Caravan
One of the seminal British 'head' bands of the 70s, Caravan hailed
from Canterbury and would eventually clock up a 35-year career.
Meeting roughly where English psychedelic whimsy collided
with the era's more progressive tendencies - keyboard solos and
tricky time signatures a speciality - Caravan were never a
commercial threat.
Yet, more playful than such contemporaries as Soft Machine
they carved out their own niche, even notching-up near-hit in
1970 with If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All
Over You.
Caravan's third album, In The Land Of Grey and Pink (1971),
found a perfect balance between folksy blue-sky pop and their
desire to strike out down twisty lanes of jazz improvisation.
Dave Sinclair's Hammond and amplified Mellotrons were the star
turn, especially on the freewheeling Winter Wine, but the
medley Nine Feet Underground - all 22 minutes of it! -
was British prog rock at its blowsy, summery zenith.
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