From the Donovan Facebook page:
DONOVAN TO RECEIVE RARE JOHN LENNON REAL LOVE TRIBUTE
DONOVAN will be the 3rd Recipient of the JOHN LENNON REAL LOVE TRIBUTE AWARD September 3 2016 in SYMPHONY SPACE New York City. DONOVAN is only the 3rd to receive this special honor in the 35 year history of THEATRE WITHIN’s annual celebration of JOHN LENNON’s work and charities.
DONOVAN as the main artist that night, will perform an extended hour of music and will sing many of John’s songs including those Donovan helped John write from the tuition he gave John in India when they were studying TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION.
DONOVAN taught John a finger-style guitar method in India and a set of UNIQUE DONOVAN CHORD STRUCTURES which opened up a new horizon of songwriting for John, and John wrote DEAR PRUDENCE, JULIA and other John songs on THE WHITE ALBUM. Donovan also helped John write JULIA.
Paul and George also received the tuition in India and they wrote BLACKBIRD and WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS, among other songs.
GEORGE HARRISON in THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY video said,
“DONOVAN IS ALL OVER THE WHITE ALBUM”.
Donovan says,
“It was a pleasure and amazing to see the new styles of songwriting that emerged form John, Paul and George from my tuition, and most touching was when John asked me to help him write a song about a childhood he never had, with his mother JULIA.
John said in India, I was the best Children’s Songwriter and could I help him with JULIA.
At my Tribute concert I will unveil a song John wrote through me after John dropped the body.
I ‘Channeled’ this song from John.
Come to my Tribute Concert to hear this amazing ‘Chanelled’ song from John, and support John and Yoko’s Charities and remember
PEACE BEGINS WITHIN!
Donovan
Don hiding his light under a bushel, as usual
The artistic bumptiousness is mere misdirection, though – the REAL* wow factor that night will be Don’s redefining of space-time, when he performs an “extended hour” of music: he is somehow going to stretch that hour in a way that would baffle and astound Newton, Einstein, Feynman and Hawking (all of whom he influenced with early guitar lessons and crucial pointers on quantum mechanics, discretely co-writing some of their best material).
(* hoping that Don hasn’t copyrighted WORDS IN CAPITALS)
And it looks like Don is now moving into the Doris Stokes market.
“At my Tribute concert I will unveil a song John wrote through me after John dropped the body. I ‘Channeled’ this song from John.”
“After John dropped the body”. Out the window? In the river?
“After John dropped the body”. Out the window? In the river?
So it’s true after all. Paul really -is- dead.
I think he just realised that Nile Rodgers has recently been trying to claim the ‘Rutling Orange Peel’ title from him, so he realised that he needed to up his game. I haven’t read Mike Love’s book yet, but I would guess that he’s also claimed to have written half the White Album?
Seriously though, how many times have we seen Nile Rodgers pop up this year on BBC4 music docs claiming everything was his idea?
I do have quite a liking for pop stars who take themselves too seriously and are their own number one fan though. Donovan wins it by some distance, but Ray Davies, Pete Townshend and Annie Lennox are all up there.
that’s for real is it – not a piss take ?
Would that it were JW. Some of the Facebook comments are great, too.
Adam Buxton would have a field day:
“You really need to take your head out of your ass. This is really off putting, whoever’s writing this needs a slap”
and
“Why do you bother to follow and read about Donovan as you are clearly NOT a fan?”
and the pithy
“You can lick balls”
https://www.facebook.com/DonovanOfficial/
I need to know about the UNIQUE DONOVAN CHORD STRUCTURES right away.
I was rather impressed by that too, Mike. Googled. It seems that there are major chords, minor chords and Donovan chords. Amazing!
Sounds a bit sus
Not this again…
Don probably invented arpeggios too.
Why are you so Anti- Donovan? The Beatles seemed to like him.
Au contraire. We (or at least I) love Donovan and all he stands for. It’s just that he does take himself little too seriously most of the time.
If you had done as much as Don (cured smallpox, split the atom, invented The Beatles) you’d take yourself seriously as well.
In the bonus material at the end of the Sunshine Superman – The Journey Of Donovan DVD Billy Connelly introduces Don at some award ceremony or other. The Big Yin wisecracks about Don’s song Catch The Wind adding that “It’s a problem we all have at our age”.
Donovan laughs along with the fart gag through gritted teeth, but it’s clear he’s not happy being ridiculed in this way.
He’s entitled to.
He can be whatever he wants and people can think of him whatever they want.
