For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night - Caravan

For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night (Caravan, 1973)

1. Memory Lain, Hugh / Headloss - 9:15
2. Hoedown - 3:18
3. Surprise, Surprise - 4:06
4. C'thlu Thlu - 6:12
5. The Dog, The Dog, He's At It Again - 5:56
6. Be Alright / Chance Of A Lifetime - 6:33
7. L'Auberge Du Sanglier / A Hunting We Shall Go / Pengola / Backwards / A Hunting We Shall Go (Reprise) - 10:03
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8. Memory Lain, Hugh / Headloss (US Mix) - 9:15
9. No! (Be Alright) / Waffle (Chance Of A Lifetime demo) - 5:10
10. He Who Smelt It Dealt It (Memory Lain, Hugh demo) - 4:42
11. Surprise, Surprise (demo)- 3:15
12. Derek's Long Thing - 10:59

Who is this band again?  On ...Plump In The Night, Caravan morph into a guitar-led progressive/symphonic rock band, trading most of their jazzy improv for tighter instrumentation and more complex composition. This stylistic shift results in one of the group's best albums, though different in character from earlier classics like If I Could Do It Again... or In the Land of Grey and Pink.

More lineup changes: one Sinclair cousin (Richard, bass) leaves while the other (Dave, keyboards) returns to the fold. Bassist/vocalist John G. Perry is Richard's replacement, and while his style is completely different, he delivers an inspired performance throughout. The addition of Geoff Richardson on electric violin/viola is a definite plus. He adds character and texture to the pieces, along with taking some fun solos.

The opening and closing tracks are pure excellence. "Memory Lain, Hugh / Headloss" features up-front vocals, cheery harmonies, rockin' riffs, and overall good times.  It's one of those songs that makes you smile when you hear it.  Geoff and Pye trade solos, barn-stompin' style; John's bass and Rich's drums fly all over the place while still anchoring the song; Dave's organ and synth drive the dynamics and emphasize the anthem; and Jimmy Hastings' flute flutters above all.  Meanwhile, at the other end of the album, the instrumental "L'Auberge Du Sanglier" suite finds the band stretching out into some seriously complex territory: a bracing instrumental in 19/8 time with breaks in 13/8, featuring roaring lead guitar, furious fiddling from Geoff, and knotty rhythmic support. It transitions into "Backwards", which is actually a cover of the last five minutes of Soft Machine's "Slightly All The Time", but instead of reproducing the original's gentle, floating wash of jazz saxophone, they take the inspired chord progression and amp it up with orchestra and synthesizer, building from nothing to a huge, dramatic interpretation before revisiting the original 19/8 theme to wrap it all up. Simply stunning.

And as a bonus, all the songs in between these two have something to offer as well!  "Hoedown" and "Surprise, Surprise" are in a more traditional pop vein, but the harmony vocals help them stand out. "C'thlu Thlu" features a spidery, menacing guitar/bass riff to tell its scary story, and "Be Alright / Chance of a Lifetime" mixes harder rock with gentle acoustic passages. "The Dog, The Dog..." is classic Caravan - a cheeky lyric sung innocently over folky guitar, with pretty flute and violin gracing the piece and a break for a Dave Sinclair keyboard solo. Well done, mates.

Arbitrary rating: 4.5 out of 5 rockin' riffs