And the organ. I love the home entertainment organ. Maybe it's because my gram had one for a while, and she knew how to play it. That and it reminds me of trips we used to take to the shopping mall, on 9th and 77th, with it's 50's green and white marble-pebble facade... what do they call that stuff? You know what I'm talking about, it's in old elementary schools and post offices everywhere... Anyway...Along with Lenny Dee, who is probably the undisputed master of the home entertainment organ, and Glenn Derringer, who no-one has heard of, but who's another of my favorites, Sir Julian could seriously rock the organ, while never leaving that safe haven of easy listening.
This is quite possibly the definitive "Caravan" for me, even more so than any version by the Duke himself. It starts with a low groove with a swinging bass line, shuffle drums and the organ dropping the main theme and punching its own accompaniment. The organ has that gorgeous fat round analog sound you just can't get from a chip. The tune slinks along for a bit, and then, around the two-minute mark, BANG! Sir Julian lets loose with a high-energy full-bore attack on the keys that makes you go weak in the knees; an organ-asm if you will.
To be fair, Sir Julian uses this trick on about a third of the tunes on the album, but it's still a suave move, and the tune seriously rocks."Caravan" can be found on The 13 Fingers of Sir Julian which isn't in print. It's also on RCA's History of Space Age Pop, vol. 1: Melodies and Mischief, which also isn't in print, but can be found. The History of Space Age Pop series from RCA is a fantastic compilation, and should be on any discerning music lover's shelf.
[You can listen to Sir Julian's "Caravan" by navigating to the post "Song009" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]
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