I only know of one person who is a greater fan of Donovan than Johnny C. And his surname is Leitch.
I’m a great fan of his music but a little more self-distance would do no harm. I suspect he has no one in his entourage who would dare to make even gentle fun of him.
We saw him in Exeter last year and I was prepared to be amazed by his hubris, but he was surprisingly restrained. Yes, he told some stories (he helped with some lines in Yellow Submarine too!) but he was quite disarming. Got to meet him afterwards too, which was a thrill.
I’m really hoping someone in Donovan’s PR dept. wrote that Facebook entry. Although if so I suspect he/she was only following orders.
What a knob jockey.
“And that was that very fine band Knob Jockeys with Sunshine Supertwat and Wordy Nerdy Man. And there’ll be TMFTL”
How will I ever heard Hurdy Gurdy again without “Wordy Nerdy Man” coming to mind?!
So has he only just remembered that John Lennon ‘channeled’ a song to him after he died? Is that the sort of thing that slips your mind for 35 years? Or maybe it’s a recent collaboration and John’s regularly on the psychic phone, asking for tips on chord structures.
Didn’t Beverley Martyn recently finish a song she claims she worked on with Nick Drake? Perhaps she and Don could start channelling their former friends, livers and collaborators together. I have no doubt that with that much talent on tap, they’ll easily produce the best album ever…
Not if they drink too much. When they get cirrhosis, sharing livers won’t help.
“At my tribute concert…,” hmm, nice ambiguity there.
Truly the Fifth Beatle.
If not the First.
There were only four Beatles, but Donovan was at least three of them. And channeling the other.
Oh, cut him some slack. Like some other megastars of the 60s he had to survive some wilderness years of public disinterest and downsizing in the 1980s. His wife Linda has talked about how he was negatively affected, but stopped short of talking about therapy or counselling. Springsteen and Wilson have done their share of therapy; it’s tough at the top. Anyway, shrink wrapped or not, I suspect Donovan’s perfectly acceptable default defensive mode is to publicly emphasise (alright, “exaggerate”) his achievements in order to cope with the loss of self esteem that he has certainly endured in the past.
He does seem a right chump at times, but I for one find him a likeable guy despite this risible tendency to self promotion. Incidentally, re channeling Lennon, he played a similar trick with Nick Drake at the Lunar Festival a couple of years back, claiming to have “possibly” met Nick at a party and co-written a song which he then performed. Said song was very slight indeed, and I was doubled up with mirth at this point. However, I have to say that Donovan did all this with a big smile on his face and a genuine sense of affection for Nick Drake. He could have just been taking the mick.
“taking the mick”…? But Art, Don didn’t *take* the mick – he *invented* it – it was all those others who took it and became global superstars with it.
“So Gyp came in and said to me ‘Hey, Don, Lennon’s on the ouija board again – he says he’s having a few problems with the middle eight, and can you please finish the song using DONOVAN CHORDS(tm)'”
The Don shifted product all around the world.
Proper units, millions, not a ‘down three places to no. 45’ (a.k.a. ‘a Strummer’) job.
In a crowded/fantastically talented market-place (Beatles/Stones/Jimi/Beach Boys/Dylan) too.
His lot wasn’t to try to sell more copies than the bleedin’ Goombay Dance Band or Jive Bunny!
For that, in this era of extolling the virtues of people who aren’t even recognised in their own living rooms, I’m prepared to cut him a considerable amount of slack.
Next time any of us are listening to a really obscure late 60s L.P. that sold 300 copies consider this, because, without huge sales by the likes of The Don, those records simply wouldn’t have been made.
All you say is true, Don was great. But you have to wonder why he constantly feels the need to remind the world of this.
Only this morning he posted this on his Facebook page:
“Thank you Bruce for the mention in your book”
The worst thing is, you just know that the first thing he does is reach for the index to see if he gets a mention. There’s the body of work and the influence. Then there’s the small minded self absorbed little man. Trust the art, not the artist I suppose.
Cue Gore Vidal writing in the index of one of his books ‘Mailer, Norman : Hi Norm!
For some reason I’m reminded of the episode of Theme Time Radio Hour where Dylan waxed lyrical about Diana Dors (“the British Marilyn Monroe”). Bob said (and I paraphrase) “You may not know who she is, but I bet you have a photo of Diana Dors in your house right now. Go to your record collection and take out that copy of Sgt Pepper. Now look at the right-hand side of the sleeve and…. hey! there I am!”
How was he perceived back in the day? On a par musically and culturally with the Fabs, Stones, Dylan? Or a bit of a chancer with a couple of good pop tunes?
I know what Donovan would like us to think, wonder if it tallys with those that were there at the time
For the first year or so (1965) during the period he released his two acoustic LPs, Don was tarred as a Dylan wannabe, even though there was really no similarity other than the Woody Guthrie ragamuffin look.
After he went electric psych with Sunshine Superman in 1966 he became a massive star in the US. Not so much in the UK where legal problems prevented the release of several albums between 1966-68, almost killing the momentum he’d built up in the States. Those 4 or 5 US albums are all very good indeed. Even so, he had a bunch of excellent hit singles at home and abroad, all of which stand up well today.
His legend was ensured after the trip to India with the Fabs, but ironically Don’s star began to fade in the late 60s. An acoustic children’s album HMS Donovan although charming, was too twee for the mass market and sold poorly. Likewise an excellent back to the roots affair Open Road died a death.
His last big seller was Cosmic Wheels in 1973. This is a really good rock album, but his time was up and after that it was a case of diminishing returns.
The follow-up Essence To Essence from the same year is the cut-off point for many fans.
To sum up. Yes, Donovan is vastly underrated and was in at the ground floor of many musical innovations. During his 8 years of glory (1965-73) he was right up there with all but the biggest names in rock. After that he quickly became an irrelevance and a footnote in pop history with only the fans (and Don himself of course) banging on about how good he once was.
That’s what I can’t understand, seems to have been pretty well regarded at the time, if anything he still he getting kudos when many of his peers weren’t – has been covered by Husker Du and the Butthole Surfers etc, songs in Good Fellas, To Die For etc.
Why the need to self promote so relentlessly?
I think even his biggest fans find it all a little unnecessary
But Johnny, surely Don’s biggest fans are himself?
I hate to say it Colin, but you’re correct.
I’m surprised no one has yet seen the pun potential in his surname. From being a man who was at the forefront of something for some years (and a clearly brilliant, charismatic writer and performer), he has somehow become a man defined by the various coat-tails – real, exaggerated or wholly invented – that he seems desperaste to grab and tell the world about at every opportunity. Donovan has become a Leech.
Sadly, he doesn’t need to be this way. He wrote more than enough classics to feel that he has to go around bolstering his legend by inventing stories of influencing people, co-writing with people, and all the rest of it.
If he ‘channelled’ Lennon for a song I wonder if he’ll give John a co-writer credit?
Hasn’t he also been performing a version of ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’ with an extra verse that he says Beatle George wrote?
There has to be some kind of psychological -ism to describe this, surely. If not, let us call it Donovanism: an extreme form of status insecurity marked by an inexplicable tendency to reforge one’s past and present through the co-opting of imaginary or monstrously exaggerated celebrity associations.
He’s been doing the extra George verse for HGM for decades. I posted a 1998 live review here on the blog which covers this.
Dono-fans might enjoy this:
http://theseconddisc.com/2016/09/23/night-shout-factory-release-t-m-show-big-t-n-t-show-blu-ray/
Don’t tell me he also invented Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, The Rolling Stones and James Brown as well?!?
I find it hard to reconcile Don’s claim that he taught The Beatles fingerpicking, with the fact that it is well known that one of George’s big influences, before he’d ever heard of Mr Leitch, was Chet Atkins.
For the benefit of those who know little of Chet it should be stated that Chet was known for his finger picking prowess.
Unless of course there is an, as yet untold, chapter of Don’s history, where he taught Chet finger-picking.
Folk guitar finger picking is very different to the country picking Chet did, although the latter is more difficult, so you’d think George could have figured it out himself. It was Lennon who seems to have taken the claw hammer folk style on board more than the others.
Can definitely hear the influence on ‘Julia’ – its a pretty similar picking pattern to ‘Colours’ – can’t hear any real impact on Paul or George’s songs on the White Album or beyond.
Her Majesty, I think. But yeah, Lennon was the most obvious to take it up. Julia, yes, and Dear Prudence, but also the beginning section of Happiness Is A Warm Gun. Folk picking favours slightly rudimentary guitarists like Lennon – Macca (I feel) was always too ‘good’ a guitarist to restrict himself to that style, preferring the dancing, strum/pick style of things like Blackbird.
Macca was doing fingerstyle on Yesterday and no doubt others.
