SURPRISE SUPPLIES [AKA: HERE AM I]

This is something of an "official bootleg" in Caravan's discography, since a soundboard tape of this show had circulated for a while before a nicely tidied-up version came out via HTD. It would later be rereleased by various outfits, including under the title Here Am I: its most recent rerelease is on the career-spanning megabox Who Do We Think We Are?

It's an apt choice to turn into an official release, though, because as well as decent sound quality it offers something rather different to most Caravan live releases. Hailing as it does from the Blind Dog At St. Dunstans tour, it offers live renditions of almost the whole album - the sole missing song being Jack and Jill, and the only earlier material being a rendition of The Love In Your Eye.

This is a bit of a revelation, because Blind Dog is a rather critically snubbed release in the Caravan discography - perhaps because it continued the poppier direction of Cunning Stunts, as well as a somewhat plastic, cold production job which lacked the warmth and authenticity of earlier Caravan albums. Here, the live energy added to the compositions really helps, and set next to The Love In Your Eye they don't feel like quite such a major departure as their studio renditions may have seemed in isolation.

As such, Surprise Supplies offers an interesting alternative look at where Caravan was at in 1976 which much indeed surprise listeners who found their studio efforts from that year underwhelming.