Customer Reviews

In the Land of Grey & Pink

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In the early Sixties there was a stir going on musically in the brand new world of Pop and Rock music around the area of the quiet Cathedral City of Canterbury in Kent . The catalyst for all of this, which was to be wittily called " The Canterbury Sound", stemmed from a band calling themselves "The Wilde Flowers" ( appropriate sixties misspelling like " The Beatles " and "The Byrds".) Formed in 1963 the band imploded in 1967, splitting into two major fractions, one side ,the more avant-garde Jazz/Rock fusion minded musicians, Robert Wyatt,Hugh Hopper, Kevin Ayers, going off to form " Soft Machine " which later begat such bands as ''Gong'', "Kevin Ayers and The Whole World" ,Matching Mole ,etc. While the other more Pop/Rock members Richard Coughlan,Pye Hastings , David Sinclair , and his bass playing cousin Richard Sinclair , went off and formed "Caravan".
The four members of Caravan went off and did what every self respecting band did in that much beloved era , went into retreat in the country " To get it together" After a year camping just outside nearby seaside resort Whitstable , rehearsing every night in a nearby church hall , and fighting off starvation, they became one of the tightest little musical outfits in the British Isles without even playing a gig. In 1968 they were snapped up by American Record label Verve who released their first album Caravan (1968) . Which went completely unnoticed by the record buying public, which is hardly surprising as nobody had heard of them , and there was next to no publicity as Verve went bust anyway .
This was all put right ,when with great enthusiasm the giant Decca records signed up our young heroes recording contract, and not only prepared them for their second album , but sent them out on the road to get them in the public eye . This included not only playing any place that would have them, but at such major events as the Kraalingen Pop Festival at Rotterdam in Holland in front of 250,000 people on the same bill as" Pink Floyd", "Jefferson Airplane","Santana", and" Frank Zappa", admittedly "Caravan" were on first on the second morning ,so most of the people were probably asleep, but some of them must of taken notice as Holland has always been a stronghold for "Caravan" fans.
Caravan's second album the wonderfully titled " If I Could Do it Again I Would Do It All Over You" ( 1970) which was released to a far greater fanfare and critical acclaim. Enabling the band to enlarge their following and develop their natural talents . After six months on the road promoting the album the band were ushered back into Air London studio's , under the inspirational eye of young producer David Hitchcock to record a follow up album. When the band came back out of the studio and released the results to it's waiting public they had come out with what many people consider to be a seminal moment from the early Seventies .
" In The Land Of The Grey And Pink"(1971) has one of the most unique and instantly recognisable sounds in the history of rock , perhaps a little whimsical for some,but then that is a lot of its charm. In those fondly remembered days of innocence , anything written by any member of the band was considered a band composition , and songwriting royalties equally shared amongst the band members, a far cry from today's mercenary contracts. On" In the land of the Grey and Pink", what you actually get is three of Richard Sinclair's finest ever songs , one from Pye Hastings ( According to Pye that was fair enough as he had written most of the first two albums) , and then side two of the vinyl album was taken up by the one twenty-two minute opus " Nine Feet Underground " which came in five separate movements,with four bridges , and was mainly written by David Sinclair, with the others linking all the parts together, and adding bits here and there.
The album opens with 'Golf Girl' a wonderful song of love ( There were no songs of war,hate or politics' in the Caravan repertoire, just songs of idealised life that we can all relate to in our happier moments) about Richard Sinclair's future wife . This song should be played regularly in all of Pattaya's many golf bars , no song could improve the atmosphere in a bar more. "Golf Girl" is followed by another Richard Sinclair song " Winter Wine" a song of fairy tales and dreams which weaves along perfectly with the feeling of well being laid down by the first song. Next up is the Pye Hastings's composition " Love To Love You ( And Tonight Pigs Will Fly)" . The lyrics to this very hummable song are extremely naughty , not smutty, or crude,just enjoyably naughty.The title track another Richard Sinclair number is a nursery rhyme set to music as if sung to children , including one of the most beautiful piano solo's ever put down on tape ,and lyrics that would soften the most jaded soul, about " Not leaving your Dad out in the rain ,those nasty grumbley Grimblies, and cleaning your teeth in the sea" the songs final verse is sung in bubble as you would to sing to a six month old baby , quite delightful.
The albums epic "Nine Feet Underground" is a stunning display of exactly how well the members of Caravan had mastered their chosen instruments , including the duel lead vocals of Pye Hastings and Richard Sinclair. Obviously it is mainly David Sinclair's keyboard's that are in the fore through out, deservedly so as he was on a par with any player of his day , the piano, Hammond organ and the mellotron are all given thorough workouts in the space allowed in Nine Feet Underground's twenty two minutes, but this does not detract from the jazzy bass work of Richard Sinclair, the melodic lead guitar work from Pye Hastings , or the rock solid drumming of Richard Coughlan.There is also room for Pye's brother Jimmy Hastings to come in and add some flute and tenor saxophone .
Although the albums was not a great commercial success at the time it has never been taken out of print and sells steadily to this day,Decca have just released a remastered version with thirty minutes of extra music , including two tracks that were recorded at the time but had to be left off because of time limitations , demo versions of two of the Richard Sinclair songs, plus an alternative ending to "Nine Feet Underground " where "Caravan" prove that they could rock as hard as any of their contemporaries if they wanted to .
The commercial failure of the album was to lead to great internal stresses within the Caravan ,and David Sinclair was to pack up his keyboards and leave almost immediately ,going off to search for his musical ideal with Robert Wyatt in "Matching Mole" . Cousin Richard lasted one more album ,'Waterloo Lily' (1972) before he cast off to roam afield in the musical world ,later forming "Hatfield and the North" , before joining "Camel" Caravan stumbled on ,but were to never match the magnificence of ' In The Land of The Grey and Pink" Only reforming for one off gigs in the nineties for financial reasons.
Mott the Dog

