Ranking the Studio Albums: Caravan 

Discovered them in college in 71. Loved their early albums so much. Still sounds good today.

Hey Pardoetts ( fan base ) hit like if you want Pete to do TOP 25 ALBUM COVERS he loves and TOP 10 covers he hates...be fun. Us Pardoetts are growing and growing 👍

David Sinclair is an absolute monster on the Hammond.

Such a special band, and a very dear one to me

I really appreciate your ranking of Caravans studio releases and I would have ranked them in a similar manner. I also enjoyed their live recording "Caravan and the new Symphonia " What a powerhouse performance by a legendary band !

Really your enjoyed your commentary. This was an important band for me during the 70’s and when I travelled to England from Australia in 74, seeing them live in London was fantastic and in a way symphonic as you described. For Richard was a terrifically exciting closing song and a very memorable concert.

I love the debut album as it's the first one I heard from them, I put it on, and was amazed that I loved each track. It' perfect for me

As a Brit and long time Caravan fan I'm very pleased with your ranking order it's virtually the same as mine. Like the fact you gave Blind dog at At Dunstan's a favourable review as I've always had a sneaky bit of love for that album 🤯

Great band one of the first prog albums I ever heard was In The Land Of Grey And Pink and it is fantastic Here is my top 5 1. In The Land Of Grey And Pink 2. If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You 3.Waterloo Lily 4. Caravan 5. For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night

Thank You Pete !!!! Great ranking of one of my all-time favorite bands, for me "Nine Feet Underground" and "For Richard" are pure sonic joy.

Nice run down of a criminally overlooked band. You pretty much nailed my Top 5 (although I'm still on the look-out for A BLIND DOG.... I'll just echo what other fans have said and recommend CARAVAN & THE NEW SYMPHONIA. This live album was recorded in late 1973 as the band were reaching the peak of their classic period. The integration of the band with a full symphony orchestra is striking, giving the material the grandeur and weight they deserve. "For Richard" might well be definitive here. The set has since been reissued as "The Complete Concert" with fresh sound and more epics (only 2 songs clock in under the 6-minute mark while several range from 10-15 minutes each). Well worth a flutter!

Great show top Pete. Your top 5 are truly top shelf Caravan and an integral part of the prog golden years. One of my top 5 Caravan tracks is L'Auberge du Sanglier/etc/etc, which incorporates a theme from Slightly all the Time, one of the four gems in Soft Machine's Third album. Never considered it as plagiarism, rather a testament to the mutual respect that existed between these bands.

For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night is one of my favorite album covers of all time. I'm ashamed to say that I've never even heard "If I Could Do It Again...". Time to find a copy and order it!

A very talented and unique band.If you can find them, two albums recorded for John Peel and the BBC :Songs For Oblivion Fishermen and Ether Way are a great over view of some of their best stuff done live in the studio.

I've been waiting for this one because I love Caravan. The debut would be a bit higher on my list but I'm not complaining. Great job Pete!

Wow Pete i discovered your channel in this quarantine and, as a prog and rock and metal fan, i must said that your collection and explanation of every band are incredible!! greetings from Venezuela!!

Wonderful Band-still knocking it out live in UK/Europe .

Thank you for your ranking the albums of Caravan!!🎤🎸🎵🥁

Thanks for the memories Pete

Great Rank Pete! I love this band! I love the long tracks! I've listened the Caravan of dreams (the David Sinclair 80's project). Here you can understand the origin of the Caravan long tracks. Each suite is a collection of instrumental ideas of Sinclair... very well connected (Arranged) for Pyle and the rest of the band. Steve Miller (from Waterloo Lily) brings other touch... jazzy?... I love the job and imagination of David Sinclair and the guys... I love the Caravan long tracks!!!!

Hi Pete and all, first ever RU-vid post on any channel. When I spotted it was Caravan time I decided it was my time too. Firstly love the channel, modern heavy rock isn’t my thing but Prog, Canterbury, Sixties, Seventies, Jazz, Jazz Rock, Funk, RnB etc are the soundtrack of my life along with much contemporary jazz, classical and so on. Great that so many of my favourite artists get featured on this channel. I also get educated about stuff I missed along the way (there is always something). Caravan are particularly close to my heart, a staple of the university gig scene in my day, and still great value when I last saw them live earlier this century! Without listening to review I would have thought a close run thing between In the Land of Grey and Pink and For Girls Who Grow Plump. First and last tracks of For Girls plus Nine Feet Underground would make for one of the finest albums in any genre ever!

