages. Not bad after all.
Fortunately, the cement of this band (Pye Hastings) is still present. The incomparable sound of his voice is at least still very much there which confines to some track a definite "Caravan" mood even if not genuinely in accordance with their early production. "A Very Smell, Grubby Little Oik" is one example of this. And another good song from this album.
The band reverts to a very soft mood for the beautiful instrumental "Bobby Wide". A good ambient break, somewhat jazzy towards its end. Actually it sounds more as a second movement of a longer track since it is linked with the previous and the next title which gives some flavour of a suite (there is even an "Oik" reprise). The latter being somewhat too gospel oriented to my ears.
At times "Jack & Jill" sounds very melodic but too jazzy/funky to fully please me. An average song, I should say. Same mood for "Can You Hear Me". But the vocal parts are pleasantly executed and by far the major attraction here. Extremely fresh and positive. The violin is also very well played and more than welcome.
The closing number is another very decent "Caravan" song. On the softer edge, melodic and harmonious. A beautiful flute part adds so much to it. The most emotional of all the numbers from "Blind Dog". My fave.
At the end of the day, this album is a good one. No outstanding track but a solid global work, slightly too much jazz-oriented to my taste but three stars seems a fair deal.

Daniel

Blind Dog at St. Dunstans is the seventh album from Caravan and the follow up to Cunning Stunts from 1975. Blind Dog at St. Dunstans has many similarities to it´s predesecor who IMO was a very good album which unfortunately had some big flaws too. I gave Cunning Stunts a 3 star rating. There has been a major change in the lineup since Cunning Stunts as David Sinclair left Caravan for the second time. His replacement is Jan Schelhaas who after a couple of albums with Caravan would also jump ship in favour of a spot in Camel. Jan Schelhaas has a style that is a bit different from that of Dave Sinclair, but generally he fits well into Caravan´s sound.
Quality wise Blind Dog at St. Dunstans is a bit of a mixed affair. The first four songs are all very good songs and we even get some real Canterburian clarinet playing in the short instrumental Bobbing wide from Jimmy Hastings. Here am I, Chiefs and indians and A very smelly, grubby litle oik are all excellent Caravan songs just the way I like them. Soft rocking with light jazzy hints and great humour. Had the rest of the album been in this quality I would have rated the album one star more than I´m gonna give. Unfortunately the quality drops to an absolute lowpoint with Come on back and the even worse Oik (reprise). Trivial and a bit too happy pop songs and Oik (reprise) even has a gospel choir which is something I loathe. The last three songs Jack and Jill, Can you hear me? And All the way (with John Wayne's single-handed liberation of Paris) are all good but nothing more. In the lyrics department Pye seems to be in love or something as there are lots of love songs on both Cunning Stunts and Blind Dog at St. Dunstans and without knowing anything detailed about Pye Hastings life my guess is that he met his big love just around this time. I must say I think his love songs are a bit too cheesy for me and I´d much rather enjoy his more humorous song lyrics.
The musicianship is great on Blind Dog at St. Dunstans. As mentioned the big change in the lineup has affected the sound a bit but not much. There is a hideous organ playing in Can you hear me? For instance and a modern sounding synth sound in the beginning of All the way (with John Wayne's single- handed liberation of Paris) that I don´t recall David Sinclair using that much ( maybe a bit on Cunning Stunts). Geoffrey Richardson who was very dominant on Cunning Stunts is superseeded by Pye Hastings this time. Pye even plays guitar solos on the album.
The production is very good, and everything comes out as it should. Really enjoyable.
This is unmistakebly a Caravan album and it could be considered a twin album to Cunning Stunts as the sound of those two albums are very much alike. I will rate Blind Dog at St. Dunstans 3 stars which is the same as I gave Cunning Stunts. There are some really great things on Blind Dog at St. Dunstans but unfortunately the quality isn´t high all the way through the playing time. It´s an album I enjoy on occasion though and I can recommend it to fans of the Canterbury scene.

UMUR

I owe this album for quite a long time by now and it's a bit of an odd one in my collection. Well, it was for many years because it was my only Canterbury album. By now I bought their masterpiece as well and one of the Hatfield albums. So I'm getting more and more into this peculiar style of prog. How to define Canterbury ? Maybe not the official definition but how I experience it that it's symphonic prog with jazzy undertones played by English intellectuals mainly.
But since I absolutely love both symphonic prog and jazz it should fit me perfectly. Well. it certainly does as long as it can be called melodic music. As soon as it gets too profound and the musicians prefer the more challenging and out of the ordinary (eclectic) stuff I tend to call it a day. Here we have an example of how I like it best. Slightly accessible music creating a delicious atmosphere. Especially the first six songs of this album are delightful to me. Both strong rocking moments and very jazzy elements determine the style here.
Last three songs the band changes the direction in an obvious way. Jack and Jill almost sounds like a funky pop song, the violin and a short organ solo and a bit of flute make it at least a bit special but that's about it. Can you hear me ? is more or less the same story where accessibility is concerned. Less funky but also here with prominent Hammond organ and violin. Both songs are still enjoyable by the way but the jazzy aspect is suddenly gone or at least strongly diminished. The real disappointment is last track All the Way. First half of the song is ok but second half is extremely repetitive for several minutes. What a shame since it almost ruins a very good feeling I have about this release.
Let's call it 42 minutes of great music and 4 extremely poor and annoying ones. So the outcome where the rating is concerned is not difficult here. It's simply an excellent album. Maybe an album in the declining phase of their career for the real fans but it doesn't bother me that their peak days are gone at this point. This album suits me much better than their magnum opus In the Land of Grey and Pink. This is Canterbury how I like it best. Four strong stars for Blind Dog !

