Artista: Caravan
Álbum: Caravan
Año: 1968
Género: Psicodelia / Protoprog / Canterbury Scene
Duración: 1:13:55
Nacionalidad: Inglaterra
Año: 1968
Género: Psicodelia / Protoprog / Canterbury Scene
Duración: 1:13:55
Nacionalidad: Inglaterra
Lista de Temas:
Versión monaural
1. Place of My Own
2. Ride
3. Policeman
4. Love Song with Flute
5. Cecil Rons
6. Magic Man
7. Grandma's Lawn
8. Where But for Caravan Would I?
Versión estéreo
9. Place of My Own
10. Ride
11. Policeman
12. Love Song with Flute
13. Cecil Rons
14. Magic Man
15. Grandma's Lawn
16. Where But for Caravan Would I?
Bonus track
17. Hello Hello
Versión monaural
1. Place of My Own
2. Ride
3. Policeman
4. Love Song with Flute
5. Cecil Rons
6. Magic Man
7. Grandma's Lawn
8. Where But for Caravan Would I?
Versión estéreo
9. Place of My Own
10. Ride
11. Policeman
12. Love Song with Flute
13. Cecil Rons
14. Magic Man
15. Grandma's Lawn
16. Where But for Caravan Would I?
Bonus track
17. Hello Hello
Alineación:
- Richard Sinclair / Bajo, guitarra, voz
- Pye Hastings / Guitarra, bajo, voz
- David Sinclair / Órgano, voz
- Richard Coughlan / Batería
Más Jimmy Hastings, flauta en "Love Song with Flute"
- Richard Sinclair / Bajo, guitarra, voz
- Pye Hastings / Guitarra, bajo, voz
- David Sinclair / Órgano, voz
- Richard Coughlan / Batería
Más Jimmy Hastings, flauta en "Love Song with Flute"
Este
disco de Caravan, homónimo, grabado y lanzado en octubre de 1968
(otras fuentes dan comno fecha de lanzamiento enero de 69), es el
primero de su discografía y presenta a una banda en pleno proceso de
construcción de un sonido y una idea musical que los haría únicos
dentro del rock progresivo de los 70. Comparto con Moe la idea de que
“Canterbury scene” no es un género o subgénero propiamente
dicho, sobre todo porque, como puede verse en Caravan,
las semejanzas con otros sonidos que despegaban en la época y no
eran de Canterbury, son notables, especialmente si vemos este disco a
la luz de The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
de Pink Floyd, aparecido poco más de un año antes.
La
versión que comento es una remasterización de 2002 que incluye las
dos versiones lanzadas en 68, una monaural y la otra estereofónica,
con un bonus track: la versión sencilla de “Hello Hello”, tema
de su segunda producción If I Could Do It All Over Again,
I'd Do It All Over You.
Entonces, podremos escuchar aquí ambas mezclas, poniendo atención
en que en esa época en Inglaterra todavía estaba más difundida la
tecnología mono y por tanto los ingenieros le ponían más cuidado
al balanceo de esa mezcla que a la estereofónica, que aún no se
convertía en estándar. Las versiones estereo nos permiten ver con
más claridad como se construye la música y probablemente se acercan
más al sonido en vivo de la banda, pero las monaurales tienen un
encanto particular que nos deja viajar hasta esos años, ¡hace casi
50! de experimentación y búsqueda. La calidad de grabación parece
más bien pastosa, pero es algo que se debe a las decisiones del
productor que no dejó a los miembros de la banda asistir a las
sesiones de mezcla. La banda en general destaca por su manejo coral y
la presencia esencial de los teclados, específicamente el órgano
tipo Hammond, a veces más colchonero, a veces con más ataque.
El
Caravan de 1968 es una banda que recién se está desprendiendo de su
origen común con Soft Machine: los Wilde Flowers. La característica
que los diferencia es que desde su origen R&B y soul, Caravan se
decanta poco a poco hacia la experimentación progresiva, mientras
Soft Machine y sus extensiones (Gong, Wyatt solo) se van más por el
jazz rock y en ciertos momentos el noise.