Thanks for doing this one Pete. Caravan are my favourite Canterbury band. I too was quite late to them completely missing them through the 70s when they were at their peak. I only heard them for the first time 5 years ago but quickly bought their 4 or 5 classic albums then Caravan & The New Symphonia and Live At The Fairfield Halls, 1974. My top 4 are the same as yours and the order can change but like you "If I could do it again..." wins out over "Land of Grey and Pink". Nine Feet Underground", though great can drag a little compared with their other many long form tracks. "Golf Girl" always makes me smile. I enjoyed your take on Caravan and do think their greatness is easily missed. These days I listen to Caravan far more than I do Genesis and other classic prog bands. Like you with many of your choices over many many videos, I'm not saying Caravan are 'better' but I'd rather listen to them these days than bands like ELP or Genesis.

Thanks Pete, I've been hoping for this video for a while, smashing.

Pretty much exactly my ranking! I just love love love #1-3. And your #1 and #2 are pretty much equally amazing to me.

You always talk about some bands I never hear of, and I thank you for it! I need to check them out

Surely the only band to use garden shears as an instrument. I have seen this band in concert (including gigs in the Canterbury area) many times. They were also responsible for creating the 'New Day Festival' in Ephraim Gardens in Kent which focused on 'older' bands like Curved Air, Ian Anderson's Jethro Tull, Focus, Stray, Hawklords, Ozric Tentacles etc. A great 3 day event for us 'oldies'. Again Pete my thanks to you for providing such a valuable service especially in highlighting bands that operate under the radar.

If I Could Do It Again, Gray and Pink, Waterloo, and For Girls Who are near perfect records. What a roll these guys were on!!

Really interesting Pete :) Didn't know much about them before :)

I saw Caravan open up for Nektar in a club that had about 30 people in it. Very intimate. Both bands were amazing

I have your 2 and 1 as my 1 and 2. Am going to check out some of the others for sure. Thanks Pete!

Dear Pete, honest thanks from an true Caravan fan for 50 years! Your three first ranked albums are my favorites too!

For me, Girls who grow plump in the night, followed by Blind Dog at St Dunstans, then If I could do it again and In the Land of Grey and Pink.

I love John G Perry's contributions (bass/vocals) to "Plump". Pete, you should check out Perry's gorgeous 1976 solo platter "Sunset Wading"... featuring Rupert Hine, Michael Giles and Geoff Richardson.

You are a true music guru bro. You talk about many, many bands I have never heard of.✌️✊

Hey Pete..just catching up with this video..Love Caravan..Still exploring their catalogue..I just got Waterloo Lily on vinyl and was blown away..more jazzy in some spots..My favourite album is If I Could Do It All Over Again as well….great video❤❤👍👍glen

Glad i tuned in ; don't really have any Canterbury in my collection( unless Steve Hillage counts) but always heard alot about Caravan. So per your recommendation, i will check them out. Thanks Pete.😎

Great review of Caravans albums. I’ll have to give some of their albums a spin this week. Looking forward to rankings of Eloy and Nektar!

Hi Pete, thanks for this racking albums from Caravan.., i did enjoy listening how you talk about their albums, and music and the titels of the songs made me laugh i like also the first 4 or 5 albums,incredible great music let's plump and we do it al over you.., thanks !!

Great that you did a show on Caravan, Pete. In The Land .... and For Girls... are my fav studio albums. Live at Fairfield Halls to me is their best live album, right up there with the best prog live albums of all time.

Considering your relatively recent exposure Pete, you got that pretty much spot on. Congratulations from someone who has been listening to Caravan for 50 Years.

Love Caravan. I was able to get a couple of my hard rock Led Zeppelin and AC/DC friends to play them back in high school with the album “If I could do it all over again ...”. Also one of the most beautiful album covers (I had the mice glossy import version).

Great band got all there albums , there debut holds a special place for me . Then in the land of the grey and pink . And if I could do it all again.

