"Caravan" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in ...

and included on his 1970 album, '' Moondance''. It was a concert highlight for several years and was included as one of the songs on Morrison's 1974 acclaimed live album, ''

It's Too Late to Stop Now ''It's Too Late to Stop Now'' is a 1974 live double album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It features performances that were recorded in concerts at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, California, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, ...

''. It was also performed by Morrison with The Band in the 1978 film by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, incl ...

entitled ''

The Last Waltz ''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as The Band's "farewell concer ...

'', which commemorates The Band's last concert appearance together before they stopped touring, on

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

1976.

Recording and composition

"Caravan" was recorded on 30 July 1969 at Mastertone Studios in New York City with

Lewis Merenstein Lewis Merenstein (October 23, 1934 – September 6, 2016) was an American record producer, most famous as the producer of the Van Morrison album '' Astral Weeks'', and as executive producer for '' Moondance'', Morrison's 1970 album. '' Astral Week ...

as producer. The theme of the song is about gypsy life and the radio which are both images of harmony. Music critic

Johnny Rogan John Rogan (14 February 1953 – 21 January 2021) was a British author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He wrote influential biographies of the Byrds, Neil Young, the Smiths, Van Morrison and Ray Da ...

described it as "a romantic portrayal of gypsy life and a testimony to orrison'slove of radio." Van Morrison also based the song on real memories while living in a rural house in

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

, New York, where the nearest house was far down the road. He described why he included the reference to radio in the song:

I could hear the radio like it was in the same room. I don't know how to explain it. There was some story about an underground passage under the house I was living in, rumours from kids and stuff and I was beginning to think it was true. How can you hear someone's radio from a mile away, as if it was playing in your own house? So I ''had'' to put that into the song, It was a must.

In Rogan's opinion, "Caravan" contains some of Morrison's "most attractive vocal dynamics."

Nick Hornby on "Caravan"

In his book, ''

Songbook A song book is a book containing lyrics for songs. Song books may be simple composition books or spiral-bound notebooks. Music publishers also produced printed editions for group singing. Such volumes were used in the United States by piano manu ...

'', about his 31 favourite songs,

Nick Hornby Nicholas Peter John Hornby (born 17 April 1957) is an English writer and lyricist. He is best known for his memoir '' Fever Pitch'' and novels '' High Fidelity'' and '' About a Boy'', all of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby's work ...

names "Caravan" from the live album, ''

'' as the song he wants played at his funeral. He writes that "in the long, vamped passage right before the climax Morrison's band seems to isolate a moment somewhere between life and its aftermath, a big, baroque entrance hall of a place where you can stop and think about everything that has gone before." Then he humorously realizes that this is also the place where Morrison introduces the band and wonders how the mourners will feel about hearing all the unknown people's names being called out as they file out of the funeral, but says "I'm not changing my mind, so there."

In the media and acclaim

"Caravan" was played during a season three episode of ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...

'' ("We Killed Yamamoto"). In the "Young Master Carlson" episode in season 1 of ''

WKRP in Cincinnati ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working ...

'', it is the song that Dr. Johnny Fever is playing and singing along to.

Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist ...

appeared in place of the absent Morrison at his 1993 induction into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music an ...

and performed the song "Caravan" which was an appearance that first brought the band to public notice. When asked about his enjoyment performing in ''

'', Eric Clapton commented that "For me, Muddy atersand Van orrisonsteal the show. Van doing Caravan"with the leg kicks. Some of the greatest live music you'll ever see." It was listed as No. 254 on the All Time 885 Greatest Songs compiled in 2004 by

WXPN WXPN (88.5 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) radio format, along with many other format show ...

from listener's votes.

Other releases

"Caravan" was one of the live performances recorded and included on Morrison's 1974 acclaimed live album, ''

''. A live version of the song was featured on Morrison's second video '' Van Morrison: The Concert'', released in 1990. The live version in audio only taken from ''The Last Waltz'' was included in Van Morrison's 2007 compilation album, '' Van Morrison at the Movies – Soundtrack Hits''.

Covers

The band

filled in for Van Morrison at his 1993 induction ceremony at the

and performed "Caravan".

Personnel

– vocals * John Klingberg – bass guitar * Jef Labes – piano *

Gary Mallaber Gary Mallaber (born October 11, 1946 in Buffalo) is a Los Angeles session drummer, percussionist and singer. He attended Lafayette High School, where he and Bobby Militello, along with other musicians, were mentored by saxophonist Sam Scam ...

– drums *

John Platania John Platania is a session musician, guitar player, and record producer. He was born in 1948 in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley, in Ulster County, near Woodstock. Career Van Morrison Platania is best known for his work with Van Morrison, beginni ...

– guitar * Jack Schroer – alto saxophone * Collin Tilton –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

Notes

References

* Heylin, Clinton (2003). ''Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography'', Chicago Review Press, * Hinton, Brian (2000). ''Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison'', Sanctuary, * Hornby, Nick (2002) ''

'', McSweeney's Books,

External links

Moondance/Caravan Review
superseventies.com *

Caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals *Convoy, a group of veh ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

"Hail, Hail, Rock'n'Roll"
by Laura Barton {{DEFAULTSORT:Caravan (Van Morrison Song) 1969 songs Van Morrison songs Songs about music Songs about radio Songs written by Van Morrison Song recordings produced by Lewis Merenstein Song recordings produced by Van Morrison