Entertainment For Lively Minds
Donovan - the new Donovan?
In a recent podcast, those lovable moptops Hepworth n' Ellen are heard having a good old sneer at Donovan's expense. Something about him bragging about having invented psychedelia and punk. Well, he may not have invented either form, but Sunshine Superman was recorded before Eight Miles High, which is usually held to be the first (mainstream) psychedelic platter, and Sunny Goodge Street (hallucinogenic in lyric and mood if not sound) even before that. Also, Donovan chronicled both Swinging London (in a number of songs) and then produced "iconic" - how I hate that fucking word - L.A. psych, which does indeed express the whole two-chord garage punk "ethos" - ditto - before he hit twenty. Having got the trainspotter timeline out of the way ... I admit to being a Donovan Sneerer for many years. The fey little minstrel with his precious articulation and songs about elves or whatever. As a "freak" (we didn't call ourselves hippies back then) and a "head" I found his lightweight nursery rhymes embarrassing, preferring to tote my Zappa albums around town to scare and impress the local straights with my rigorous outsiderness (and avoid getting any girlfriends, bafflingly). But the perspective of old(ish) age has revealed to me both the error of my ways and the breadth of Donovan's talent. I make no excuses for my admiration and enjoyment of his work - I'm not being ironic and I have no mates to impress.
I kicked off my voyage of discovery (if a voyage can truly be said to start with a kicking off) with the three "classic" "iconic" classic album icons; Sunshine Superman, Mellow Yellow, and Hurdy Gurdy Man, all the time kicking myself in the arse (metaphorically, at least) for missing out on this stuff for so long for no good reason. Then I combat-crawled into his back catalogue (ooh! vicar!) and emerged with pretty much everything he recorded. The variety - the sheer variety, if you will - is staggering. Full-on rock. Gorgeous balladry. Smoky jazz. Silly nonsense. Pop wonderment. It's been like discovering, well, the Beatles. Very damn nearly. And although he hit the same lows during the low decades (I've forgotten them) as everybody else, he's recently made a quietly spectacular comeback with the fantastic Beat Cafe (BUY THIS ALBUM) and the very fine Sutras.
The point of this, my first blog entry, is to offer to headbutt anybody who sneers at the man again. He's a national treasure; an eccentric, a true original, and I neither know nor care if he's "better" than Dylan, but I know whose albums I'd grab first from a blazing dirigible - the beautiful work of a man incapable of a sneer. And an extraordinarily good guitarist.
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Well said
There are many Donovan songs that are among my all-time favourites and I have loved them since I was a teenager many years ago. Having said that, though, he doesn't make it easy for us admirers, does he? I mean, whenever he's interviewed, you just know he's going to say something embarrassingly self-important or twee or silly. But,I totally, agree that that shouldn't blind us to the fact that he has written some great songs & made some beautiful records. For the album Sunshine Superman alone, he should be regarded as one of the greats.
I was pretty surprised
to see his influence on the Fabs in last night's accoustic night.
He used to stay next door to us at that time with our junkie neighbour and my brothers and sisters would play therewith their kids and he'd play choons for them. He was just another weird neighbourin what was an ordinary, shabby council street - and this would have been right at around teh time of his trip to India with the HJHs.
Hank Marvin used to stop by ours for a cup of tea as well.
You lived on
Stella Street. Do I win five pounds? :-)
Agreed
Three Kingfishers would sit nicely on The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter by the ISB, which was released a year later. Great clip of him doing it on the Pete Seeger show:
Fantastic clip
Thanks for posting.
Great clip
It's a very small thing I know, but I've always been puzzled that, though the song is called "Three Kingfishers," he quite clearly sings "twelve kingfisher birds." Is there a reason for this?
Shawn Phillips ...
... I have to admit I own all his albums and actually enjoy most of them. Even if he is a big blowhard in love with his own hair and ability to hold a reedy note long enough for us to go and check our email. Great clip though but, showing him in that "getting good in the back" tonsorial mode.
(Anyone else heard Beat Cafe?)
Good to hear from another Donovan fan
even if I do agree with most of what Raymo says above.
Here's a photo I took backstage at the 7th National Jazz and Blues Festival, Windsor in August 1967.
On the left in the striped jacket is John Cameron, the man responsible for all those wonderful arrangements on Don's classic psych albums.
The cat in the hat is American banjo player Derroll Adams, who inspired the Donovan song Epistle To Derroll from the album A Gift From A Flower To A Garden. Adams also features in the Dylan film Don't Look Back (as does Donovan, of course)
Wonderful!
Thanks so much for this.
I've never understood all the mickey-taking...
he's been subject to over the years. He does what he does and does it extremely well.
I saw some footage of him on the All You Need Is Love series that was excellent and it has prompted me to order my first ever Donovan album... Sunshine Superman.
The mickey-taking
is down to Don's tireless self-aggrandisement. His records are wonderful (certainly up to 1973) but he seemingly has no self-deprecation filter and never fails to come across as pompous and lacking in humour when interviewed.
