Caravan, along with Soft Machine, both rose from the ashes of the band The Wilde Flowers, which was active during the early sixties. All the founding members came from The Wilde Flowers, and both Caravan and Soft Machine upheld the psychedelic style that the band was known for.
In the Land Of Grey And Pink is regarded as being the most successful album produced by Caravan, but If I Could Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It All Over You, is probably truest to the form that Canterbury Style embodies. When compared to later albums, If I Could Do It All Over Again is loaded with keyboard and organ led parts and large portions of it are dedicated to extended pieces of music. It feels very reminiscent of the style King Crimson used in In The Court Of The Crimson King, except rather than going down the route of having reduced vocals, the vocals in IICDIAOA are extremely important and are one of the pillars that this album uses to create such a brilliant and atmospheric mood. It is a very similar style to the type used by the progressive band, Gentle Giant.
This album gives off a joyous, almost carefree attitude, from the opening vocal melodies of the title track or the floating organ and keyboard work that leads the second track ‘And I Wish Were Stoned’. As is appropriate for music from this genre and era, the lyrics are at best nonsensical and at worse completely random. But the important thing to remember is that this album doesn’t actually need lyrics to go anywhere, and in an odd way, they work extremely well. Musically, the album is incredibly solid, with excellent pieces of constructive drumming combined with various other instruments and sounds, including the bass and guitars, but also including bongos, saxophone solos and flutes.
The album itself is best described by the several longer songs that make up the greater portions of side one, and the epic ‘For Richard’ that graces side two. Each of them is epic in their own way, but all of them pale in comparison to the song ‘For Richard’, which is a brilliant piece of Canterbury Rock. It originally started out as various pieces of music, which were carefully placed together to create a longer, more complete song. The style itself is very arty, and feels very much like an artist piece of progressive rambling, without straying into the domain of self-indulgence that psychedelic, and progressive rock can fall into. This is aided by the shorter length of the second side of the vinyl, which barely reaches twenty minutes total.
However, ‘For Richard’ is only one part of what is an incredibly good album to listen to. And the whole album comes across extremely well. Even the production has managed to more or less stand the test of time, despite being self-produced. However one of the downsides, is that the occasional error has made it on to the album, partly due to the production, and partly due to the fact that it was recorded live in studio. Sure, the music is not for everyone, you have to be able to appreciate this type of music in order to enjoy it. So if you have ever listened too, and enjoyed any of the bands that came from Canterbury, such as Camel or have only ever listened to In The Land Of Grey And Pink, then IICDIAOA should really be very high on your to listen list.
Tracklist for If I Could Do It All Over Again...:
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
In the Land Of Grey And Pink is regarded as being the most successful album produced by Caravan, but If I Could Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It All Over You, is probably truest to the form that Canterbury Style embodies. When compared to later albums, If I Could Do It All Over Again is loaded with keyboard and organ led parts and large portions of it are dedicated to extended pieces of music. It feels very reminiscent of the style King Crimson used in In The Court Of The Crimson King, except rather than going down the route of having reduced vocals, the vocals in IICDIAOA are extremely important and are one of the pillars that this album uses to create such a brilliant and atmospheric mood. It is a very similar style to the type used by the progressive band, Gentle Giant.
This album gives off a joyous, almost carefree attitude, from the opening vocal melodies of the title track or the floating organ and keyboard work that leads the second track ‘And I Wish Were Stoned’. As is appropriate for music from this genre and era, the lyrics are at best nonsensical and at worse completely random. But the important thing to remember is that this album doesn’t actually need lyrics to go anywhere, and in an odd way, they work extremely well. Musically, the album is incredibly solid, with excellent pieces of constructive drumming combined with various other instruments and sounds, including the bass and guitars, but also including bongos, saxophone solos and flutes.
The album itself is best described by the several longer songs that make up the greater portions of side one, and the epic ‘For Richard’ that graces side two. Each of them is epic in their own way, but all of them pale in comparison to the song ‘For Richard’, which is a brilliant piece of Canterbury Rock. It originally started out as various pieces of music, which were carefully placed together to create a longer, more complete song. The style itself is very arty, and feels very much like an artist piece of progressive rambling, without straying into the domain of self-indulgence that psychedelic, and progressive rock can fall into. This is aided by the shorter length of the second side of the vinyl, which barely reaches twenty minutes total.
However, ‘For Richard’ is only one part of what is an incredibly good album to listen to. And the whole album comes across extremely well. Even the production has managed to more or less stand the test of time, despite being self-produced. However one of the downsides, is that the occasional error has made it on to the album, partly due to the production, and partly due to the fact that it was recorded live in studio. Sure, the music is not for everyone, you have to be able to appreciate this type of music in order to enjoy it. So if you have ever listened too, and enjoyed any of the bands that came from Canterbury, such as Camel or have only ever listened to In The Land Of Grey And Pink, then IICDIAOA should really be very high on your to listen list.
Tracklist for If I Could Do It All Over Again...:
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
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