''Cunning Stunts'' is the sixth studio album by the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band

Caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Campervan, a type of vehicle also known as a motor caravan *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Caravan (trail ...

, 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 A spoonerism is an occurrence of speech in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched (see metathesis) between two words of a phrase. These are named after the Oxford don and priest William Archibald Spooner, who report ...

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 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 ''For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night'' is the fifth studio album released by the Canterbury scene band Caravan. Richard Sinclair and Steve Miller left the band prior to the recording of this album. They were replaced by John G. Perry and ...

'' (1973).

Background and recording

For a stretch of several days David Hitchcock was simultaneously producing ''Cunning Stunts'' and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

'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 Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

at night, an arrangement which Hitchcock felt negatively impacted both albums.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

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

Track listing

;Side one ;Side two ;Bonus tracks

Personnel

;CaravanCaravan, ''Cunning Stunts'' (1975), vinyl LP cover notes *

Pye Hastings Julian Frederick Gordon 'Pye' Hastings (born 21 January 1947) is a British musician. Born in Scotland and raised in Canterbury, Kent, he is the guitarist and vocalist of the Canterbury scene band Caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Tran ...

– electric guitar and acoustic guitars, vocals * Dave Sinclair – piano, organ, synthesizer, keyboards, string co-arrangement on "No Backstage Pass", brass co-arrangement on "Ben Karratt Rides Again" and "Sneaking out the Bare Quare" * Geoffrey Richardson –

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

, electric guitar, Western concert flute, flute, night-shift whistle * Mike Wedgwood –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

, congas, vocals, Moog brass on "Stuck in a Hole", string arrangement on "Lover" and "No Backstage Pass" * Richard Coughlan –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

;Additional personnel *

Jimmy Hastings James Brian Gordon Hastings (12 May 1938 – 18 March 2024) was a British musician associated with the Canterbury scene who played saxophones, flute and clarinet. Early life Hastings was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. He started playing the saxop ...

– brass arrangement on "Ben Karratt Rides Again" and "Sneaking out the Bare Quare" * David Hitchcock – producer

Charts

References

External links

Caravan - ''Cunning Stunts'' (1975) album review by Lindsay Planer, credits & releases
at AllMusic.com
Caravan - ''Cunning Stunts'' (1975) album releases & credits
at

Discogs.com Discogs ( ; short for "discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''The N ...

Caravan - ''Cunning Stunts'' (1975) album credits & user reviews
at ProgArchives.com

at Calyx: the Canterbury Music Website
Caravan - ''Cunning Stunts'' (1975) album to be listened
as stream at Play.Spotify.com * {{Authority control Caravan (band) albums 1975 albums Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis Decca Records albums Albums produced by Dave Hitchcock