Caravan

Caravan are an English rock band from the Canterbury area, founded by former Wilde Flowers members David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings, and Richard Coughlan in 1968. The band have never achieved the great commercial success that was widely predicted for them at the beginning of their career, but are nevertheless considered a key part of the Canterbury scene of progressive rock acts, blending psychedelic rock, jazz, and classical influences to create a distinctive sound.The band were originally based in Whitstable, Kent, near Canterbury, but moved to London when briefly signed to Verve Records. After being dropped by Verve, the band signed to Decca Records, where they released their most critically acclaimed album, In the Land of Grey and Pink, in 1971. Dave Sinclair left after the album's release and the group split up the following year. Hastings and Coughlan added new members, notably viola player Geoffrey Richardson, continuing on before splitting in 1978.The band re-formed several times in the following decades, and Caravan still remain active as a live band in the 21st century, despite Coughlan's death in December 2013.The group's original members, David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan, had all been in the Canterbury-based Wilde Flowers, albeit not at the same time. Richard Sinclair had been an early member, but left in September 1965 to study at college. Hastings had replaced Robert Wyatt as the group's singer and Coughlan as drummer in the band when Wyatt, who performed both roles, formed Soft Machine. David Sinclair joined the group in late 1966, but after future Soft Machine member Hugh Hopper left the group in June the following year, they began to run out of momentum and broke up in October 1967.Coughlan, Hastings and the two Sinclairs subsequently formed Caravan in 1968. "We all had the same goal" recalled Richard Sinclair, "to make our music, write it ourselves, and make a living from it." The band rented a house in Whitstable, Kent for six months, where they began to write and rehearse new material. They also borrowed Soft Machine's PA for rehearsals while that band was on tour with Jimi Hendrix in the US, as Caravan did not have enough funds for their own equipment. They were forced to leave in June and ended up living in tents and rehearsing in a local church hall. By October, they had attracted the interest of music publisher Ian Ralfini,: 4 who signed them to the American record label Verve Records, the first British act they signed. Verve subsequently released the band's debut LP, Caravan (1969), the following year, but a few months later moved out of the UK record business and dropped the band.: 3

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.