Caroline (Status Quo song)

The song was written by band leader Francis Rossi and roadie / harmonica player Bob Young on a table napkin in the dining room of a hotel in Perranporth, Cornwall, in 1971. A demo was cut with Rossi playing guitar and bass, with Terry Williams on drums. The group changed the arrangement from a slow blues song, doubling the tempo, and recorded it mostly live using their stage gear and amplifiers.^[4] On the single release, the song fades out, while the album version is about thirty seconds longer and has a conclusive ending.

The song became one of the opening numbers in Quo's live setlist for over 25 years.^[4] It was the second number played at their Live Aid gig in 1985^[5] and it inspired Apollo 440's 1999 single "Stop the Rock".^[6]

The song was reprised, in 2014, for the band's thirty-first studio album Aquostic (Stripped Bare). It was featured in the ninety-minute launch performance of the album at London's Roundhouse on 22 October, the concert being recorded and broadcast live by BBC Radio 2 as part of their In Concert series.^[7][8]

Another re-recorded version of the song appears on the band's 2003 album Riffs.

• 1973: "Caroline" (Rossi/Young) (3.43) / "Joanne" (Lancaster) (4.06) 45 rpm Vinyl 7", Vertigo / 6059 085 Germany, United Kingdom
• 1985: "Caroline" / "Down Down" 45 rpm Vinyl 7", Old Gold / OG 9566 United Kingdom

• 1973, on the vinyl album Hello! - track 5, 4:16.^[3]
• 2003, on the album Riffs, track 1, 4:54 (re-recorded version)
• 2014, on the album Aquostic (Stripped Bare), track 8, 3:13 (acoustic version)
• 2015, on the CD album Hello!, CD1, track 5, 4:16; the 2015 re-issue bonus disc has four different versions: original demo fast, original demo slow, mono version and stereo version.