Continuing on with my retrospective of Caravan. This is the album where they put it all together and is arguably their most consistent work. For my tastes, it's only surpassed by their next release. David Sinclair's fuzz organ comes to the fore, and the melodic quotient is very high. Even on tracks that seem to go nowhere like 'Hello, Hello' and the title track, there are mid section breaks that raise it 2 points. Guitarist Pye Hastings brings the high register vocals and bassist Richard Sinclair provides the oh-so-British accented baritone. Highlights include 'As I Feel I Die', 'With an Ear to the Ground You Can Make It' (suite), and the monster opus 'For Richard'. This latter track was the signature song on If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You, and was played live for many years to come, oftentimes as their grand finale. If for some reason Caravan has evaded you to date, then I can certainly recommend this album as a starting point. Or the next one of course...
Ownership: LP: 1970 Decca. I had been in the market for an original for many years, and I finally secured one. That copy, however, was slightly later and wasn't in Discogs at the time, so I added it (and subsequently sold it). Shortly thereafter I secured a true original (2015 online purchase), though Discogs doesn't call it the first pressing. Obviously this album sold quite well back home to have so many indigenous pressings. The album was also issued in the States on London with at least 3 different pressings, but it remains very scarce here too.
LP: 198? Decca. Even though I had discovered Caravan in college, this title remained elusive throughout my tenure there. One year later, while visiting my old college roommate in Houston, I visited the Record Exchange (at the time, Houston's best used store), and found this copy (1988). It's obviously a late 70s or early 80's pressing, but it's still not in Discogs. Mine has a gold PSI stamp on the back. I'm pretty sure it's factory, but I'm hesitant to add just in case it's not. I've seen the design before. In any case, there's an entry that is exactly the same otherwise, so I just registered it there. Given this was my first copy (and only copy for many years) - and how I found it - makes it very special to me.
CD: 2001 Decca (Japan). As with the others in this series, it's exactly the same as the European release but with the papersleeve cover. It's also part of the Disk Union box set. Features fantastic historical liner notes and 4 relevant bonus tracks, including the unreleased 'A Day in the Life of Maurice Haylett'. Also 3 earlier versions of songs that were on the album, but unique enough to warrant repeat listens.
At this point, I don't see a scenario where I wouldn't keep all 3 copies.
8//88; 2001; 7/8/22 (new entry)
No comments:
Post a Comment