If I may pompously quote myself from a previous thread:
As a footnote to all this, it's good to see that Don's music still has the ability to delight and astonish. Only yesterday I was talking to a local musician (possibly in his mid-30s) about Jeff Beck and naturally we both agreed that Beck is possibly the finest guitarist ever to draw breath. Then I mentioned the apparently unlikely collaboration between the Jeff Beck Group and Donovan, resulting in the wonderfully strange hit single Barabajagal.
This chap had never heard of the Beck/Donovan link-up and was gobsmacked when I played him the song.
What a pity the proposed full album featuring the Beck Group and Donovan fell apart after just two tracks were recorded (the other being Trudi aka Bed With Me, the B-Side of Barabajagal).
Not sure about this but ...
I think that Homesickness (on HMS Donovan) involved some formation of the Jeff Beck line-up? It stands out like a sore thumb (a strange metaphor, when you think about it) on that album, and sounds much better when stripped in (through the magic of mp3) to Barabajagal.
One other
track from the Donovan/Jeff Beck Group sessions is available. Stromberg Twins appeared as a bonus track on the 2005 Barabajagal reissue CD.
I know exactly what you mean about Homesickness. It's the only track on HMS Donovan which was produced by Mickie Most and was taken from an earlier session, which is why it sounds like nothing else on the album.
I've never read anything about a Beck connection there though.
I think Donovan's reputation would be...
...significantly enhanced by a really crefully assembled multi-label box set. I don't think many people have the time or inclination to fight their way through his back catalogue and all the cobbled-together compilations. (I know I don't.) But I've always thought that, at his best, he's terrific at what he does, is more than a one trick pony and undoubtedly has a lot of unappreciated corners/gems in his catalogue.
The trouble is, if Don was involved himself he'd probably find a way to veto the goodies that a third party curator would include and include a load of dross.
Sony put one out
a few years ago:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Try-Sun-Journey-Donovan/dp/B000AMWJ20
Some of the later selections get a bit trying, in my opinion, but that more-or-less confirms what you say about goodies vs. dross. You can't please 'em all, all of the time.
I don't think
there are any problems in that direction Colin.
In America Donovan's 1965 acoustic material was released on the Hickory label and there has never been any trouble compiling that stuff with the later Epic (Sony) recordings which appeared from 1966 to 1976.
In the UK he was on the Pye label (and their prog offshoot Dawn) all the way from 1965 until 1971, then on Epic until 1976.
I don't think there's very much worthy of inclusion on a compilation after that date. His 1996 big comeback album Sutras was on Rick Rubin's American label which is also part of the Sony empire.
What do you think ...
... about Beat Cafe? Totally unlike anything else and yet distinctively Donovan. And I'd press for a release of Celtia, a lovely album that languishes in the contractual cock-up bin.
I've got a copy of
Beat Cafe, but confess to not giving it much of a listen. I think I've subconciously cut Donovan off at 1973's Essence To Essence, his last great album for my money.
But I will give it a spin today and get back to you later with a report.
I also managed to find a download of Celtia some time ago, but it's the same story.
I must try harder with these later albums.
Beat Cafe ...
... is that rare thing, a grower. The first time I heard it, my attention wandered, and I wasn't in the room when it finished. But successive plays have wedged it into my subconsciousness to the point where I find myself humming its subtle hooks at odd moments (there are no other kind). Take a look at the Amazon reviews - they're largely on the money, and someone refers to the "thump and groan" of Danny Thompson's bass - a beautiful description. Danny Thompson - we are not worthy, right? And here he is, and not for the first time, backing up Donovan. I get the impression that musicians (from the great John Cameron, through the jazz line-ups, to the Beatles and Jeff Beck, to Danny Thompson and countless others) are more inclined to pay the man his due respect than the soundbite-hungry public.
Most albums tail off, some stay the same, but Beat Cafe gets better with every play. In spite of the hideous and inexplicable "new wave" cover - a major mis-step for an artist who's displayed some visual suss in his day.
Didn't John Cameron also do the music for Kes?
If Eric Clapton is God, it's time to get the ready reckoner out for Donovan.
Played a compilation of his a few months ago and I can't think of any act with a more enjoyable 25 or so songs.
And check out 'Teas'.
Baby Blue
You'd have to be mad not to sneer at him surely. He's always been a delusional fantasist. In Pennebaker's Don't Look Back he sits apparently entranced listening to Bob running through It's All Over Now Baby Blue, only to ruin the moment by chipping in with "I used to know a girl named Bay Blue". Yeah, right.
...And of course
Bob wasn't a fantasist at all, was he?
I'm speaking here as a Bob fan, if not a Bob-cat or indeed Dylanologist. .
Yes, you can sneer ...
at Donovan for being uncool in front of Dylan. He was just a kid. In a very bizarre situation. Or you can (theoretically) forgive and forget a trivial moment given significance through being preserved on film, and appreciate the man's music instead. Only a very tiny fraction of which is influenced by The Great Man, himself a blatant Woody Wannabee for some years.
But enjoy your sneer!
