tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post9102594665443611302..comments2024-03-02T07:40:22.786+03:00Comments on Only Solitaire blog: Caravan: In The Land Of Grey And PinkUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-34137401571452893172017-03-10T21:41:41.090+03:002017-03-10T21:41:41.090+03:00Remaining halfway between pop and prog actually ca...Remaining halfway between pop and prog actually can work to the band's advantage. I wasn't a prog fan in any way but fell in love with this record instantly and it encouraged me to explore some other stuff, with mixed results. I absolutely adore some records by Jethro Tull, King Crimson and Can while Genesis and Yes do absolutely nothing to me. I am still not 100 % sure if i can call myself a prog lover or not. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-9837490861633278912017-03-10T11:44:57.033+03:002017-03-10T11:44:57.033+03:00For many people 'Grey & Pink' is the d...For many people 'Grey & Pink' is the definitive Caravan album, mixing short pop songs with an often slightly laborious extended 'suite' that mixed song fragments and extended instrumental passages. <br /><br />Significantly though, these instrumental sections avoided endless guitar solos in favour of quite tightly arranged sections that often utilised jazz-rock textures and skilled session players. <br /><br />Caravan settled into a comfortable groove after 'Grey & Pink' was released, touring in Europe and once - hilariously - on a package tour to Australia, in company with Slade & Status Quo. <br /><br />However, they never lost their reputation as a 'student band' and whilst they chugged along in the middle lane of the European Rock Autostrada, other bands and artistes - Genesis, David Bowie and Deep Purple are just three who had hitherto supported Caravan on their University tours - now went flying past them in the fast lane, with huge American tours and massive success in the album charts. <br /><br />Perhaps they were also with the wrong record company - Decca were notoriously 'old school' with their promotional strategies; perhaps Caravan on Vertigo or Island or CBS would have been pushed harder and achieved more. We'll never know...<br /><br />Both Sinclairs left shortly after this album came out - Richard to join Robert Wyatt and Phil Miller in Matching Mole and though Richard lasted long enough to record 'Waterloo Lily', he then left with David's replacement, Steve Miller, to work on a project that eventually became Hatfield & the North. <br /><br />None of these 'Canterbury' projects ever really became mainstream successes but the likes of Caravan, the Hatfields, Soft Machine, Egg and Gong have had an influence that far outweighs the commercial success that they achieved in their lifetimes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-59667247747267178482017-03-10T00:54:52.058+03:002017-03-10T00:54:52.058+03:00The second side of ILGP reminds me of Can from thi...The second side of ILGP reminds me of Can from this same period: the latter achieves moments of lift through their weird alchemy of free-form, rhythm-based jamming; the former achieves the same sort of lift, but through labor-intensive, melody-infused (name your genre) composition design. In both cases, whatever suspension of my disbelief is achieved, it gets pulled to the ground by the damn vocals -- too undisciplined on the part of Can, too disciplined on the part of Caravan. The result is transcendent music with two wildly different vocal approaches that grate on me in the exact same way. For me, this flaw will forever keep the work of both bands out of "masterpiece" territory. Love 'em both, even so. Carlo Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15917117446627317130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-14669503253658531172017-03-09T14:37:40.669+03:002017-03-09T14:37:40.669+03:00The occasional monotony of the sidelong piece asid...The occasional monotony of the sidelong piece aside, this is pretty much a perfect prog-pop album. Catchy, witty, quirky, and occasionally sad and wistful when it needs to be ("Winter Wine," eh?). The more traditional folk and pop elements contribute to The Land of Grey and Pink being more understated than your average contemporaneous British prog rock (Yes, ELP etc.) and the general humility and amiability of the proceedings makes for a genuinely special listening experience. I especially love "Golf Girl," a summery folk-pop number that manages to reenergize those old love song cliches with a bit of casual and funny surrealism. Frankly, I don't think Caravan ever came close to this level of quality before or after. William Quiteriohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10054629184684673953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-55487396912951522492017-03-09T05:25:01.814+03:002017-03-09T05:25:01.814+03:00The remastered version of this from Stephen Wilson...The remastered version of this from Stephen Wilson has got some cool bonuses material, including two new songs: aFlower in the Garden (another somber thing from Richard), and an early, higher-key version of Aristocracy, which I actually prefer a bit to the one on Waterloo Lily. Good stuff on this album in spite of almost no leed guitar from Pye, who is at least half way decent on the instrument. The disc would go gold at some point and is the band's best seller despite the fact the band did manage to scratch the charts with Cunning Stunts and Blind Dog. Love Dave's playing though, perhaps even better than that of Emerson and company, as understated as it can sometimes be. His unwillingness to go nuts might explain his early departure from Matching Mole and the Hatfields; although he would start demonstrating a little more flash on Girls, and particularly so on the little known jazzy archival thing from his mid-70s outfit 'the Polite Force'. Trevor Attenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13186065958669520140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-13083429606622888292017-03-09T01:03:07.472+03:002017-03-09T01:03:07.472+03:00Nine Feet Underground does rather sag in the middl...Nine Feet Underground does rather sag in the middle. The reason Disassociation evokes a Richard Sinclair-ish mood is because it's by Richard and not by Pye, though.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06614278412291704419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-34757376084713936982017-03-09T00:48:23.377+03:002017-03-09T00:48:23.377+03:00I used to think Winter Wine would be a good song t...I used to think Winter Wine would be a good song to have played at one's funeral, with its haunting music, yearning imagery and the repeated line: "dreams are always ending far too soon". It's a beautiful song and it fits in well with the album which has equal parts cheerful escapism and melancholy. The title is the land of Grey and Pink, after all, it's not just color, there is also grey there. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com