Caravan

Whitstable and the Wilde Flowers

Caravan formed in 1968 in Whitstable, Kent, by Pye Hastings, Richard Coughlan, Dave Sinclair and Richard Sinclair, all former members of the Wilde Flowers, which broke up in October 1967. Hastings, born Julian Frederick Gordon Hastings in Banffshire on January 21, 1947, joined that band around 1965 and became its lead singer after Robert Wyatt left. Caravan borrowed Soft Machine's PA, lived in tents after being forced out of a rented house and rehearsed in a church hall. In October 1968 their publisher, Ian Ralfini, got them a deal with Verve.

Caravan was recorded in September 1968 at Advision Studios in London, produced by Tony Cox, and released in January 1969 in the UK and March in the US. It did not chart, Verve left the UK market and dropped them. Manager Terry King and David Hitchcock got Decca's Hugh Mendl to sign them, and If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You followed on September 4, 1970, produced by King at Tangerine Studios in Dalston. Richard Sinclair says the title came from a Goon Show line, probably via Jimmy Hastings, Pye's brother, who plays flute and saxophone on their records.

In the Land of Grey and Pink

The third album was released on April 8, 1971 on Deram, produced by David Hitchcock, who had come to production from Decca's art department because the band struggled to produce themselves. They began it in September 1970 at Decca Studios in West Hampstead, recorded most of it in December at AIR Studios on Oxford Street, and mixed it in January 1971. It did not chart in the UK but sold steadily through the 1970s. Rolling Stone ranked it 34th on its list of the 50 greatest prog rock albums, Mojo called it the quintessential Canterbury album, and AllMusic's Dave Thompson called it probably Caravan's finest hour. Steven Wilson remixed it in 2011 for a 40th anniversary edition.

Dave Sinclair left for Matching Mole in August 1971, and Richard Sinclair left after Waterloo Lily (May 19, 1972). Hastings and Coughlan continued with Geoffrey Richardson on viola, and Dave Sinclair rejoined in 1973 for For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night. Cunning Stunts (1975) reached 50 in the UK and 124 on the Billboard 200. The band split in 1978.

Reunions

They reformed in 1980, with The Album and the single "Heartbreaker" returning them to the UK chart, then Back to Front (1982), and again in 1990 and from 1995 with The Battle of Hastings. The Unauthorized Breakfast Item came in 2003, Paradise Filter in 2013 and It's None of Your Business in 2021. They played NEARfest in 2002, Metropolis Studios in December 2010 for ITV, and a 40th anniversary tour of Plump in January 2013. Richard Coughlan died on December 1, 2013, and Mark Walker has played drums since 2010. Setlist.fm shows recent concerts in England and Norway in 2025 and 2026. The 2015 documentary Romantic Warriors III: Canterbury Tales covers the scene.