14-10-2021, 18:26
CARAVAN ~ It’s None of Your Business
![[Image: R-20384620-1632733591-3543.jpeg.jpg]](https://img.discogs.com/rbUrzQuxA-Tvw0q-pJHb-JIPIRM=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-20384620-1632733591-3543.jpeg.jpg)
Well, for starters, let me just say that I will listen to this again if only for Geoffrey Richardson’s strings particularly, then Jimmy Hastings’ flute – keys by Jan Schelhaas aren’t too shabby either. I wouldn’t listen again for the voice of Pye Hastings which is really not remarkable. Pity – it could have been an entirely different proposition with a different vocalist, but since he’s the longstanding founder member, I guess that would have been a bitter pill indeed! On reflection, I don't think a rock god sort of voice would have worked either. Hmmmm ...
I'm not entirely sure, not being an aficionado, but I suspect this album bears little resemblance to the Caravan of the 70’s which probably isn’t a bad thing, although that might be a sacrilegious statement as far as their fans go! I will forever think of them as the masters of not so subtle innuendo (which is the polite version). They were downright rude, actually, although that rudeness pales in comparison to what is spewing from the mouths of some of today's lot. They were positively genteel, lol! And I suppose there was humour in it too, whereas I don't find any in the current - umm - don't even know what to call them. In any event, Caravan is now, and has been for some time, minus any Sinclair brothers who were very much at the fore of their early albums.
Rock with prog leanings, I guess. The songs seems to start well and then become a bit samey and somehow pastoral, or what I think of as equating to suburban – I stopped differentiating between the tracks halfway through the album and my attention wandered away until the rather lovely last track which was composed by the aforementioned multi-instrumentalist wizard, Geoffrey Richardson … I could have this on repeat ad nauseum and happily drift away to all sorts of places … and may just do that! …
The second track - one of the more upbeat ones ... "Wishing You Were Here" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGwo99ul0c0
Well, for starters, let me just say that I will listen to this again if only for Geoffrey Richardson’s strings particularly, then Jimmy Hastings’ flute – keys by Jan Schelhaas aren’t too shabby either. I wouldn’t listen again for the voice of Pye Hastings which is really not remarkable. Pity – it could have been an entirely different proposition with a different vocalist, but since he’s the longstanding founder member, I guess that would have been a bitter pill indeed! On reflection, I don't think a rock god sort of voice would have worked either. Hmmmm ...
I'm not entirely sure, not being an aficionado, but I suspect this album bears little resemblance to the Caravan of the 70’s which probably isn’t a bad thing, although that might be a sacrilegious statement as far as their fans go! I will forever think of them as the masters of not so subtle innuendo (which is the polite version). They were downright rude, actually, although that rudeness pales in comparison to what is spewing from the mouths of some of today's lot. They were positively genteel, lol! And I suppose there was humour in it too, whereas I don't find any in the current - umm - don't even know what to call them. In any event, Caravan is now, and has been for some time, minus any Sinclair brothers who were very much at the fore of their early albums.
Rock with prog leanings, I guess. The songs seems to start well and then become a bit samey and somehow pastoral, or what I think of as equating to suburban – I stopped differentiating between the tracks halfway through the album and my attention wandered away until the rather lovely last track which was composed by the aforementioned multi-instrumentalist wizard, Geoffrey Richardson … I could have this on repeat ad nauseum and happily drift away to all sorts of places … and may just do that! …
The second track - one of the more upbeat ones ... "Wishing You Were Here" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGwo99ul0c0
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson