LIVE AT FAIRFIELD HALLS - 1974

Easily the best Caravan live album, Live at Fairfield Halls captures the band seamlessly integrating new bassist Mike Wedgwood into their ranks. At the time the album was recorded, the group had been touring with the For Girls Who Grow Plump In the Night material for a good while, and this shows in the confidence with which they bring pieces such as L'Auberge Du Sanglier to the stage. Without the distraction of the orchestra on the New Symphonia, the band are able to simply concentrate on giving the material their all, which they do with gusto. Between-songs banter with the audience is preserved to give an authentic taste of the live Caravan experience. In short, this album absolutely did not deserve to languish in the vaults for as long as it did, and we should thank Decca for making it available to us at last in 2002. Along with If I Could Do It All Over Again I'd Do It All Over You and In the Land of Grey and Pink, I would say this is one of the essential Caravan albums - even more so than For Girls Who Grow Plump.