Henk van der Hoff

Blind dog at St. Dunstans from 1976 is Caravan's seventh studio record. It feels like an even and well produced Caravan fragment. The cover is funny with a clothed dog in the front. The people on this record is mostly the same as on "Cunning stunts" with the difference that David Sinclair has left and been replaced by Jan Schekhaas which plays keyboard on this record. As before Jimmy Hastings contributes with wind instruments. It's a long lp with some excellent moments but not those highlights heard on earlier albums.
Blind dog at St Dunstans is in no way a bad record and for Caravan fans there is a lot to recognize such as Pye Hastings' mild voice and the joyful melodies. The viola gives the music a needed deep and the band shows its poetic performances over the full album. My favourite tracks here are "Chief and Indians" and "A very smelly grubby little oik" but many more are worth listening to.
Absolutely no track is bad or boring. The album has a high and even standard. But something is still missing. This is a declining Caravan. Even if songwriting still is good it feels musically there must be some form of lack of ideas. Last record had jazzy parts and Caravan uses to go crazy in its own sophisticated ways. This record doesn't take a stand. Not a masterpiece I must still acknowledge Caravan for their ability to continue make intelligent records. I look forward to listen to "Better by far" if I happen to find it. Others have mentioned David Sinclair's keyboards are missing on "Blind dog..." and I agree. That is also a difference between the records from 75 and 76. For me it's remarkably this record has better rating than "Cunning Stunts" but in other hand that one is more poupular. Listen to this yourself!
All tracks: Chief and Indians(8/10), A very smelly grubby little Oik(8/10), Here am I(7/10), Can you tell me(7/10), Come on back(7/10), All the way(7/10), Bobbing Wide(6/10), Jack and Jill(6/10) and Oik(6/10) makes the review 3,5 which becomes 3/5 stars!

Adrian Drömmaren

The seventh studio album of Caravan is more or less author project of Pye Hastings, who wrote and sang eight of nine songs. For this reason, it is the most pop album in the history of this band. But pop music for the Caravan is nothing in the style of contemporary bands. This music is intelligent, well marked by jazz music and produced in very high quality.
Another significant element of its sound is also the departure of David Sinclair, who was replaced on keyboards by Jan Schelhaas, former member of the Gary Moore's group. Songs like Here I am, Jack and Jill, Can You Hear Me or All The Way belong to a very high quality songs, that we can easily move to the better things of Caravan's repertoire. Important parts of this album are Geoffrey Richardson's viola and guest horn section, consisting of Jimmy Hastings.

Burbuja

A real return to form. I agree with other reviewers that this album is very under-rated. The Cantebury humour is probably more apparent here than any other Caravan album.
Most tracks are strong with the album culminating with an excellent "All the Way". "Chiefs and Indians" features some great guitar solos from Pye and Geoff together with a great keyboards input for Jan.
The addition of Jummy Hastings on Flute and Sax adds to the overall quality of this album.
Definately one of their stronger albums.

Mark Roberts

This is one of my favorite prog albums. Caravan seemingly achieves the perfect medium between jazz, prog, and pop with BLIND DOG AT ST DUNSTANS. Caravan uses keyboard, moog, flute, sax, clarinet, and VIOLA! on this record and fuses these beautiful sounds with memorable melodies and vocals by PYE HASTINGS. this album is incredible and VERY UNDERRATED. some standout tracks include:
"Here Am I" - which has a powerful intro and incredible solos.
"Chiefs and Indians" - starts out slow, then bursts into a funky breakdown, one of my favorite songs, with a beautiful mellow ending.
i wont go into detail on everysong, but every song on this CD is awesome, and has a great fun pop/prog sound to it, while still putting on a technically impressive show. DONT BE FOOLED BY THE RATINGS, THIS IS ESSENTIAL CARAVAN! gotta be one of my top 5 favorite prog albums of all time. (diamond in the rough imo...HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

Blind Camel

Album of CARAVAN released in 1976 "Blind Dog At St.Dunstan". Long song was disappeared. However, it is a work of a considerably wonderful content in the point of cool pop lock where country flavor overflows. The sound of the piano and the synthesizer is fresh. Music became mellow a little, too.

braindamage

Y ya se viene más Caravan en esta desordenada presentación de sus discos.