Caravan is the debut album by the British progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 band Caravan

Caravan (band)

Caravan are an English band from the Canterbury area, founded by former Wilde Flowers members David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan. Caravan rose to success over a period of several years from 1968 onwards into the 1970s as part of the Canterbury scene, blending...

. It was released in 1968.

History

The album was the result of the band borrowing equipment while on tour with Soft Machine

Soft Machine

Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre...

, producing "an unusually mature musical statement". The album was released in stereo and mono, in both the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, but failed to reach chart hit status.

Side one

1. "Place of my Own" – 4:00
2. "Ride" – 3:41
3. "Policeman" – 2:45
4. "Love Song with Flute" – 4:09
5. "Cecil Rons" – 4:05

Side two

1. "Magic Man" – 4:01
2. "Grandma's Lawn" – 3:23
3. "Where but for Caravan Would I?" (Sinclair, Hastings, Coughlan, Sinclair, Hopper
   Brian Hopper
   Brian Hopper is a British guitarist and saxophonist, and older brother of the late bassist Hugh Hopper. With Hugh, he was a member in the early Canterbury scene band Wilde Flowers. He also played saxophone on Soft Machine's album Volume Two...
   
   ) – 9:01

Re-release

The 2002 CD re-release included two full versions of the album, in its original mono

Monaural

Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...

 and in stereo

STEREO

STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...

, and an extra track "Hello Hello" (3:12) which had originally been issued as a single.

Personnel

• Pye Hastings
  Pye Hastings
  Julian Frederick Gordon 'Pye' Hastings is a British musician. He is the guitarist, vocalist and leader of the Canterbury scene band Caravan and brother of Jimmy Hastings.-References:...
  
   – guitar, vocals, bass
• Dave Sinclair
  Dave Sinclair
  David Sinclair , is a keyboardist who has been part of the progressive rock Canterbury Scene...
  
   – organ, piano
• Richard Sinclair
  Richard Sinclair
  Richard S. Sinclair is a progressive rock bassist, guitarist and vocalist who has been a member of several bands of the Canterbury scene.-Biography:...
  
   – bass, vocals, guitar
• Richard Coughlan
  Richard Coughlan
  Richard Coughlan is an English musician, best known as the drummer and percussionist of the Canterbury scene progressive rock band Caravan. He was one of the founding members of Caravan in 1968 and has remained with the band for its over 35-year existence...
  
   – drums
• Jimmy Hastings
  Jimmy Hastings
  James Brian Gordon 'Jimmy' Hastings , is a British professional musician associated with the Canterbury scene....
  
  - flute on "Love Song With Flute"
• Tony Cox - production
• Keith Davis of DBWX - sleeve design

External links

• Official website
• Caravan at discogs.com