Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Caravan
Label: Decca Records
Released: 1974
Runtime: 78:14
Rating: 4.5/5
In 1974, the Canterbury prog rock pioneers Caravan were sitting at the artistic and commercial peak of their career. With the fantastic album »For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night« (1973), despite relatively little media attention, they had once again vaulted themselves into the elite of the most exciting prog rock acts of their day. With their creative bloom at its fullest, guitarist/vocalist Pye Hastings, keyboardist David Sinclair, electric violist Geoff Richardson, drummer Richard Coughlan and then-bassist/backing vocalist John G Perry wanted to squeeze every last drop out of the moment. Around this time, bassist Perry got in touch with the famed conductor Martyn Ford, and the band members went on to work with him on orchestral arrangements for live versions of some of their best-loved classics.
Besides Caravan, Ford has worked in his career with such big names as Bryan Ferry, Ginger Baker, Phil Collins, Elton John and Kate Bush. Here he watched over The New Symphonia orchestra with his baton, an ensemble that at the time also included the well-known Scottish session musician Morris Pert (among other things, he was the percussionist with the cult jazz rockers Brand X). »Caravan and the New Symphonia« was the final fruit of the fertile collaboration between the band and Ford’s symphony orchestra. The female backing vocals, plus the contribution of well-known session singer Tony Burrows on a few of the numbers, add a whole new dimension to them as well.
The numbers that focus on the aforementioned masterpiece »For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night« are tied together by concert promoter Alan Black. »Memory Lain, Hugh/Headloss« is a thunderous opener to this seriously fascinating fusion of progressive rock and symphony orchestra. Worth noting: for the first three numbers of the night, the band played ‘as a warm-up’ without the orchestra, so the rest of the recording builds a really interesting sonic contrast. The hangout with the ‘girls who plump up overnight’ continues in a fun way with the playful romp »Hoedown« and the beloved favorite »The Dog, The Dog, He’s at it Again«, where the tale of the local gigolo comes to life once more, a guy who ‘hunted’ gullible girls with every cheap trick in the book and who ran out of the prescribed pills for keeping his libido in check.
On »Introduction«, the orchestra makes its first appearance on the recording and blends smoothly with the band. This is a medium-length orchestral-rock instrumental fusion packed with vivid symphonic arrangements, mainly on electric viola and keyboards. Some of the orchestral arrangements were played in an outrageously theatrical and pompous way, and they fit like a glove with the mostly rustic-baroque-spiced, multi-part harmonies coming from the fingers of the band members, especially the often boisterous sound of Richardson’s electric viola.
With a brilliant version of »The Love In Your Eye«, where the female backing harmonies shine especially convincingly, they briefly go back to the jazz-rock-leaning album »Waterloo Lily« (1972). Especially for this live recording they also played two completely new pieces: the melancholy-yet-cheerful »Mirror For The Day«, where the mood keeps swinging between boisterous and mournful, and »Virgin on the Ridiculous«, which has become a regular Caravan live classic over the years. The same goes for »For Richard«, dedicated to bassist/vocalist Richard Sinclair, David’s brother and a former original Caravan member, without whom a proper Caravan gig is unthinkable. This unforgettable classic from »If I Could Do It All Over Again…« (1970), which to this day honors Richard’s hugely important contribution to the development of Caravan’s sonic legacy, was part of an epic 14-minute suite in its original studio version. The brilliant version of »A Hunting We Shall Go«, which takes them back to the ‘girls who ripen overnight’, is the triumphant finale of this incredibly precious concert document.
»Caravan and the New Symphonia« is pretty much the perfect marriage of the unforgettable fusion wizardry of a legendary prog rock quintet and a symphony orchestra. You could say this brilliant live recording is the cherry on top of the artistic peak of these legendary Canterbury champions. Caravan were far from the first band to take on a project like this, merging a rock band with an orchestra, but without a shred of doubt they were among the most successful at it..
Lineup
Pye Hastings – guitar, vocals
Geoff Richardson – electric viola
Richard Coughlan – drums
John G Perry – bass guitar, backing vocals
Dave Sinclair – electric piano, organ, synthesizer
The New Symphonia Orchestra – orchestra
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Liza Strike – backing vocals
Vicki Brown – backing vocals
Margot Newman – backing vocals
Helen Chappelle – backing vocals
Tony Burrows – backing vocals
Robert Lindop – backing vocals
Danny Street – backing vocals
Production
David Hitchcock
Tracklist
1. Introduction by Alan Black
2. Memory Lain, Hugh / Headloss
3. The Dog, The Dog, He’s at it Again
4. Hoedown
5. Introduction
6. The Love in Your Eye
7. Mirror for the Day
8. Virgin on the Ridiculous
9. For Richard
10. A Hunting We Shall Go