El primer tema,
“Place of my own” fue el single del disco y fue también el que
les abrió las puertas para una mayor difusión, promocionado incluso
por el mítico DJ John Peel. Se trata de una canción con influencia
psicodelia que podríamos calificar de típica de la época. El solo
de teclado (órgano) sobre una guitarra que casi podría ser funk es
una de las maravillas de esa década loca. La estridencia se
desdibuja en una guitarra suave, punteada que da lugar al regreso del
coro, uno de los factores comunes del disco... y de la banda. “Ride”
fue lado B del sencillo en Europa continental; arranca con un ritmo
sobre tambores al que se suma una guitarra muy suavecita y la voz;
poco a poco va apareciendo el bajo haciendo líneas melódicas que le
hacen coro a la voz, hasta que aparece la instrumentación completa,
guitarra con wah y lucimiento de platillos en la batería para una
rica improvisación psicodélica. La letra habla de cómo podría ser
el mundo si pudiéramos ponernos en el lugar del otro. El foco está
sobre lo que sucede en la mente, no en la “realidad”,
¡subjetivismo al máximo! Termina en fade out pero nos quedamos como
esperando que esa última improvisación siga ad infinitum.
“Policeman”
es un blues modificado con juegos armónicos extra-blues. Tiene un
tema social cercano a lo hippy: el cuestionamiento de la figura de
autoridad, y recuerda ciertas cosas de los psicodélicos de San
Francisco, como Jefferson Airplane con su “Law Man” (pero eso es
del 71). “Love Song with Flute” tiene ritmos y armonías que
recuerdan el bossa nova; la improvisación a la flauta es del único
invitado de la placa, Jimmy Hastings (hermano de Pye), y cuenta con
el apoyo melódico-armónico del teclado, que se fuga en menor
después de juguetear con mayores. “Cecil Rons” es más
psicodélica, en menores y con variaciones armónicas semitonales, un
coro claramente psico que desemboca en una tonalidad mayor tipo
finale. El tema es de encanto por la naturaleza y el trabajo
agrícola. El final de improvisación del órgano sobre bajo continuo
es muy espacial y recuerda al Pink Floyd de la época. “Magic Man”
podría ser un himno hippie a la romántica libertad y el apreciado
ocio de aquella generación. La estructura es la de una balada-vals.
El hombre mágico viaja de la copa de un árbol al mar y al cielo sin
escalas: eso era posible en 1968-1969. “Soy un hombre mágico sobre
el mar en el cielo” ¡nomás! “Grandma's Lawn” es psicodelia al
máximo: este tema tiene visiones ácidas que enuncian todo lo que
era posible imaginar en una época en que la imaginación pareció
perder todo límite y cruzar todas las fronteras. Las partes
instrumentales breves entre estrofas dejan ver el uso de teclados que
más tarde caracterizará los mejores discos de Caravan así como
algunos de Camel, pariente muy cercano de la movida Canterbury.
“Where But for
Caravan Would I?” es el tema más extenso del disco y los créditos
se dan, además de a los cuatro miembros de la banda, al Soft Machine
Brian Hopper, autor de la idea original cuando todos rolaban con
Wilde Flowers. Comienza en una suavidad maravillosa que hace gala de
la mesura instrumental y arreglística que caracteriza a Caravan,
sobre una estructura de vals. ¡Sí, ya estaba ahí desde el 68! Pero
pronto estalla en experimentación rítmica e instrumental con una
sección que descompone el 3/4 en 11/8 y que convierte al tema en el
más importante del disco, y anuncia claramente lo que vendrá
después, llegando a su culminación en In the Land of Grey and
Pink. Caravan
se echa a volar y nos lleva en su alucinante viaje: “We'll take our
time flying, we'll take our time / We need your mind to be flying, we
need your mind...”
“Hello
Hello” es un bonus track que corresponde a If I Could Do
It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You,
fue el lado B del single de ese disco, pero la disquera ha incluido
aquí la versión single
porque la cinta original
apareció mientras se preparaba este remaster de 2002. Es un tema
extraordinario en 7/8 que definitivamente no tiene el componente
psicodélico de Caravan,
ni los efectos de eco que el productor Tony Cox introdujo en la
producción y que causaron que los integrantes de la banda se
extrañaran por el sonido porque no era así como sonaban en vivo,
pero quizás uno de los mejores del disco, demasiado
breve por desgracia.
El
disco, a diferencia de los debuts de otras bandas de los setenta
(pienso en From Genesis to Revelation,
por ejemplo) tiene ya un grado de madurez que anuncia lo que vendrá
después. Es la expresión perfecta del momento en que la psicodelia
inglesa decide dar el paso más allá, hacia la experimentación
sinfónica. Un gran disco, sin lugar a dudas, que aglutina a un
conjunto de músicos a los que no les faltaba experiencia pues ya
tenían kilómetros recorridos con Wilde Flowers y comparten el
entorno del que nace Soft Machine. ¡Y
siguen activos! Veo en su página en internet que está programado un
concierto de Caravan el próximo 20 de noviembre, día de la
Revolución Mexicana, en el mismísimo Teatro Blanquita de la ciudad
de México, ¡cómo quisiera estar ahí!
