01	If I Could Do It All Again, I'd Do It All Over You						03:07
	02	And I Wish I Were Stoned / Don't Worry						08:18
	03	As I Feel I Die						05:05
	04	With An Ear To The Ground / You Can Make It / Martinian / Only Cox / Reprise						09:53
	05	Hello Hello						03:45
	06	As Forteri 25						01:21
	07	Can't Be Long Now / Francoise / For Richard / Warlock						14:19
	08	Limits						01:33

Richard Coughlan - drums, congas, bongos, maracas, finger cymbals
Richard Sinclair - bass guitar, tambourine, hedge-clippers
Pye Hastings - 6 and 12 string electric guitars, 6 string acoustic guitar, claves, worn leather strap, impersonation of a friendly gorilla and assorted ashtrays
David Sinclair - organ, piano, harpsichord
Brother James - sax and flute


Caravan - "If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You" (1970) One of the best and most known Canterbury bands. This was their second album and the one where the band had found their ultimate style. Jazz, pop, rock and classical music melted together in the usual progressive way, but far less pretentious than many other progressive rock bands. The classic Caravan sound was characterised by the vocals of Pye Hastings and Richard Sinclair, twisted and fuzzed organ (very typical for many Canterbury bands), and there was usually some wind instruments too, mostly flute and sax. The best tracks on the albums includes the incredible jam "For Richard" (this track is the classic Caravan sound in a nutshell) and "With an Ear to the Ground". The latter mixed excellent jams with poppy and light vocal parts, a quite typical Caravan mix. "And I Wished I Was Stoned" are another example of this. There's also some shorter and quite catchy tunes here, like "Hello, Hello" and the title-track. This is a good album and very representative for Caravan at their best.



IF I COULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN, I'D DO IT ALL OVER YOU
(released by: CARAVAN)

Year Of Release: 1970
Overall rating = 10

They got a nice sound going, but the jazziness is really superfluous.
Best song: IF I COULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN, I'D DO IT ALL OVER YOU

Tee hee, gotta love those smutty titles. Never mind; the important thing is, Caravan's second album is almost universally proclaimed to be an improvement over the debut and one of the band's pinnacles. Not to my ears, though. What my ears are able to discern is that on their second album, Caravan drifted off into a somewhat different direction, and while that might have been enough to gain a huge support from prog fans worldwide, it's exactly the direction that I don't like prog bands to take: namely, making things more complex for complexity's sake.
First of all, the songs now grow long. And I mean long - the majority of the album is taken up by three 'mini-suites' with separate part titles and lots and lots of instrumental passages. Second, the stately majestic organ-drenched medieval atmosphere of the debut somehow vanished into thin air; amazing, seeing as how it would eventually work its way back into the band's sound, but for now, they sack it in favour of a jazzier, somewhat more 'playful' approach. Lots of sax and diddly diddly playing guitars (you know what I mean, don't you?), jazzy time signatures and stuff - apparently these guys decided to somehow justify the 'Canterbury rock' tagline. Doesn't work, really. Too often, I get the feeling they're just showing off: I could count the memorable melodies on this record without having to use my second palm.
Essentially, the album is only saved by the fact that I can't deny it some atmosphere - if you're searching for a bit of soul and spirit, it's here all right, it's not just a bunch of jazzy guys who consider themselves above playing emotionally-oriented music. There's still a lot of sadness, introspectivity, majesticity, whatever: If I Could... can work as decent background music if you really want to dedicate yourself to that kind of sound. And they're still going strong in their "uniqueness", although, to be fair, some parts of this album don't sound much different from contemporary King Crimson wank-offs, and both Yes and Genesis were already on their way to the top.
Unsurprisingly, my two near-runners for the title of 'best song' are the two shorter tracks. The title track is jazzy, avantgarde jazzy even in parts, something that would be quite fit for Soft Machine. But it's all based around an energetic and interestingly constructed riff and witty vocal harmonies intricately entwined around it, with a lively keyboard/guitar break to spice things up. For me, it works as one of those 'Zen-style incantations' that should be appreciated for their very weirdness and bizarredness if such a thing is possible at all, see Gentle Giant's 'Knots' for instance. However, it's also a very untypic track for the album - nothing else on here can boast the same 'lightweight', almost ridiculous atmosphere.
The second track, then, is radically different, but it's also untypic for the album. That's 'Hello Hello', the record's only more or less straightforward venture into medieval-folk stylistics with an intriguing mystical tale to boot. Not the most memorable thing on earth, but pretty solid by the record's standards. I also love Sinclair's organ tone on this thing - granted, he uses it in a lot of other passages here as well, but the riff-solo of 'Hello Hello' is the most impressive bit.
And supposedly that's it: no matter how much I listen to the lengthy monstruous suites, I just can't make head or tails over 'em. Atmospheric and supposedly meaningful (well, how can a song entitled 'And I Wish I Were Stoned' not be meaningful? You tell me!), but displaying a tremendous lack of ideas, if you axe me. There's ONE big idea on here - 'hey guys, we know how to make our brand of music, let's make our brand of music, then'. Take the fifteen-minute megalithic horror of 'For Richard', for instance. Its full name is 'Can't Be Long Now/Francoise/For Richard/Warlock', but who cares? The first three and a half minutes are just slow 'atmospheric' (god how I hate this word already) noodling, with lazily strummed guitars and idly puffed flutes that don't go anywhere and don't do nothing. Then, all of a sudden, there's this sharp, thrilling keyboard riff that breaks in and you utter a sigh of relief - the guys start to rock! And then it suddenly loses all the sharpness and the thrill after about five seconds and you get an endless mid-tempo keyboards/sax jam that just bores everything that can be bored out of me. Lengthy improvised sections that never know when to stop and all sound basically the same - definitely not the kind of thing that's supposed to work in a respectable prog band. Unless you dig in the groove, but seriously, I don't even know why you should, as Hastings' and the others' playing style aren't all that unique. Pye does get a little bit more involved in soloing, though, and his solos are good: soaring Gilmour-ish guitar parts that are just as emotionally strong but more minimalistic and less cliched in their essence. But again, there's not that much of 'em.
The two other lengthy monsters aren't any better - I vaguely remember that I enjoyed Hastings' vocal sections on 'And I Wish I Were Stoned' just fine, while they were one, but one thing that song never possessed in the first place was a solid vocal hook. Just... nice singing, nice playing. Everything NICE. NICE guys. Well, no more Mr Nice Guys then.
In the end, if it weren't for the vibe and Hastings' having developed a very nice, warm vocal tone, I would have given this album even less than I gave it; as it is, it's a very weak ten. And I really can't get it into my head how this album can get that much respect; I suppose it's some kind of a Wind & Wuthering syndrome - the record goes for a 'grand' feel with complex song structures, lengthy suites and pompous arrangements, but never really has that much melodic substance. And of course, the latter thing isn't that important for diehard prog fans. At least the tones these guys work out on the album are far more soothing than Banksynths, but that's small consolation if you take the album on its own. Extra points for the pretty pretty album cover, though. I love nice forest groves like these.