Hi Pete, I totally agree with your ranking."If I Could Do It..." is my Top-Favorite.When I was 20 years old (1980),I bought this record and listened to it once a day for weeks.This music really captured me. My number two is: In The Land Of Grey And Pink.

My list would be very similar. My top three 3. For Girls Who Grow Plump... 2. In The Land Of Grey And Pink 1. If I Could Do It All Over Again... I also love the “/“ ‘s they always have in their epics haha

I only got into Caravan 5 years ago. I don't know what took me so long. Amazing band. If I Could...is a masterpiece and so is Gray and Pink and Plump. Waterloo is awesome as well. Check 'em out if you haven't already. Fun stuff.

Caravan! A great band!! Congratulations Pete for keeping doing really interesting material!!

Really good ranking Pete. I live just 7 miles from Canterbury so familiar with the Canterbury scene. One or two members of the band often play acoustic gigs in pubs locally and up until his death Richard Coughlin ran a pub in my home town. Never been a great caravan fan but your ranking has inspired me to dig further. Thanks.

I was a late-comer to this band too, Pete. Even though I saw them play at Nearfest 2002, I did not really follow thru on checking out their catalog seriously until around 2007. But once I was in, I was fully in! Your number one pick is my number one as well.

Great review of a great band, good work. As for your no. 5 as you can see from my name the title was always the other way round! You've done a lot of good work on the Canterbury scene, it would be great if you could include Kevin Ayers who is a very important part of that scene. Being connected with Soft Machine, Gong, Steve Hillage to name but a few. His guitarist on many albums was the late great and sadly overlooked Ollie Halsall, Ayers track 'Blue' shows him off nicely.

As a lifelong Canterbury head (well, check out the moniker) it was very interesting to hear Pete's survey. For the most part I'm with him in preferring the older stuff but I have a much higher opinion of 'The Album' and 'Back To Front' which I consider lost gems. And over the years I've come to appreciate their self titled debut so much more. But hey, horses for courses and all that! Thanks for a most enjoyable review,

Thank you. Your top two will be purchased on CD.

Thanks for this! I still have all of the albums and my own personal ranking would be pretty similar to yours. I would put their debut album in the top three, though. Also I'd like to mention that Caravan have made one of the all time great live albums (in my opinion, anyway). Check out Caravan Live At Fairfield Halls 1974. I think it would burst into the top three if it qualified!

Been a big fan of Caravan since the early 1970's and my ranking parallels your very closely - would just move their debut album up a few slots. Also have to mention and highly recommend their GREAT live album "Caravan & The New Symphonia'!

Caravan is essential British Prog. Good job Pete! I am still missing some very important bands and artists in your excellent ranking the album series (I know it takes time): Little Feat, Roxy Music, Weather Report, Focus, J. Geils Band, Johnny Winter, Steve Miller Band, Bob Seger and maybe Foghat, Transatlantic.

Being born and brought up in West Kent, I was big onto the Canterbury Scene. I have see Caravan live so many times I have lost count. Great live and a great audience, usually far too stoned for their own good.

I know these are just the studio albums but I have to promote "Live at Fairfield Hall" which was released with the last round of remasters. Captures the "Cunning Stunts" lineup on tour. Very tight band. Excellent recording.

I only started to get into Caravan after I watched your prog videos. I was too young to get into the Canterbury scene, and never really heard about it growing up pre-internet. Great stuff!

Such a cool band ⛳️🧒👌🏻

Oh yes, finally!

Ranking the Caravan Albums Worst to Best. 14. The Album 13. Paradise Filter 12. The Unauthorized Breakfast Item 11. Back to Front 10. Cool Water 9. Better by Far 8. The Battle of Hastings 7. Caravan 6. Waterloo Lily 5. If I could do it all over Again, I'd do it all over You 4. Cunning Stunts 3. Blind Dog at St. Dunstans (I love this Album) 2. For Girls who grow plump in the Night 1. In the Land of Grey and Pink In the Land of Grey and Pink is Phenomenal, We all know that.

One of my favorite bands and they have some of the best album titles.

I only own In The Land of Grey and Pink. Excellent album from top to bottom. LOL, gotta love those spam calls!!!