Caravan is the debut album by the British Canterbury scene
progressive rock band Caravan. It was released in January 1969.
The album was the result of the band borrowing equipment from Soft
Machine (who were touring the U.S. at the time with Jimi Hendrix and
using his backline), producing “an unusually mature musical
statement”.[Buckley, Peter J. (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock.
Rough Guides Limited. p. 178] The album was released in stereo and
mono, in both the United States and United Kingdom, but failed to
reach chart hit status.
Caravan was the first UK act
to sign with American label MGM/ Verve and their debut album,
entitled ‘Caravan’ was released late in 1968. It was favourably
received by the critics and the debut single, Place of My Own was
described as having a ‘gripping compulsion’ with ‘scintillating
organ work’. John Peel played the album regularly on his radio show
‘Top Gear’.
For their first album, Caravan was
surprisingly strong. While steeped in the same British psychedelia
that informed bands such as Love Children, Pink Floyd, and Tomorrow,
Caravan relates a freedom of spirit and mischief along the lines of
Giles, Giles & Fripp or Gong. The band's roots can be traced to a
British blue-eyed soul combo called the Wilde Flowers. Among the
luminaries to have passed through this Caravan precursor were Robert
Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, and Hugh Hopper and Brian Hopper (pre-Soft
Machine, naturally). By the spring of 1968, Caravan had settled
nicely into a quartet consisting of Pye Hastings
(guitar/bass/vocals), Richard Coughlan (drums), David Sinclair
(organ/vocals), and Richard Sinclair (bass/guitar/vocals). Inspired
by the notoriety and acclaim that Soft Machine encountered during the
burgeoning days of London's underground scene, Caravan began a
residency at the Middle Earth club. Additionally, the band was
shopping a homemade demo tape around to local record companies.
Before long, entrepreneur Tony Cox worked out a deal for them to
record on the newly founded U.K. division of the Verve label.
Caravan's self-titled debut is equally as inventive and infinitely
more subtle than the Soft Machine's Volume One or Pink Floyd's Piper
at the Gates of Dawn. Two of the album's best tunes -- the ethereal
"Place of My Own" was backed with the dreamlike "Magic
Man" -- were issued as the band's first single. Those tracks
accurately exemplify the subtle complexities that Caravan would hone
to great effect on later recordings. The same can also be said for
album cuts such as "Love Song With Flute" and the extended
nine-minute "Where but for Caravan Would I?" The latter
title aptly exemplifies Caravan's decidedly less than turgid attitude
toward themselves -- a refreshing contrast from the temperamental and
serious Art School approach adopted by Pink Floyd and the Moody
Blues. The mono and stereo mixes of the long-player are striking in
their disparities. The stereo mix is at times opaque and virtually
swallows the vocals most specifically on the tracks "Policeman"
and "Grandma's Lawn." Otherwise, there are numerous
additional nuances that discern the two. The single version of "Hello
Hello" is also included as a bonus. This track was the follow-up
45 to "Place of My Own" and would appear in a slightly
different form on their next LP, If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd
Do It All Over You. Potential consumers should note that the sound
quality on this package is indescribably better than the HTD Records
1996 CD pressing.
Caravan was originally formed in early 1968 from the ashes of the
legendary Wilde Flowers. All four members of Caravan were, at one
time or another, in that band. "Caravan" was however a big
change in terms of musical direction. The earliest Caravan
composition was a number entitled "Where But For Caravan Would
I", co-written with Brian Hopper, which was 10-minutes long and
had several sections in it. It appeared on the band's eponymous first
album, the other tracks of which were lighter poppy songs with a
little psychedelic touch.
This debut album is a big step forward from the music of the Wilde
Flowers, of which all four founders of Caravan had been members over
the years. While most of the songs have psychedelic flavour that may
sound dated now, all the elements that would later typify the classic
Caravan sounds are present : the contrasted voices of Pye Hastings
and Richard Sinclair, the predominating sound of David Sinclair's
organ, the jazzy chords and distinctively British melodies.
Highlights include "A Place Of My Own", Hastings'
first-ever composition, "Love Song With Flute", which for
the first time features Pye's brother Jimmy on flute, and most of all
"Where But For Caravan Would I", an epic composition
co-written by ex-Wilde Flowers leader Brian Hopper. This song
predates the progressive direction of the next two albums, with a
rhythmic sophistication and a band interplay absent from the rest of
the album.
