01	Golf Girl						05:00
	02	Winter Wine						07:35
	03	Love To Love You (And Tonight Pigs Will Fly)						03:03
	04	In The Land Of Grey And Pink						04:58
	05	Nine Feet Underground						22:42

Richard Sinclair - bass guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals
Pye Hastings - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals
David Sinclair - organ, piano, mellotron, harmony vocals
Richard Coughlan - drums and percussion
Jimmy Hastings - flute, tenor sax, piccolo
David Grinsted - cannon, bell and wind

All titles composed by Coughlan, Hastings, Sinclair, Sinclair

Producer - David Hitchcock

Engineers - John Punter, David Grinsted, Derek Varnaks, Peter Rynston



Caravan - "In the Land of Grey And Pink" (1971) Caravan's definitive masterpiece, and probably the very first Canterbury album you should check out. Side one is made up of four light and nice tracks. The best (and most progressive) of these is probably "Winter Wine". Great themes, melodies and the typical Caravan sound dominate this mellow and excellent track. "Golf Girl" is the band from their least serious side, and some trumpet and mellotron takes care of the progressive sound. "Love to Love You" is a pure and very catchy pop-track. The title-track is a mellow and nice song that fits the atmosphere of the cover quite well. However, what really makes this album essential is of course the fantastic, 22-minute "Nine Foot Underground". This incredible piece of art gets my vote as one of the ten best progressive rock tracks ever. The track is made up of the best, most inspired and energetic jams, instrumental- and vocal parts that Caravan ever have done. The excellent and distinctive organ sound comes to the fore and the track as a whole is just so perfect as it can get. An essential album in any serious progressive rock collection.




Released: 1971 / 2001
Label: Decca / Deram
Cat. No.: 8829832
Total Time: 73:29


Reviewed by: Eric Porter, May 2002
Caravan's In The Land of Grey and Pink offers light whimsical songs, mixing a variety of instrumentation played with impressive skill. At the same time, the often goofy lyrical content gets to the point of annoying. Those who think progressive rock takes itself too seriously, need only listen to songs like the opening "Golf Girl" to change their opinions.

A keen sense of melody defines the tracks on the disc. The organ playing of Dave Sinclair really stands out. The prominent track for me is "Winter Wine", with its beautiful folk opening, then exploding into an organ driven, uptempo track. Sinclair's distinct English vocal delivery also adds a unique sound to the music. The arrangement is teriffic as everything falls into place, the varying tones used, along with the dynamic changes make this one to listen to over and over again.

A pop flavor runs through "Love To Love You (And Tonight Pigs Will Fly)". The centerpiece of the disc is the 22-plus minute "Nine Feet Underground," where the band have pieced eight separate sections together to form one continuous track. Organ jams lead you into the piece. When the first set of vocals kick in, hints of Traffic are in the air. The track is mostly instrumental, and for me, I cannot get enough of Sinclair's Hammond. The bonus track "Aristocracy" sounds like a Grateful Dead jam, yes I said it. The clean guitar, and subtle lead playing at the end of the song just remind me of that sound. The sound of the disc (it is a Decca remaster) is very clean and clear. I cannot compare it to an original recording, but the sound quality is excellent.

This style will never be a favorite of mine, but Caravan really impresses on all levels. If finely crafted, tuneful, silly songs are your cup of tea, (then you'd better make it three) then join the Caravan.

More about In The Land Of Grey And Pink:

Track Listing: Golf Girl (5:05) / Winter Wine (7:46) / Love to Love You (and Tonight Pigs Will Fly) (3:06) / In The Land of Grey & Pink (4:51) / Nine Feet Underground (22:40) / BONUS TRACKS: I Don't Know Its Name (Alias The Word) (6:12) / Aristocracy (3:42) / It's Likely To Have A Name Next Week (7:48) / Group Girl (5:04) / Dissassociation - 100% Proof (8:35)

Musicians:
Richard Sinclair - Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Pye Hastings - Guitars, Vocals
David Sinclair - Organ, Piano, Mellotron, Harmony Vocals
Richard Coughlin - Drums, Percussion
Jimmy Hastings: Flute, Sax, Piccolo
Dave Grinstead: Cannon, Bell & Wind

Discography

Caravan (1968)
If I Could Do It Again (1970)
In The Land Of Grey And Pink (1971)
Waterloo Lily (1972)
For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night (1973)
Caravan And The New Symphonia (1974)
Live At Fairfields Hall
Cunning Stunts (1975)
Blind Dog At St Dunstan's (1976)
Better By Far (1977)
The Album (1980)
Back To Front (1982)
Battle Of Hastings (1985)
All Over You (1986)
Live 1990
Radio 1 - Live in Concert BBC 1975
Cool Water (1994)
Live: Canterbury Comes to London
Live In Holland: Back On The Tracks
Songs For Oblivion Fisherman
Ether Way (live)
Surprise Supplies
All Over You Too
Show of Our Lives
Headloss
The HTD Years
Where But For Caravan Would I?




