The Caravelles - You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry: The Complete Caravelles 1963-1968 (1963/2001/2020)

Everything from the nine 45s and sole LP the Caravelles issued in the U.K. from 1963-1968 is on this 31-track compilation, which also includes two tracks that only surfaced on a French EP, and even four German-language recordings. As the first official anthology of their work, it does a marvelous job, including a 16-page booklet with plenty of illustrations and first-hand quotes from the group's Lois Wilkinson. Known almost exclusively for their 1963 hit "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry," it proves they were a little more interesting than the one-shot novelty act they're sometimes tagged as, though their relationship to pop/rock was usually only casual. In truth, their most widely heard songs were more throwbacks to the pre-rock era in their obviously Patience & Prudence-inspired harmonies (that duo's two hits were both covered on the Caravelles' LP). Yet the spare, almost ghostly arrangements did have a hint of pre-Beatles U.K. rock, and their close, almost whispery harmonies both carry some charm and testify to a definite and somewhat offbeat talent. The material, often drawn from or influenced by pop standards, lets the duo down as much as it benefits them. They would have been well-advised to record more of their own songs, since some of their infrequent attempts at songwriting -- relegated to LP filler and B-sides -- were actually pretty good, especially the haunting "Forever." Some of their post-1963 singles found them moving closer, if usually not that close, to pop/rock in both content and production, with "You Are Here" and "I Depend on You" making for fair Phil Spector-girl group-influenced tunes; the originals "How Can I Be Sure?" and "I Like a Man" sounding quite close to Merseybeat. They weren't quite part of the girl group scene, also veering into jazz-pop with another original, "Georgia Boy," and even rather lushly produced folk-rock on the 1967 45 "Hey Mama You've Been on My Mind." All this versatility didn't help get them another hit, of course. But taken together, they add up to a legacy that's more interesting than many historians, and even British Invasion collectors, realize, though there's some mediocrity to be waded through on an anthology this size.