Las siguientes
opiniones son de Progarchives
This is a prime example of the links between psychedelic rock and its
progressive younger brother. All of the qualities present in the
following albums are present and this is no bias towards what is one
of my favorite artists. A Place Of My Own and Love Song With A Flute
and Where But For A Caravan are typical delightful numbers but listen
to Grandma's Lawn or Cecil Rons to realize of progressive this
Psychadelia is. The sound is quite different than the next albums but
then again this is a different label and producer.
Sean Trane
I have always held a certain spot in my heart for the music of
CARAVAN and none come so finer as their debut album. Opening
Cantebury classic "Place Of My Own" remains to this day one
of my most beloved tracks. Tragically CARAVAN's first album is far
too oft overlooked in their discography and in most cases forgotten
completely. Songs on this album carry an early Cantebury-psychedelic
edge to them with some great organ sweeps , guitar, bass and
drumming. Richard Sinclair's vocals are choice with some great vocal
harmonies and pure sounding voice.
Loserboy
Amazingly mature debut from CARAVAN
is among the best British psychedelia albums of the era. Sound mixing
is bad, with that "primitive" stereo effect division
between vocals and instruments, but there is a hell of a good songs
on it! Outstanding numbers are "Place of My Own", "Love
Song with Flute", "Cecil Rons" and a proto-epic suite
"Where But For Caravan Would I Be". There is some wonderful
organ playing and one would wonder how David Sinclair is not often
mentioned as a great organist. Now, this may sound as sacrilege, but
this album is much better and more interesting for my ears than the
highly overrated "In the Land of Grey and Pink", despite
its weak production. A gem of early Canterbury style!
Seyo
Don't expect anything resembling the
classic Caravan sound on this, their debut album. What you get here
is much more closely related to Pink Floyd's debut, the legendary
"The Piper at the Gates of Dawn", than to the monumental
second and third albums of the Canterbury band. This is quite evident
in the remastered version, which includes the delightful "Hello
Hello" from "If I Could Do It All Over Again..." - the
differences in style and sound between the latter and the rest of the
album couldn't be more obvious. That said, however, Caravan's debut
is much more interesting that it is usually credited for. Their take
on psychedelia is highly original and entertaining, and the members
of the band, in spite of their youth, are more than capable as
musicians and songwriters.
The album's opener, "A Place of
My Own", released as a single, attracted quite a lot of
attention at the time. It's an endearing ditty, sung by Pye Hastings
in a slightly more uncertain voice than usual, with great organ work
by Dave Sinclair. The keyboardist is possibly the real star of this
album, as his trademark organ makes the overall sound fuller and
richer, as well as adding complexity and interest to the
compositions. His contribution to the closing track, the 9-minute
"Where but for Caravan Would I?", the album's most
convincing stab at fully-fledged prog, is outstanding, the sinuous
sound of the organ weaving in and out of the vocal interludes sung by
Pye Hastings and Richard Sinclair. The latter's presence is more
restrained than in the two following albums, which of course is a
pity. He sings lead in the Beatles-flavoured "Policeman"
and the distinctly Syd Barrett-ish "Grandma's Lawn", backed
up by cousin Dave's haunting organ - a slightly disturbing song with
weird lyrics, further enhanced by Richard's smooth delivery. His best
vocal performance, though, comes towards the end of "Where but
for Caravan Would I", where his voice achieves that velvety tone
that I find so irresistible.
The sinister, almost discordant
"Cecil Rons", another track haunted by the ghost of Syd
Barrett (both vocalists, especially the usually soft, mild-mannered
Hastings, are utterly unrecognizable!) is probably the most
uncharacteristic of the band's output. On the other hand, the
romantic "Love Song with Flute" (the latter superbly played
by Jimmy Hastings) is almost classic Caravan, beautifully sung by Pye
- possibly his best vocal performance on the album.
In spite of the very poor production
and sound quality, "Caravan" shows quite clearly that the
band had potential in spades. Things could only get better, as they
did. The follow-up album was a rather giant leap forward in terms of
songwriting and overall sound; but this endearingly homespun album,
for all its shortcomings, deserves recognition of its own for being a
gem of late '60s psychedelic prog. You could do much worse than add
this to your collection.
