Merry Christmas everyone!

Caravan – In the Land of Grey and Pink. 1971. 13=13. As influential an album on my tastes in music as almost any I can think of. First picked up a sealed US London copy in 1983 for the grand total of 99 cents. Bought it quite simply because it looked cool and I could afford it. Terms like Canterbury Scene, fuzz organ, and Brit Jazz were a long time away from my personal lexicon. Years later, and various upgrades (including this Japanese mini + an original Deram LP copy), has not diminished nor increased my affection for this definitive classic of Canterbury rock. What I loved then, namely ‘Winter Wine’ and the side long ‘Nine Feet Underground’, remain. They are, and will probably always be, the metaphoric bar. The remainder, the 3 short poppy tracks, I didn’t care for – and still don’t really, despite an overall increased appreciation for British pop music. This album started a “Caravan run” at my local used record store in college and was one of a few albums I can point to that caused me to begin a lifelong search for unknown discs.

Warhorse – s/t. 1970. D: 11.
Warhorse – Red Sea. 1972. D: 10. Mk 1’s bassist Nick Simper left to form Warhorse, a nice companion piece to the “In Rock” album by Deep Purple. Warhorse had a bit more energy and a few more ideas than Deep Purple, though perhaps not as talented, and were only slowed by a somewhat inauspicious beginning. As the album wears on, the band extends the instrumental work and starts to catch fire – only to end before its full potential is realized. “Red Sea” seems to pick up where “Warhorse” left off. After the first couple of tracks, it seems Warhorse is going to pull off a classic hard rock progressive release. Eventually the scourge of early 70s rock appears – the drum solo. And all momentum is lost as the album barely crawls to the finish. Apparently, Warhorse had one great album in them – too bad it was split between two. 

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