For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night

Violist Geoffrey Richardson jumped aboard Caravan in late 1972, while bassist John G. Perry joined after the Australian tour. They were two significant additions to the band, as both musicians would impart a significant influence on Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan. The band hired Dave Sinclair for a tour in the spring; but by the time they entered the studio to record their fifth record, For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night, Sinclair had returned as fulltime keyboardist. Pushed by a hard-driving guitar riff and punctuated by Sinclair's classic organ solo, the album's opener, "Memory Lain, Hugh," is a great return to form. Jimmy Hastings's flute and the stately horn arrangements help segue into the second section, "Headloss," and the band never skips a beat. Richardson's viola is well suited for the music, and his "Hoedown" reflects his new addition; however "C'Thlu" is a big departure, sounding more like Cream than Caravan! The second side contains several more compositions from Hastings that present a new, harder edge. The highlight is the stretch that begins with "L'Auberge du Sanglier" ("Wild Boar Inn") and runs through "A Hunting We Shall Go (Reprise)." Propelled by Perry's strong bass lines, the closing sections features Martyn Ford's powerful orchestration, augmented further by a rare synthesizer solo from Sinclair. Just after the album's release, the orchestra joined Caravan on stage at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, which resulted in the excellent Caravan And The New Symphonia record. It would be the only release for the band in 1974; and once again, neither album would chart, despite both being two of the strongest in Caravan's catalog.