Caravan

• Genre: Art & Progressive Rock
• Hometown: Canterbury
• Caravan Website

About

One of the key groups to spring from the tightly knit Canterbury scene, Caravan came softly out of the woods in 1968 with their self-titled debut record. Focused on folk-tinged psychedelia, expert organ work, and a multitude of harmonies and flutes, the album put them in a different league than the jazz Fusion experiments of the Soft Machine and the whispered spaciness of Gong. In the Land of the Grey and Pink (1971) showed their interest in pastoral time changes and eccentric whimsy. Personnel changes throughout the '70s led the band toward questionable jazz odysseys and unfortunate album titles such as Cunning Stunts, but Caravan mainstay Pye Hastings could always be relied upon for his more succinct pop experiments. The band continues in some form to this day with occasional one-off reunions, as well as through the music of bands such as the Ozric Tentacles.

- Jon Pruett