Caravan - If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You

Track Listing
1) If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You
2) And I Wish I Were Stoned/Don't Worry
3) As I Feel I Die
4) With an Ear to the Ground You Can Make It/Martinian/Only Cox/Reprise
5) Hello Hello
6) Asforteri
7) Can't Be Long Now/Francoise/For Richard/Warlock
8) Limits
Bonus tracks on Decca remaster
9) Day in the Life of Maurice Haylett
10) Why? (And I Wish I Were Stoned) [Demo Version]
11) Clipping the 8th (Hello Hello) [Demo Version]
12) As I Feel I Die [Demo Version]

Member: tleby - 02/06/03

Caravan's classic second album If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You, released in 1970, along with their next album In the Land of Grey and Pink, is quintessential Canterbury progressive rock. Their vast songwriting talents are at their peak as memorable melodies are present throughout the album. On most songs these melodies blend seamlessly with extended jazz-tinged instrumental sections featuring fuzz-organ solos over driving rhythms. Caravan started on this album to join several songs into one extended track, something they would do again and again throughout their career. One of these extended tracks is one of their best and would become one their most famous.

Following the catchy title song that will stick in your mind forever, is the wonderful "And I Wish I were Stoned/Don't Worry." On the first part the vocals are shared by Pye Hastings and Richard Sinclair, whose voices complement each other so well. Sandwiched between two similar vocal sections is one of many David Sinclair organ solos on the album. Bridging the two parts is a brief but touching guitar solo. "Don't Worry" has Hastings singing one of the most charming and unforgettable vocal melodies that these ears have ever heard. All the better is that he sings it twice, the first time gently and then quickly following is the identical vocal line, only this time he and the band have picked things up a bit.

The bulk of the rest of the album consists of two songs in the four to five minute range and two medleys. The better of the single pieces, "As I Feel I Die," starts out slowly and builds to yet some more excellent David Sinclair soloing over Richard Sinclair's jazzy bass lines and the hard and complex drumming of Richard Coughlan, who's banging away with all he's got. "Hello Hello", the most overt pop song on the album, is sung by Richard Sinclair, which in itself makes it enjoyable.

"With an Ear to the Ground...," the shorter of the medleys, has all the ingredients that appear throughout the album - the enchanting lyrics, the soft vocal passages, the great melodies, and meaty instrumentals with keyboard soloing over driving rhythms. Added to the mix is a pastoral dimension to the soft passages provided by some Jimmy Hasting's flute playing. The mostly instrumental, the only vocals are in the first few minutes, "For Richard," named after one of the sections, is one of Caravan's best and most famous pieces. After a quiet opening a sudden musical explosion is followed by several solos, including a couple tasty sax solos by Jimmy Hastings. The whole thing culminates with one of Caravan's heaviest moments, as for several minutes they are all playing their hearts out.

The following year Caravan would go on to release their generally acknowledged crowning achievement In the Land of Grey and Pink, though from start to finish If I Could... is the more satisfying one to me. The album, along with the other Caravan albums, has recently been remastered on the Decca label, with restored artwork and some informative liner notes touching on the history of the band and the background of the album's recording. The sound quality is excellent and there's a really good previously unreleased track as well as some demos of several songs on the original album.













A DAY IN THE LIFE OF MAURICE HAYLETT
Words and Music
by Pye Hastings

The man who wrenthed
And danced while he sang
Sits in the back of my head

He wears Navy Blue
And he knows what to do
When he meets with his lady friend

He came home yesterday
From a trip far away
Tells me I've got a new face

And it wasn't my fault
The day he got caught
Speeding on mine's highway