Most Caravan fans already agree that this is a fantastic album and possibly their best work. I totally agree, and it is one of my most played cds over the years. Now Decca has released a remastered version that is absolutely beautiful in sound quality, not to mention over one half hour of bonus tracks. The original cd does not have bad sound quality, which might make some fans reluctant to upgrade. However, the sound on this version is incredible and a must for at least all Caravan fans, even if you already have the earlier one. The bonus tracks are great and also in excellent sound. There are alternate versions including Golf Girl with different lyrics. There is also some previously unreleased material. Needless to say, with all of these credits, it was well worth the money from Amazon. One of the best, got even better. Fans of early Genesis not familiar with Caravan, may be pleasantly surprised.

Utterly amazing!!!

Even if you dont like some of the tracks on this album, you have to honour, stand speechless, faint or even die when you hear the piano solo on the title track Land Of Grey And Pink. It is THAT good. It creeps in, floats, shimmers, bows and gracefully tiptoes out giving way to a distorted organ. And you have to love the brrrrlllluurrrbbbbrrrrrbbbbb (the noice you make to babies) lead vocal toward the end.

Golf Girl is of similar structure (those power acoustic chords are amazing) without the atmosphere - more of a comic song.

I have the big double best of Caravan CD and recently got this (just for Land Of Grey And Pink as it happens) and cannot stop playing it.

FANTASTIC!!!

This was the very first Caravan album I have ever heard and many people regard this as their best one, and I have no arguments about this. Caravan, unlike Soft Machine, Hatfield & the North, or National Health, leans more on the symphonic progressive side than the jazz rock/fusion side. Side one ("Golf Girl", "Winter Wine", "Love to Love You (And Tonight Pigs Will Fly)" and the title track, to those who own the CD) consists of great, catchy songs with wonderful melodies. "Golf Girl" features some really silly lyrics about "Standing on a golf course, dressed in PVC", simply because "It started raining golfballs". Pretty silly, and great use of instrumentation including trombone and Mark II Mellotron. "Winter Wine" is by far one of the greatest cuts Caravan has ever done, in fact one of my favorite songs ever, with lyrics that are as mystical as "Golf Girl" was silly". "Love to Love You (And Tonight Pigs Will Fly)" is a very short and catchy pop number, but very well done. Could've been played on radio. I am not much for the title track, sounds a little to much like filler, although I do like the lyrics which seem to be drug-oriented. Side two is filled up with the great "Nine Feet Underground" which is mainly a great jam showing off the keyboard talents of David Sinclair. In the Land of Grey & Pink is by far the Caravan album most dominated by Richard Sinclair, as Pye Hastings only sung on "Love to Love You" and parts of "Nine Feet Underground". The album cover features very cool fairytale artwork that seems to fit so well on this album. It's too bad that Caravan wouldn't be able to make another album as great as this one, several of their followup releases are definately worth listening to (Waterloo Lily, For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night, even Blind Dog at St. Dunstans) but the magic is more or less gone simply because the band was having trouble keeping a steady lineup. In the Land of Grey & Pink marks their last release with the original lineup of Richard Sinclair, David Sinclair, Pye Hastings, and Richard Coughlin. After the release of this album, David Sinclair left only to be replaced by Steve Miller (not The Joker and Fly Like an Eagle guy, but brother of Hatfield & the North and Matching Mole's Phil Miller), and of course more lineup changes afterwards.