Caravan
In the Land of Grey and Pink
Decca/Universal (8829832)
UK 1971

Richard Sinclair, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals;
Pye Hastings, electirc guitars, acoustic guitar, vocals;
David Sinclair, organ, piano, mellotron, harmony vocals;
Richard Coughlan, drums and percussion;
Jimmy Hastings, flute, tenor sax, piccolo;
David Grinstead, cannon, bell and wind

Tracklist:
1. Golf Girl - 5:01
2. Winter Wine - 7:36
3. Love to Love You (And Tonight Pigs Will Fly) - 3:04
4. In the Land of Grey and Pink - 5:00
5. Nine Feet Undergound - 22:44
a. Nigel Blows a Tune
b. Love's a Friend
c. Make It 76
d. Dance of the Seven Paper Hankies
e. Hold Grandad By the Nose
f. Honest I Did!
g. Disassociation
h. 100% Proof
6. I Don't Know Its Name (Alias The Word) - 6:10
7. Aristocracy - 3:42
8. It's Likely to Have a Name Next Week - 7:48
9. Group Girl - 5:03
10. Disassociation / 100% Proof - 8:34

total time 74:45


conrad

This is an album I wish I had discovered when I was a teenager. Not particularly for the music but the lyrics. It's the sort of stuff I'd have lapped up as a teenager but is now a bit ho-hum. I also suspect that it will drive those people who hate "English bands with their stupid sense of humour" absolutely batty. To give you an idea, the album opens up with the lines "Standing on the golf course, dressed in PVC", and the title track starts with "In the land of grey and pink, where only boyscouts stop to think, they'll be coming back again, those nasty grumbly grimblies...". You get the idea.
Lyrics aside, I have to admit that I am a bit baffled by the cult status of this album. Of the first four tracks only "Winter Wine" is anything other than ordinary. Even then, "Winter Wine" does not age as gracefully as it might, and starts to get tired after relatively few listens. The twenty-two minute epic "Nine Feet Underground" is extremely good, but it seems odd to me that an album should be so highly regarded on the basis of only one good side.

The concept of "Nine Feet Underground", or "Dave's Thing" as it was known to the band in rehearsal, was a collection of four songs with musical links between them. This sort of thing can either flow beautifully together or sound like a clumsy bunch of songs played one after the other, depending on the execution. Here, the execution is very good. The mood ranges from jazzy to atmospheric to rock without the connecting pieces ever seeming too contrived. While other bands have created side long epics which have soared to greater heights, this is still a fine effort and has rightly become a favourite among fans of Caravan.

Of the bonus tracks that appear here, "Aristocracy" and "I Don't Know Its Name" are probably the best of the short pieces on the CD. The last three tracks are merely alternate recordings of things earlier on the album, and could probably have been left off the CD without diminishing my enjoyment of it.

While I am not a great fan of this album, I will concede that it contains twenty continuous minutes of fine music which makes it worth the purchase price. If you really like quirky lyrics and can get used to the deepish English vocals that put me off a little, then this will probably contain enough entertainment to make it one of your favourite CD's.

2-18-03






THE WORD
Words and Music
by Richard Sinclair

Flower in a garden
A garden with no gate
Bar imprisoned by its crystals
The summer came too late
To melt the snow
On white hedgerows

Don't let the winter hide you
Or freeze your love for me
Like frozen flowers forgotten
They're flying in the cold
Completely lost
In winter's frost

I remember still
The colour of your hair
As I stare
Through sunshine

Spend these lonely hours
Dreaming of your touch
I came to love so much
Its springly frozen flowers
That warm your love for me
For winter can't last long

I tell you that I love you
But still you do not hear
And in my dreams I find you
But like mist you disappear
In the gloom of my room

Forgotten frozen flowers
Like flying in the cold
In winter's frost

I tell you that I love you
But still you do not hear
And in my dreams I find you
But like mist you disappear
In the gloom of my room