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Cunning Stunts
Studio album by
Caravan
Released25 July 1975
RecordedSeptember 1974 - May 1975
StudioTollington Park Studios, London
GenreProgressive rock, Canterbury scene
Length41:47
LabelDecca
ProducerDavid Hitchcock
Caravan chronology
Caravan and the New Symphonia
(1974) 		Cunning Stunts
(1975) 		Blind Dog at St. Dunstans
(1976)

Cunning Stunts is the sixth studio album by the progressive rock band Caravan, released in 1975. It was their first album with the bass guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Mike Wedgwood. The title of the album is a spoonerism for "Stunning Cunts", which is typical of their cheeky use of language. Three previous Caravan albums with titles that are also sexual plays on words[citation needed] are If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You (1970), In the Land of Grey and Pink (1971) and For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night (1973).

Background and recording

For a stretch of several days David Hitchcock was simultaneously producing Cunning Stunts and Renaissance's Scheherazade and Other Stories, so that he would have to work on Cunning Stunts at Tollington Park Studios during the day and on Scheherazade and Other Stories at Abbey Road Studios at night, an arrangement which Hitchcock felt negatively impacted both albums.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]

AllMusic described it as "a solid, varied, and interesting album with plenty of character."[2]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Show of Our Lives"John Murphy, Dave Sinclair5:47
2."Stuck in a Hole"Pye Hastings3:09
3."Lover"Mike Wedgwood5:06
4."No Backstage Pass"Pye Hastings4:34
5."Welcome the Day"Mike Wedgwood4:01
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Dabsong Conshirtoe"
  • a.  "The Mad Dabsong"
  • b.  "Ben Karratt Rides Again"
  • c.  "Pro's and Con's"
  • d.  "Wraiks and Ladders"
  • e.  "Sneaking out the Bare Quare"
  • f.  "All Sorts of Unmentionable Things"
John Murphy, Dave Sinclair18:00
  • 2:15
  • 2:42
  • 2:29
  • 0:58
  • 4:25
  • 5:11
2."Fear and Loathing in Tollington Park Rag"Geoffrey Richardson1:10
Bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
8."Stuck in a Hole" (single version)Pye Hastings3:10
9."Keeping Back My Love"Pye Hastings5:14
10."For Richard" (Live at the Fairfield Halls, 1974)Richard Coughlan, Hastings, Sinclair, Richard Sinclair18:34

Personnel

Caravan in 1974. From left to right: Hastings, Richardson, Wedgwood, Coughlan, Sinclair.
Caravan[3]
Additional personnel

Charts

Chart (1975) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[4] 50
US Billboard 200[5] 124

References

  1. ^ Dome, Malcolm (2021). Scheherazade and Other (Booklet). Renaissance. Cherry Red Records Ltd. p. 10.
  2. ^ a b Planer, Lindsay. Cunning Stunts at AllMusic
  3. ^ Caravan, Cunning Stunts (1975), vinyl LP cover notes
  4. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  5. ^ "Caravan Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2023.

External links

Caravan
Authority control databases
Categories