Raff
There's something about the
innocence and naive beauty of this album that tells me it couldn't
have been made in any other time period. This is the 60's in Britain
put into the form of a collection of poppy, mildly jazzy, psychedelic
songs. Whenever I listen to it, I feel plain happy. I feel like I can
do anything, I want to go be friends with the Policeman, lay in
Grandmas Lawn and stare at the sky, make love in the park, or just
sit around and waste my time looking at the beauty of the world. Few
albums make me feel exactly like this.
All of the songs are about simple
subject matter and are not very ambitious. 'A Place of My Own' is
about getting a new flat. 'Policeman' is exactly what it's title
states. 'Ride' is about finding a place in your mind where your
comfortable. The song of the band may not be groundbreaking but it's
definitely original. The focus in on the funky wah organ, with
undistorted jazzy guitar, walking bass-lines, and powerful rhythmic
drumming. There are melodies everywhere and Pye Hastings voice is so
innocent and full of glee that you'll want to sing along with him the
whole time through.
'Where but for Caravan would I'
probably sounds the most like the Caravan of the future which is
jazzier and more complex. The instrumental sections of the song
definitely forecast the more complex elements of the bands music in
the future. There's also some dissonance features in the song, giving
it a darker edge in some parts. Another thing to note is that every
song on the album features an incredible organ solo. David Sinclair
is definetly master at his instrument.
Sure the music on here is outdated,
but that's part of what makes it great. It's a celebration of the
simplicity of life and all the joys to be seen. It's not a
masterpiece. It's not perfect. The production is far from perfect.
But all of that thrown aside this album makes me feel great.
Therefore it's a great album.
The Wizard
As with the remastered version of
Hawkwind's first album, the remastered CD of Caravan's first album
includes the whole album twice on a single disc. Both the mono and
stereo mixes are included in full, the actual original recordings
used for both being identical.
Formed in the mid-late 1960's from
the Canterbury scene band The Wilde Flowers (which also included
Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers in its ever changing line up), Caravan
recorded this self titled debut in late 1968. Most of the songs here
had been rehearsed and performed live by the band for some time
before they got around to recording them and indeed some of them had
been instrumental in helping to secure a recording contract. As was
customary at the time, the band were forbidden from being involved in
the mixing of the album, which focused primarily on the more
lucrative mono version, (since stereo was still in its infancy at the
time, and stereo albums were actually dearer!). The band were not
entirely satisfied with the results, as they felt producer Tony Cox
had not captured their sound well.
The album starts with a song which
even today is a Caravan favourite. The balance between the band's
whimsical interludes, strong melodies and progressive inclinations is
captured perfectly in "Place of my own". The distinctive
keyboards of David Sinclair, which for many represent the band's
signature, are a feature of this wonderful song. The track was
subsequently released as the band's first single.
In general, while many of the tracks
here fall short of the standards attained by Caravan on subsequent
albums, especially those recorded during their period with Decca
records, they show the promising glimpses of what was to come. Tracks
such as "Policeman" and "Cecil Rons" are rooted
in the psychedelic sounds of the period, with strong nods to the
Barrett era Pink Floyd and the likes. Tony Cox's production
emphasises such leanings more strongly than perhaps was necessary.
"Love song with flute" is
interesting, as it features future band member Jimmy Hastings playing
the wonderful flute solo. The song is a soft reflective piece with
decent vocal harmonies, which develops into a faster more pop
orientated number. The latter part of this track indicates far more
clearly how the band would mature.
The focus of most of the attention
for prog fans is the 9 minute closing song "Where but for
Caravan would I?". This mid-paced organ based number may
pre-date many of the Caravan classics, but it is an early product of
the same mould. In the context of the greats such as "For
Richard" and "Nine foot underground" it is a little
clumsy and naive, but when we bear in mind that this is a 1968
recording, it shines brightly.
In all, a fine first album from
Caravan. It may sound a bit of its time now, largely due to the
production; but the quality of the songs, the proficiency of the
performances, and most of all the promise of what is to come, is
clear for all to see.
In general, the sound quality of the
mono recordings, even in remastered form, is at best adequate. The
stereo mixes have brushed up far better though, and are the ones to
head for on the 2002 CD. That release includes a single version of
"Hello hello", a track on the following "If I could do
it all over again.." album. It was originally intended that the
single version be added to the remaster of that album, but the master
tapes were only located after it had been released. As the
remastering of the debut album was carried out later, the opportunity
was taken to include it here.
Easy Livin
Este comentario ha sido eliminado por el autor.
ResponderEliminarGracias CN por darme una manito con esto!
Eliminar"Ride", una melodía tremendamente hermosa...
ResponderEliminarEl link para bajar? está en flac?
ResponderEliminar