This 1971 album is easily the most cheery and upbeat record that I have in my collection. It is an excellent example of the pop/prog side of the Canterbury scene (which is actually more diverse than most would make it out to be), is both warm and inviting, and boasts some solid musicianship - in short, this is a fantastic recording that brings me a great deal of enjoyment.

The core musicians on this album comprise what I consider to be the definitive Caravan lineup: Richard Sinclair (bass, acoustic guitar, and vocals); Pye Hastings (electric/acoustic guitars; vocals): David Sinclair (Hammond organ; mellotron; backing vocal harmonies); and Richard Coughlan (drums and percussion). Joining the band are Jimmy Hastings (flute, tenor saxophone; and piccolo); and David Grinstead (cannon, bell, and "wind"). All of the guys are good players although I have to say that Richard Sinclair is the best: his bass work with Caravan, Hatfield and the North, and Camel is excellent. Richard also has a great singing voice, as does Pye Hastings and their vocal approach works very well with the material.

I think that of all of the Canterbury bands (and other English progressive bands active at the time), Caravan stuck closer to the "pop song" format. Because of this, you will neither encounter the use of staggeringly complex time signatures, nor odd chords and root movements. Instead, the pieces on In the Land of Grey and Pink feature very pleasant melodies, and are mostly mid-tempo, without any jarring or experimental passages. There is also the classic Canterbury sense of humor, as evidenced by song titles such as Golf Girl and "Hold Grandad by the Nose". Most of the tracks on the album are in the 3-8 minute range, with the single exception of the massive 22'40" Nine Feet Underground suite.

This remastered album features the original (and excellent) album art with loads of informative liner notes. The bonus tracks include several tracks that should have been included on the original record (e.g Aristocracy), whereas the remaining bonus tracks are simply alternate takes/versions.

This is a great album lumped under the Canterbury scene and is very highly recommended to folks that do not mind a less technically-oriented approach to prog rock along with the excellent For Girls who Grow Plump in the Night (1973).

please don't listen to some of the other reviews of this album who say its boring or too long.if you are mature enough to appreciate good musicianship and good melody than this is a must buy.the 22 minute track is how they did it sometimes in those days and its refreshing in this day and age to hear.it rocks.it is easy going at times but still very enjoyable.

Without fluffing this up too much, I just want to state that the reason this album works so well is because of one man: Richard Sinclair. Perhaps I am partial to his music and achievements outside of Caravan, but I can see no other reason why this album has succeeded where many others in the band catalogue have not. The previous two albums in the Caravan discography are nice enough and worth checking out, but they seem to be lacking. The band was fully entrenched in the quirky psychadelic music of the late 60's, but aside from some moments on "If I Could Do it All Over....", there aren't any strong, distinctive elements that set the group apart from its peers.

During the production of this album, "In the Land of Grey and Pink", for whatever reason, Richard Sinclair came into his own as a songwriter. His writing and performances on the album are far from stunning: he's a decent enough singer, can pluck out a few chords on the guitar, but certainly no virtuoso. No, what Sinclair brought to this album was his sense of humor and fun. The whole thing begins with the classic "Golf Girl", a silly and campy song about a man who falls in love with a golf course employee. The melody and chord changes are nothing revolutionary, but again there is a light-heartedness to the song that is instantly appealing, even if the lyrics make little sense.