Saw Caravan with Lindisfarne, Slade and Status Quo in Sydney in 1973, classic period for this interesting band

Thanks for doing that one Pete; and although I've never heard many of these albums, I do agree with you on the essential classic releases. I'd put the Grey and Pink album at the top though, for the wonderful dreamland they created over two sides of vinyl. There's a vision and imagery on this album that's very rooted in an idyllic English pastoralism. Other bands like Genesis, Yes, Jethro Tull etc drew on this tradition, but Caravan seemed absolutely steeped in its lyricism. Losing their key instrumentalist Dave Sinclair in 1971 to Matching Mole was a huge blow, but they came back with For Girls Who Grow Plump. It was a very different sounding band, augmented by orchestra and some of the finest British jazz musicians of the era, but they pulled it off and it was almost the equal of Grey and Pink. I don't think they ever quite matched these albums again, but they're still much loved.

Live at Fairfield Halls is really good as well. Love the version of A Hunting We Shall Go on that one.

Only got into prog 15 years ago having been a huge metal and jazz fan. Caravan was introduced to me and was blown away by their earlier stuff.Saw them several times including their 35 Anniversary tour in London. Favourite 3 album's Girls Who Go Plump In the Night, In The Land of grey and pink And Cunning Stunts to last Ok record was Blind dogs . Thanks for reviewing really love your reviews.

One of my all time favorite bands. I agree with your top 3, Pete. I choose to listen to "If I Could Do it All Over..." a bit more often than "Grey and Pink". "Girls who Grow Plump" is an absolutely incredible album, but it isn't the classic line up, so it gets knocked down a peg (though John G Perry is a great bassist and singer).

This is the first time I heard about this band, I will have to check it out. Hey Pete hope you can do a ranking the studio albums of the German band Eloy, cheers Pete take care

For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night is one of my all time favourite albums. I bought it when it first came out and have never tired of it. Perfect summer music

Hi Pete, you forgot to mention that part of the epic on "for girls who grow plump in the night" is a cover of a Mike Ratledge piece from Soft Machine 3

I’ve only dipped into these with the two albums Pete has at one and two. It’s very good and I should really delve deeper. I love the pastoral sound to it - great to kick back and listen to on warm, sunny days. The only draw back for me were the vocals which I never took completely to. Looking forward Pete to your Police reviews. That’s about as punk as you’re ever gonna go! I won’t be holding my breath for any ranking vids by the Clash though...

nice!

I probably heard them on the King bisquit flour hour radio show as their feature band, maybe, or just on the radio top 100 hits or something. They fit into the late 60's early 70's sound but a very different flavor that I would have listened to then. Listening now, mellow hippie sound, they're ok. TY Pete. 👍🤟

I am also surprised no one mentions Camel when they talk about epic prog tracks... anyways back to Caravan...lol 16:00

As well as half a dozen of their albums I also bought the anthology 'The World Is Yours' some years ago. If you can find it for a reasonable price now it's a great buy (4 CDs and a very nice booklet).

The debut album. Girls Who Grow. Pink and Grey are my three faves in order.

Their debut is my favorite of theirs, that’s just cause I’m a sucker for whimsical psych pop lol. Followed closely by If I Could do it All Over Again and Grey and Pink

So glad you did this video. I'm sure I'm wasn't the only one, but I do seem to vaguely recall asking you sometime back if you would review either Caravan or Curved Air (or maybe it was both.) To which you responded that you weren't familiar enough with their work, so it's great to see that you have familiarized yourself with, at least, Caravan and that you enjoy them. And actually, you've gone farther than I ever have, because I've never checked out the later stuff. In the Land of Grey and Pink would be my number one, though. Thank you, Pete, great video!

You're right Pete, For Richard is a killer tune. Interesting to note that some members also played with Camel through the years, especially Richard Sinclair.

My 3 fave Caravan albums are : If i Could Do... -- In the Land of Grey and Pink- For Girls... .Same as you, Pete. Hope you will find the time to rank the albums of others Canterbury bands like Hatfield and the North, National Health, Egg and Gilgamesh.Thanks.

Great video, Pete! I have only 3 albums by Caravan but love them very much. I would rank them like this: 1. In the Land of Grey and Pink 2. For Girls who grow Plump in the Night 3. If I Could do it again...

