Review Summary: One of the best albums of the Canterbury scene. It marks a return to Caravan’s sound.
“For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night” is the fifth studio album of Caravan and was released in 1973. The line up on the album is Pye Hastings, David Sinclair, Geoffrey Richardson, John G. Perry and Richard Coughlan. In addition to this line up there are an enormous amount of many other musicians that participated on the album as guest musicians.
Caravan is an English progressive rock band from the Canterbury scene. Caravan was founded by the former Wilde Flowers’ members David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan in 1968. So, Caravan grew out of the breakup of the Wilde Flowers, a also Canterbury based group formed in 1964 as an R&B based outfit with a jazzy edge. The band was originally based in Whitstable, Kent, a place near Canterbury, but soon they relocated to London.
For many aficionados of the creative progressive rock music that surfaced in the heady days of the end of the 60’s and the beginning of the 70’s, the bands who surfaced from the English provincial city of Canterbury released some of the most consistently interesting progressive rock music of that period. And of all the great bands that emerged from the so-called “Canterbury Scene”, in my opinion, none of them was so original, so unique and as enduring as Caravan was.
Caravan was disbanded in 1978 but was reformed several times all over their extensive career. But, for all bands that emerged in Canterbury, and despite be reformed by several times, Caravan was the most consistent of all and is also the band that lasted longer. Still, the band has never achieved the great success that was widely predicted for them at the beginning of their career. They were never much more than a very successful cult band. Nevertheless, they were considered a key part of the Canterbury scene, blending psychedelic rock, jazz and classical influences to create a very distinctive prog rock sound. Along with Soft Machine, they are perhaps the definitive Canterbury scene prog rock act.
The texture of the album is immediately pleasing. The electric guitar is used to craft hooks rather than rattle the walls, and the acoustic guitar bits are pensive and very tasteful too. Other tricks are employed with voice overdubbing and orchestration, and every experiment works very well. However, this album isn’t nearly as immediately likable as “In The Land Of Grey And Pink” is. However, I consider it one of their better albums. Maybe it isn’t as balanced as “In The Land Of Grey And Pink” is, but the side 2 is as good as anything Caravan ever released. And it closes with one of their best epics, which is classic Caravan, with Dave Sinclair’s fuzz organ driven solos. This is the album that introduced Geoffrey Richardson to the fold. His viola is a very welcome addition to the Caravan sound. But, unfortunately, Caravan were never to reach these heights again, though some of their follow up albums certainly are worthy of investigation as well.
For me, “For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night” is a better album than their previous one, “Waterloo Lily”. The album starts with the excellent “Memory Lain, Hugh And Headloss”. This is an energetic and catchy track were the flute raids give to the song a more pastoral atmosphere and the brass splatters some jazzy reminiscences. “Hoedown” keeps the same idea as “Headloss”, but with a faster cadence. The guitar solo is certainly the biggest highlight here. “Surprise, Surprise” is a ballad with a beautiful melody. The lyrics are upbeat and nostalgic. Another great guitar solo enhances the music. “C’Thlu Thlu” has a change of mood and a darker atmosphere starting with guitar riffs, mostly at a walking pace. Nevertheless, it has a lighter and livelier chorus. “The Dog, The Dog, He’s At It Again” is a good example of the more poppy side of Caravan’s prog rock sound. It has a sincere and optimistic tone that is very much in line with the characteristic style of the band. “Be Alright” and “Chance Of A Lifetime” starts with another interesting riff and introduces the listener at a slightly heavy moment. It has a performative violin piece and a great guitar solo. The last track is the great instrumental. The riffs and themes are great, and there’s also some very tasteful synths and orchestration here. It closes the album with a golden key, a beautiful and masterful epic with a lot of orchestral sound.
Conclusion: I remain a staunch advocate of “If I Could Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It All Over You” and “In The Land Of Grey And Pink” as the quintessential Caravan’s albums, not least because a Caravan without both Sinclair cousins just isn’t quite the real deal for me. But, for evidence of their principal songwriter at his naughty, esoteric and consistent best, “For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night” is an essential addition to any prog rock collection. So, this is overall an excellent album with great musical quality in its compositions and the flow with which it unfolds turns your listening into an extremely pleasurable experience. On my ears, this is a better album than “Waterloo Lily”. Most of the piano and jazz influences were gone, and the band had added both synths and violin to their sound. I really think this worked very well. It’s a great album, but you should start with “In The Land Of Grey And Pink” if you aren’t familiar with Caravan yet.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