In my opinion, the best track on the album is "Winter Wine", another Richard Sinclair composition. The song begins with Richard plucking on an acoustic guitar and singing a folk-sy tale of yearning, castles, dragons, and various other fantastical things. The song picks up steam at roughly the 1:00 point, with a strong guitar riff and drum beat. The progression is pretty steady throughout its length, with plenty of jamming on organ & guitar, courtesy of Dave Sinclair (Richard's cousin) and Pye Hastings, respectively. The key to this song is that it is lovely, it also grooves, and it is fun.

Pye provides his sole contribution to the album "Love to Love You", which has a simple but catchy feel to it. The song has its own sense of fun, and the music is strongly appealing, but lacks the absurd humor of the Sinclair tracks previous to it. Coincidentally, the shortest track on the album.

The title track: again, nothing ground-breaking in terms of song writing, but it is good fun and Sinclair sings about all sorts of strange nonsense. The wonderful thing is that the absurdity is never off-setting.

The monster on this recording is "Nine Feet Underground", courtesy of Dave Sinclair. This is among the fan favorite recordings of the band, and it's not hard to see why. Unlike the previous tracks, it has many extended instrumental passages, with plenty of organ playing and grooves from the band. Strangely enough, the song doesn't FEEL as long as it does, and almost places the listener in a trance. The solos are never overly complicated, which is sometimes a fresh change from the million-notes-per-second mentality of other prog groups.

Plenty of bonus tracks here, but I won't get into them (this review is long enough!). My overall feeling about this album is that, although it doesn't have a ground-shattering effect on the music scene, it does present Caravan as a fresh and unique voice in any field of music. Unfortunately Richard Sinclair would leave the band after this album, and Caravan would continue to provide us with catchy, sometimes epic songs with Pye Hastings trademark dry humor and arrangements (see For Girls Who Grow album). This is so much fun, very much a product of its time and almost Brit-centric humor, but a worthy purchase!

Originally released in 1971,this was the band's third album.'In The Land...' is only the second release by Caravan I've ever had.Didn't exactly thrill my gorilla,but I was somewhat impressed with the band's style,charm and conviction.Caravan DOES indeed have their own 'style'...cannot think of another word to describe it;of playing and writing top quality progressive/Canterbury pieces.Tunes I enjoyed the most were "Winter Wine",the twenty-two minute epic "Nine Feet" and the whimsical "Golf Girl".Decca had tagged on five(5)bonus tracks to make this title even more so desirable.Might appeal to fans of Hatfield&The North,Gentle Giant,Camel,Barclay James Harvest and Renaissance.

So, why does an album sound so incredibly fresh & alive well over thirty years after its release? Well, if there was an easy answer everybody would be doing it, but sometimes things just work... and Caravan's masterpiece does just that. First time through its bizarre, often childish lyrics may leave you feeling that you've dropped into a whimsical Edward Lear-esque hippy-fest... but careful because it'll get to you, and once it does you'll be hooked. Why? Well in addition to being infused with catchy melodies, perfectly metered lyrics, excellent playing, clever arrangements, and a highly distinctive feeling of pastoral "Englishness", there's something running through it all that elevates it from an interesting, relatively obscure slice of early 70's folk-jazz-rock into a "classic". Don't ask me what but it's different, unforgettable and above all timeless.

Maybe it could be because I was born in the wrong time, being only 33 years old, this album being a tad older, or maybe being the best kept secret in England's Canterbury district (town), I don't know. But one thing I got to say since I have heard the title song of this album, you don't get sick of it at all and why didn't these guys get as famous or more so than the Pink Floyd. I am a true fan of the singer/bass player Richard Sinclair, very rich and deep with a haunting sound betraying such great songs on this album. Every song on this album deserves recognition:

1 Golf Girl 4/5
2 Winter Wine 4/5
3 Love To Love You 3/5
4 In The Land of Grey and Pink 5/5
5 Nine Feet Underground 5/5
6 I Don't Know Its Name 5/5
Etc.....etc....etc....the rest are part of the original songs on this album with a different take on them.
Each one of these gems have a familar sound to it like you've heard it before in another time and it's a good feel. It is almost like Floyd or any progressive sounding material during this time but better, you even hear a little of Yes in here and even funny enough Rare Earth covering a Temptation song in Nine Feet Underground, near the end of the song. This group is really tight and it shows in their music indeed, too bad I didn't hear of them until recently in my life. And if you like this album, you'll like their other album 'If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You', funny name by the way.