Camel at some point had three former members of Caravan in their line-up. As a joke they used to call themselves ‘Caramel’. And Pete your are mixing up Camel with Caravan yourself at 16:15! That said it’s another nice ranking show.

The first time I ever heard Caravan was on the ABC radio program on a Sunday evening.Every week they would play a full album.Would have been around 1972 and this particular week it was In the land of the Grey and Pink.Never heard anything like it and just sitting there mesmerised and felt like being taken on this cool amazing Musical journey of sorts.Went out and bought it that week.This album and For girls who grow plump and Waterloo Lilly my faves. A lot of their other albums I think are very good to. ABC in Australia that is if anybody's wondering.

Great overview Pete. I loved that you called them CAMEL when referring to their prog epics. (see 16:12). Not a problem. But a good point!

Canterbury prog has always been very dear to me and the band that did it was Caravan. They came from the Wilde Flowers, which in the 60s broke without releasing an album and the other half became famous as Soft Machine. They need to get an extra bonus for song titles...Their strength is the songwriting. I have followed and loved that band since 1970 when I heard their second album and was glad to find their first one still in a cut-out bin. 1. If I Could Do it All Over Again, I'd Do it All Over You ("For Richard" is the quintessential Canterbury tune) 2. In the Land of Grey and Pink 3. Caravan (debut) 4. For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night 5. Blind Dog at St Dunstan's (Their most underrated album because they went a bit away from what hard-core fans expected from them) 6. Battle of Hastings 7. Waterloo Lily 8. Cunning Stunts 9. Paradise Filter 10. Better by Far 11. Cool Water 12. Back to Front 13. The Album 14. The Unauthorised Breakfast Item

Eloy and Nektar are definitely 2 great prog groups that I can't wait to be ranked.

Golf girl is the best song by them, at least according to me. Great video btw!

dear pete i know caravan aint quite got you by the ghoulies yet but your list is mostly spot on,its scary how similar your tastes are to mine!i adore this band.im from England so it's so interesting how our American cousins and the rest of the world interpret the Canterbury sounds,bless you Pete

Great list! Could you perhaps do a ranking show of Anthony Phillips? Interesting discography.

In The Land Of Grey And Pink is one of my favourite albums of all time 👍

A very fair asessment of a very good band

"If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You" is one of the great album titles. Also with great credits, such as: Pye Hastings - vocals, 6- and 12-string electric guitars, 6 string acoustic guitar, claves, percussion {worn leather strap, [[ashtrays}]], voice {impersonation of a friendly gorilla} Richard Sinclair - vocals, bass guitar, tambourine, hedge clippers

I saw them when they brought out "In The Land Of Grey And Pink". They were a great band but I was into Hawkwind and ELP at the time and discovering fantastic artists like Roy Harper, the British Dylan. Give a listen to his albums..

In the land of Grey and Pink, the song, melodically and lyrically is one of the best of all time. I was lucky enough to see them in Stockton a few years back. So pleased I got to see them as I wasn't alive in the 70's.

Caravan were the first band that I ever saw back in 1974 at the original Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury . For girls who grow plump in the night , is my favourite album by Caravan . It features a song with the funny title “ The dog ,the dog , he’s at it again . Their live album with the new symphonia Orchestra is worth listening to . Cunning Stunts was going to be called “ Toys in the attic “ before Aerosmith beat them to releasing an album using that title . I remember when Cunning Stunts was released the title caused much merriment with my school mates ......for obvious reasons . Blind Dogs at St Dunstans is another fav album by Caravan .

Please make a ranking studio albums of ELOY!!

I'm not gonna lie, the first time I heard of this band was 5 seconds ago when I saw someone doing a reaction video to the band. It said "Prog rock" so I figured they were probably new. Then I see Pete's vid. Nope, a band slightly older than myself. Learn something new every day.

I was gonna buy the big box set today, but it appears it is already sold out! Damn! It would have been a great way to get this amazing looking catalog...

If I could it all over again is my #1😃always

Saw them live in '75 & got their then current album "Cunning Stunts", which I still think is great. Never really got into their other albums, even though I have Land of the Grey & PInk. Might give them another try ???