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Biography
Infobox musical artist|name = Caravan|image =|caption = |background = group_or_band|origin = Canterbury , England|genre = Progressive rock , Canterbury scene , psychedelic rock , jazz |years_active = 1968–present (part time)|label =|website = http://www.caravan-info.co.uk caravan-info.co.uk|current_members = Pye Hastings Richard Coughlan Jim Leverton Jan Schelhaas Geoffrey Richardson (musician)|Geoffrey Richardson Doug Boyle Mark Walker |past_members = Dave Sinclair (keyboardist)|David Sinclair Richard Sinclair Mike Wedgwood John G. Perry Derek Austin Stuart Evans (musician)|Stuart Evans Steve Miller Dek Messecar Jimmy Hastings Caravan are an English rock band|band from the Canterbury area, founded by former The Wilde Flowers|Wilde Flowers members Dave Sinclair (keyboardist)|David Sinclair , Richard Sinclair , Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan .cite web |url= Allmusic|class=artist|id=p16292/biography|pure_url=yes |title= Caravan Biography |accessdate=2007-04-20 |author= |last= Elder |first= Bruce |publisher= Allmusic Caravan rose to success over a period of several years from 1968 onwards into the 1970s as part of the Canterbury scene , blending psychedelic rock and jazz to create a distinctive sound like their contemporaries Soft Machine . Caravan still remains active as a live band in the 21st century.
History
Following the dissolution of their former band, Wilde Flowers , Dave Sinclair (keyboardist)|David Sinclair , Richard Sinclair , Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan formed Caravan in 1968. The band became the first British act to sign for American record label, Verve Records|Verve , who subsequently released the band's debut LP, Caravan (Caravan album)|Caravan , later the same year. After this Verve closed their rock and pop division, causing Caravan to move to Decca Records for the release of '' If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You in 1970, from which the title track gained the band an appearance on Top Of The Pops'', and then Deram (Decca's progressive subsidiary) for 1971's In the Land of Grey and Pink . After the third album's release David Sinclair chose to leave the group, to be replaced by Steve Miller (keyboardist)|Steve Miller . The change in keyboardist caused a change in musical direction, and the band's next album, Waterloo Lily , was distinctly more jazz influenced than earlier work. This caused some unrest for followers of the groupcitation needed|date=October 2007 and the band disintegrated soon after Waterloo Lily 's release, leaving just Hastings and Coughlan. The duo recruited viola player Geoffrey Richardson, bassist Stu Evans and keyboardist Derek Austin and toured extensively. This line-up did not make any recordings before Evans was replaced by John Perry and Dave Sinclair rejoined the group in 1973. The resulting album For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night was well-received critically. Perry left soon afterwards and was replaced by Mike Wedgwood .
Despite considerable success in Continental Europe – particularly in France, the Netherlands and Germany where they played some of those countries' most prestigious venues and enjoyed healthy record sales – the band's chart performance in the UK and US was minimal, charting one album, Cunning Stunts at US#124. In the UK, Cunning Stunts (#50)cite web |url= http://www.chartstats.com/albuminfo.php? id=3659 |title=Chart Stats - Caravan - Cunning Stunts |publisher=www.chartstats.com |accessdate=2009-11-04 and ''Blind Dog at St. Dunstan's'' (#53)cite web |url= http://www.chartstats.com/albuminfo.php? id=3835 |title=Chart Stats - Caravan - Blind Dog At St Dunstan's |publisher=www.chartstats.com |accessdate=2009-11-04 were their only hits. A loyal following has ensured steady back catalogue sales and a lengthy live career for the band,citation needed|date=October 2007 who continue to this day featuring founder members Pye Hastings (guitar, vocals, songwriting) and Richard Coughlan (drums). Caravan's best-known recording is the 1971 set In the Land of Grey and Pink , their second album for Decca. Thirty years after its release this album finally received a platinum disc for sales of over one million units. citation needed|date=October 2007 The album "showed off a keen melodic sense, a subtly droll wit, and a seductively smooth mix of hard rock, folk, classical, and jazz, intermingled with elements of Tolkienesque|Tolkien-esque fantasy". A fair summary of Caravan's late sixties to late seventies work. Prolific and inventive, the band appeared to have too many ideas to produce direct, radio-friendly singles. 21st century reissues of their albums featured lengthy tracks, previously unreleased, demonstrating the huge amount of releasable material that had failed to make their 1970s albums.
The band were largely dormant in the eighties until a 1990 reunion, planned as a one-off for television, reinvigorated their career. Latterly they have also achieved steady sales and a fan following with the support of the more eclectic corners of radio, like BBC Six Music's "Freak Zone" and the growing re-emergence of progressive rock .citation needed|date=October 2007 After performing at NEARFest in 2002, they released The Unauthorized Breakfast Item album in 2003.
In 2010, Pye Hastings announced that the band had resumed activity in anticipation of a one-off concert recording at Metropolis Studios for ITV, which took place in December 2010. New material was written for a debut performance and the band was joined by Mark Walker on drums and percussion. The DVD of this gig was released in May 2011 and the recording will also be shown on ITV as part of the Legends series
Discography
Studio albums
Year
Album details
Guitar, Vocals
Keyboards
Bass
Guitar, Viola, Violin
Drums
Flute, Alto sax
Guitar
1968
Caravan
Pye Hastings
Dave Sinclair
Richard Sinclair
rowspan="4"
Richard Coughlan
Jimmy Hastings
1970
'' If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You
The World Is Yours (Caravan album)|The World Is Yours (2010)
BBC Sessions
Green Bottles for Marjorie: The Lost BBC Sessions (2002)
References
Reflist
External links
Spoken Wikipedia|Caravan (band).ogg|2007-04-20
cite web
|url= http://www.caravan-info.co.uk/news/ |title=Caravan Information Service |publisher=www.caravan-info.co.uk |accessdate=2009-05-16 |last= |first=
cite web
|url= http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/music/artist/albums/0,,411838,00.html |title=Caravan Albums and Discography - ARTISTdirect Music |publisher=www.artistdirect.com |accessdate=2009-04-15 |last= |first=
cite web
|url=Allmusic|class=artist|id=p16292/discography|pure_url=yes|title=allmusic ((( Caravan > Discography > Main Albums ))) |publisher=www.allmusic.com |accessdate=2009-04-15 |last= |first=
cite web
|url= http://www.discogs.com/artist/Caravan |title=Caravan Discography at Discogs |publisher=www.discogs.com |accessdate=2009-05-16 |last= |first=
cite web
|url= http://www.prog-sphere.com/2010/07/15/pye-hastings/ |title=2010 interview with Pye Hastings on Prog Sphere |publisher=www.prog-sphere.com |accessdate=2010-07-17 |last= |first=
Caravan DEFAULTSORT:Caravan Category:Canterbury scene Category:English progressive rock groups
