Donovan

:For the American soccer player, see Landon Donovan.

International success, 1967-69

In July Epic released the single 'There Is A Mountain', which went Top Ten in the USA and was later covered by The Allman Brothers. In September he undertook a new tour of the United States. This time Donovan was backed by a small jazz group and accompanied by his father, who introduced the show. Dressed in a flowing white robe, the stage decked with feathers, flowers and incense, Donovan played to a packed house at the Philharmonic Hall in New York. His performance was rapturously received and immortalised by Lillian Roxon in her Rock Encyclopedia. A similarly ecstatic performance at the Hollywood Bowl was followed by a notable landmark: Donovan's interview with writer John Carpenter became the first ever Rolling Stone interview in the magazine's debut issue, published on November 9, 1967. Donovan's concert at the Anaheim Convention Center on 23 September was recorded and released as a live LP the following year.

Related Topics:
The Allman Brothers - Lillian Roxon - Hollywood Bowl - November 9 - 1967 - 23 September

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Later in July 1967 Epic released Donovan's fourth album, an ambitious 2-disc set entitled A Gift from a Flower to a Garden, one of the first rock music boxed sets and only the third pop-rock double-album ever released. It was split thematically into two halves. The first record, subtitled "Wear Your Love Like Heaven", was written for the people of his generation that would one day be parents; the second, subtitled "For Little Ones", was a collection of songs Donovan had written especially for the coming children. Worried that it might be a poor seller, Epic boss Clive Davis insisted that the albums be split and sold separately in the USA, but his fears were unfounded -- although it took some time, the boxed set sold steadily, peaking at #19 on the US charts and achieving gold record status in the USA in early 1970.

Related Topics:
A Gift from a Flower to a Garden - Wear Your Love Like Heaven - For Little Ones - Clive Davis

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The psychedelic and mystical overtones of the work were unmistakable -- the front cover featured an infrared photograph of Donovan dressed in a robe and holding flowers and peacock feathers, while the back cover photo showed him holding hands with Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. But surprisingly, the liner notes included an appeal from Donovan for young people to give up the use of all drugs -- a decidedly un-hip stance for a rock musician at the height of the Summer of Love. His early public disavowal of drugs was no doubt motivated in part by his drug bust, but he was and remains strongly opposed to hard drugs -- a belief that was no doubt reinforced by the rapid physical and mental decline of his friend Brian Jones.

Related Topics:
Infrared - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi - Summer of Love

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In late 1967 Donovan contributed a several songs to the soundtrack of the Ken Loach film Poor Cow. The title track (Originally called 'Poor Love') was released as the B-side of his next single, 'Jennifer Juniper', a song inspired by Jenny Boyd, sister of George Harrison's wife Pattie Boyd. It was another Top 40 hit in the USA.

Related Topics:
Ken Loach - Jenny Boyd - Pattie Boyd

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Like The Beatles, Donovan's developed a strong interest in eastern mysticism, and in early 1968 he travelled to India, where he spent several weeks at the ashram of the Maharishi in Rishikesh. The visit gained worldwide media attention thanks to the presence of (for a time) all four Beatles as well as Beach Boys lead singer Mike Love, actress Mia Farrow and her sister Prudence (who inspired John Lennon to write 'Dear Prudence'). According to a 1968 Paul McCartney interview with Radio Luxembourg http://www.geocities.com/~beatleboy1/db112068.int.html it was during this time that Donovan taught John Lennon various finger picking styles like the claw hammer (note that in the U.K Travis Picking by Merle_Travis is often refered to as claw hammer) which he had learned from his St Albans buddy Mac MacLeod. Lennon went on to use the technique on songs including Julia and Dear Prudence.

Related Topics:
India - Rishikesh - Beach Boys - Mike Love - Mia Farrow - Merle_Travis - Mac MacLeod

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Released in May 1968, his next single was the swirling psychedelic nugget The Hurdy Gurdy Man. In the liner notes from EMI's reissues it reveals both who the song was for and who played on the track.The song was originally intended for Donovan's old friend and guitar mentor Mac MacLeod who had a heavy rock band called Hurdy Gurdy. After hearing MacLeod's power trio version, Donovan considered giving it to Jimi Hendrix, but when Mickie Most heard it, he convinced Donovan that the song was a sure-fire single and that he should record it himself. Donovan tried to get Hendrix to play on the recording, but he was on tour and unavailable for the session. Jimmy Page was also considered to play on the track and he was out of the country. In the place of Hendrix and Page they brought in a brilliant young British guitarist, Alan Parker. It is possible Jimmy Page did play on the album sessions for Hurdy Gurdy Man but not on the title track. John Paul Jones played bass with Clem Cattini on drums.Both Jones and Page have stated that the idea of Led Zeppelin was formed during the 'Hurdy Gurdy Man' sessions.

