Here we progress through Robin Trower’s Mark II era, following on from his transition to shorter format songs first heard on his previous album ‘In City Dreams’.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Robin Trower
ALBUM: Caravan To Midnight
LABEL: Chrysalis
SERIAL: CHR-1189
YEAR: 1978
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: England
LINEUP: LINEUP: Robin Trower – guitars * Jim Dewar – vocals * Rusty Allen – bass * Bill Lordan – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 My Love (Burning Love) * 02 Caravan To Midnight * 03 I’m Out To Get You * 04 Lost In Love * 05 Fool * 06 It’s For You * 07 Birthday Boy * 08 King Of The Dance * 09 Sail On
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
I’m currently working in our review blocks between the years 1978 and 1979. Both in terms of adding new reviews and revamping the formatting of existing reviews. British guitarist Robin Trower has a couple of albums we’ve yet to cover during this timeframe and we duly attend to those now. We don’t need to repeat his history and achievements up to this point in his career, it’s all been adequately covered in the Glory Daze database already, click on the Robin Trower tag below.
The Songs
The lineup of the band was fairly stable at this point following on from the previous years ‘In City Dreams’. Though Jim Dewar could sing and play bass, the latter task went to Rusty (Rustee) Allen, formerly of Sly And The Family Stone.
Much like the previous album, the songs on ‘Caravan To Midnight’ are kept to a shorter context, keeping the FM radio programmers on their toes. Firstly from a vocal perspective, Dewar is in fine form, really it’s hard to tell the difference between him and Gamma‘s Davey Pattison. Both Scotsmen by the way, and have spent considerable time bowing at the altar of Paul Rodgers.
The album combines bits of the past (such as the noticeable guitar tone), as well as the current timeframe (shorter songs and a funky edge in places). Opener ‘My Love (Burning Love)’ is an easy comparison to 70’s era Bad Company, with Dewar’s voice aiming up to Rodgers level, plus there is Trower’s use of wah and flanger which sends it over the edge.
‘Caravan To Midnight’ (the song) is Trower’s moment to shine. An instrumental, it’s a soulful piece with the guitar solos reaching Hendrix like similarities. ‘I’m Out To Get You’ diverts to a laid back form of funk, it’s kinda ‘cool as a cucumber’, whereas ‘Lost In Love’ slows the tempo noticeably, and from this point onwards, the album tends to fall away somewhat.
‘It’s For You’ keeps the tempo in slow mode, the drum work very basic though the song didn’t put me to sleep entirely. ‘Birthday Boy’ was a melancholic affair that offered nothing of interest. ‘King Of The Dance’ returns to that quasi-funk sound but eventually it settles in mid-tempo rock territory. As for the closer ‘Sail On’, it feels like a song without any wind in its sails whatsoever.
In Summary
I’m thinking that I made a good decision to avoid Trower’s albums from this era back in the day, though decades later it is still vitally important to add these articles into the GDM system for posterity’s sake. If you’re still interested in following Robin’s discography, I’d suggest keeping to the early albums from 1973 to 1976.
Video
My Love (Burning Love)