Just a kid
There's a lovely moment in Don't Look Back during the "who threw the glass?" hotel room scene. Dylan is kicking off and threatening all manner of retribution unless the culprit steps forward.
At that point Donovan pipes up with "I'll help you clean it up man".
Like you say, he was just a kid.
I trust the Massif
so I gave Donovan a go on Acnefy™ tonight...
he's pish.
I went off experimenting with Joni Mitchell, she's damn fine! :D
a 50/50 result I guess
No ...
... Pish is out of Marillion.
you daft silly
they're new Dreadful Grate
I have to agree.
I've tried several times to appreciate his music via a hastily purchased compilation LP or CD, and each time I scratch my head. He has some good stuff (Hurdy Gurdy Man, Sunshine Superman etc) but the bulk of it I find so insipid and fey (sorry for using such clichéd Donovan-bashing adjectives but they really are most apt)that I usually leap to the turntable after a couple of tracks.
The two things Don gets accused of are..
..not being as good as Dylan (true, same as everyone else)
and being a bit of a delusionist (true, but some of his claims hold water)
He DID teach the Beatles how to fingerpick, and that sound WAS all over the white album.
He DID introduce exotic orchestration into folk rock way before Love or Nick Drake ("Sunny Goodge St." is basically a template for "Bryter Layter"
..and he made some great imaginative pop singles.
Yep.....
....and never forget that those singles shifted product in a time when you needed to shift product to get anywhere near the top ten.
20,000 copies wouldn't have got you to No. 1 in 1965.
Many crap 'artists' have shifted plenty of product since (madonna) but let us not forget the combined top ten singles of the smiths and the clash, to name but two, do not amount to a very big number.
To this day the milkman (regardless of age and if anyone still has one!) could whistle more Donovan songs than clash songs.
In all my days DJ-ing
I have never once been asked to play a Donovan tune.
I've been asked many times for The Clash and Madonna. One such event was for a 50th birthday of a Milkman. He liked The Rolling Stones.
Never really given him much thought alhough many years ago..
I saw him play live. He was, somewhat bizarrely, supporting Happy Mondays who were going through a major Donovan obsession at the time (they wrote a song about him) and indeed I think both Shaun Ryder and Paul Ryder got romantically linked with various Donovan offspring for a brief time.
It didn't really work (much like the marriages), I recall the band were very slick and polished and seemed to want to give Donovan a sound that made him "bang up to date for the late 1990s" by adding lots of Yamaha keyboards and guitar solos...you know the kind of thing. It was a very strange clash of cultures that probably seemed like a great idea in the brains of the Happy Mondays, Nathan (son of Roger) McGough and Tony Wilson.
I think what they were hoping was it would sound exactly like this which of course would have been spot on:
Oh and this was going on at the time:
For every crap song written by Donovan ...
... I could give you, ooh - fifty great ones? A hundred?
Luckily, we don't judge The Beatles by Ob-La-Di. But there's something charming about the idea of writing a song about how you love your shirt in an era of pompous significance in rock lyrics.
Donovan songs have been covered by the Allman Brothers and Jefferson Airplane, not just Right Said Fred ...
Furthermore...
Far from being crap, Donovan's original of I Love my Shirt is, as you say, a charming little song. I used to sing it to my kids when they were little and it went down a storm every time.
Children love it, what greater recommendation is there than that?
'Sand and Foam'
is strangely gorgeous and I'll forgive him a lot just for that (and arrows up for the earlier mention of 'Teas').Maybe Donovan didn't quite know how to channel his talent into the standout albums that are canonised as rock history?
Standout albums ...
... he made a few standout albums (*your choice here*). His lack of canonisation (or iconisation) is due to the perception of his being a lightweight at best, a Dylan clone at worst. He's neither. It takes a lot of strength to be gentle. But his gentleness is deceptive - some of his lyrics bite.
Pop quiz: from which Donovan song comes the following lyric (and no Googling at the back, please):
"... the stench of the flesh sickens me"
Sutras
Back in 1996 there was a review of Donovan's Sutras album in Mojo magazine written by, I think, Mark Ellen (apologies if I've got that wrong, or if I'm misquoting him here).
It was his first major label release in almost a decade and the record company press handout made much of the fact that Donovan had apparently penned no fewer than 100 songs for Sutras and the tracks on the finished album were selected from a virtually limitless reservoir of newly written material.
I've never forgotten one really great sarky line in Mark's review "Oh, just the 100 songs, then?"
Beat Cafe
As promised, I gave a good listen to Beat Café. I'd say it's more of a "feel" album than a "songs" album with the opening track Love Floats especially almost bordering on trance.
The instrumentation is very sparse, but with the great Danny Thompson and Jim Keltner holding down the rhythm section, you really don't need much else.
Parts of the album seemed strangely familiar until I worked out that Poorman's Sunshine and Lord Of The Universe are re-workings of old songs from the Barabajagal era and odd lines from other songs also date back to Donovan's 60s material.
Inevitably, I was drawn to The Cuckoo, which is probably the most folky track on the album by a long way.
But I think you're right Burt, it's definitely a grower.