Related Topics:
Mac MacLeod - Hurdy Gurdy - Jimi Hendrix - Alan Parker

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The heavier sound of 'Hurdy Gurdy Man' was a deliberate attempt by Most and Donovan to try and reach a wider audience in the United States, where the new hard rock sounds of groups like Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience were having a major impact. Most's commercial instincts were spot-on, and the song became one of Donovan's biggest hits, going Top 5 in both the UK and the USA and Top 10 in Australia.

Related Topics:
Cream - The Jimi Hendrix Experience

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The same month, he recorded an even rockier single, the snarling, funky, freakbeat classic 'Goo Goo Barabajagal', a song which gained him an avid following on the rave scene decades later. This time he was backed by the original incarnation of The Jeff Beck Group, featuring Beck on lead guitar, Ron Wood on bass, Nicky Hopkins on piano and Micky Waller on drums. Not coincidentally, they were also under contract to Most at the time and it was Most's idea to team them with Donovan, another attempt to bring a heavier sound to Donovan's work, whlie also introducing a more lyrical edge to Beck's. However it was some time before these recordings saw the light of day. The two tracks cut with the Beck Group -- ('Barabajagal' and the single's eventual B-side 'Trudi') -- plus three others, 'Happiness Runs, Superlungs (My Supergirl) and Where Is She?, were shelved for almost a year.

Related Topics:
Jeff Beck - Ron Wood - Nicky Hopkins - Micky Waller

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In July 1968 Epic released Donovan in Concert, the recording of his Anaheim concert in September 1967. Featuring a cover painting by Donovan himself, it is notable for its long running time, its mellow jazzy feel and its excellent sound, with Donovan again leading the pack by being one of the first major pop artists of his era to release a live LP. Among the tracks (which include only two of his big hits) is 'Epistle To Derroll', a tribute to one of his formative influences, Derroll Adams, as well as length versions of 'Young Girl Blues' and 'The Pebble And The Man', a song later reworked and retitled as 'Happiness Runs'.

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During the summer of 1968 Donovan worked on a second LP of children's songs, subsequently released as the double album H.M.S. Donovan. In September Epic released a new single, 'Lalena', a subdued acoustic ballad which only managed to reach the low 30s in the US charts. The album The Hurdy Gurdy Man followed; it continued the style of the Mellow Yellow LP and reached a creditable #20 in America, in spite of the fact that it contained several earlier hits including the title track and 'Jennifer Juniper'.

Related Topics:
The Hurdy Gurdy Man - Mellow Yellow

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After another US tour in the autumn he again collaborated with Paul McCartney, who was producing Post Card, the debut LP by recently discovered Welsh singing sensation Mary Hopkin. Hopkin covered three Donovan songs: 'Lord Of The Reedy River', 'Happiness Runs', and 'Voyage of the Moon'. McCartney returned the favour by playing tambourine and singing backing vocals on Donovan's next single, the anthemic 'Atlantis', which was released in Britain (with 'I Love My Shirt' as the B-side) in late November and reached #23.

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At the start of 1969 the comedy film If It's Tuesday It Must Be Belgium was released, featuring music by Donovan. On 20 January Epic released the single, To Susan On The West Coast Waiting, with 'Atlantis' as the B-side. The A-side, a gentle calypso-styled song with a pointed anti-war message, was a moderate Top 40 US hit, but when DJs in America and Australia flipped it and began playing 'Atlantis' heavily, it became a major hit, making the Top Ten in both countries in spite of its decidedly 'hippy-dippy' subject matter, a lengthy spoken introduction and its four-minute-plus running time. 'Atlantis' received a low-key revival in 2000 when Donovan himself performed a retooled version of the song in an episode of Futurama titled 'The Deep South' (2ACV12) which first aired on 16 April of that year. In the remake, Donovan describes the Lost City of Atlanta featured in the episode.

Related Topics:
20 January - Futurama - 16 April

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In March 1969 (too soon to include 'Atlantis' on the album) Epic and Pye released Donovan's Greatest Hits, which included several songs previously only available as singles -- 'Epistle To Dippy', 'There Is A Mountain' and 'Lalena', as well as 'Colours' and 'Catch The Wind', which had until then been unavailable to Epic because of Donovan's contractual problems. It became the most successful album of his career -- it reached #4 in the US, became a million-selling gold record and stayed on the Billboard album chart for more than a year.

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In July Donovan performed at the famous Rolling Stones free concert in Hyde Park, London, which was in part a memorial to his old friend, Brian Jones, who had died only days before. Also that month the long-delayed 'Barabajagal' single was finally released, reaching #12 in the UK but charting less strongly in the USA. The Barabajagal album followed in August, reaching #23 in America.

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