Yesterday isn’t really fingerpicking. Looking at the live footage Macca seems to be using his fingers (rather than a pick) to strum and occasionally picking the bass strings with his thumb. So it’s more like flat-picking (without the pick) than clawhammer or finger-picking
We mustn’t forget that Don also invented John Mellencamp:
It’s a familiar tale, but after the early pointless stuff about JCM, Don didn’t come over too bad there.
LPs on display behind him:
Joni’s Blue
Jimi’s AYE (US version)
LZ – Houses of the Holy
Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
Stones – Some Girls
Clash – London Calling
and because it’s Rolling Stone there’s’ Springsteen’s Nebraska (natch)
Rare footage of Don inventing John in Rishikesh:
He’s at it again
The Don probably feels the need to over-promote himself because now – and all points in between – compared to the time…..’65-’69…..he shifted millions (that’s ‘millions,’ i.e. units counted in more than hundreds, Colin H.), have been complete shite!
My words, not, necessarily (though probably, if he were really quizzed on it), The Don’s.
If I were him, I’d actually milk it much more.
For Christ-sakes he was born in 1946!
It’s a Golden Age job…..born in 1956, and, I agree, he’d look stupid.
I love these Don threads, we should definitely have more, they’re the best thing on here.
You don’t need to feel protective on Don’s account, Dero – he doesn’t care: he is ensconced within a bubble of bliss. One can admire his songwriting gifts while also calling out his brazen absurdity. The two aren’t mutually exclusive!
Bubble of Bliss. TMFTL after the new one from Brazen Absurdity.
Is there anyone here with a loved one beginning with “P”? No?
“R” then? No?
How about “G”, there must a “G”?
Hang, on, I’m getting a “J” now. Anyone lost a loved one beginning with “J”? Yes, it’s very strong now. He’s coming through. He says to tell you he’s OK and happy to be away from the nagging. He says you’ll know what that means, love. Yes, he’s back with Aunt Mimi now, but at least she doesn’t make him fly around the world in a clockwise direction, he says. Oh and he also says, it was true all along, they really were bigger than Jesus. He’s a little short-arse, apparently.
Donovan update from Facebook yesterday:
DONOVAN TO SING A SONG JOHN LENNON WROTE THROUGH HIM
Donovan will sing a song at his John Lennon Real Love
Tribute Award Evening which he will receive at Symphony Space NYC December 2 2016, a song that he says John wrote through him in a dream .
Donovan sys,
I was in Katmandu . Nepal, a friend asked me what song I thought The Beatles would release today, if they were still all together. That night in The Shangri-La Hotel I had a dream and when I woke up I realized John had written a song through me.
Shangri -La Hotel. Sounds hippie trail – in fact high end.
This sort of thing is really beyond parody, isn’t it?
Do you reckon Donovan has finally jumped the shark?
Only if it was impeding his entrance to the mental institution.
.. after teaching the shark to remain still while he did it and, y’know, not eat him an’ that afterwards.
Of course it was Don who taught Evel Knievel all he knew
As far as I know, the Higgs Boson was discovered by an international scientific effort, with teams working at the largest piece of machinery yet created, but I’ve got this awful feeling that Mr D will turn out to be involved.
He predicted quantum particles ages ago: ‘first there is a boson, then there is no boson, then there is…’
Donovan even gets a mention from Glen Campbell at the start of this clip from 1968.
https://youtu.be/MY-aAYl259k
What a strange introduction. Hardly a word of it is based in fact.
As a slight interlude to all this (good natured) Donovan bashing, can I ask a question that has bugged me over the years?
That Dylan documentary, Don’t Look Back, right? That scene in the hotel room, where Donovan plays Catch The Wind (or something like that) and then Dylan says ‘hey that’s a great song man!’, then plays Baby Blue, right?
What is actually happening there? Is Dylan being genuine? Is he impressed by Donovan’s song? Or is he being sardonic, and does he show Donovan for the pretender he is?
I’ve read it both ways. The filmmaker guy himself, Mr Pennebaker, on his commentary, seemed to just think it was two great songwriters showing their skills in a good natured way. But I’ve seen other people describing the scene reading it both as Dylan asserting his dominance and Donovan showing Dylan a thing or two.
I would have loved to have been in that room to have seen for myself.
Any ideas?
(on a side side note, anyone ever noticed John Renbourn skulking around one of the hotel rooms in that film? That tickled me when i spotted him).
It was To Sing For You the B-Side of Colours that Don sang in the Savoy hotel room. It’s hard to tell if Dylan is impressed or not or just taking the piss.
Meanwhile here’s Bob losing his shit with a drunk over the famous glass throwing incident. Renbourn can be seen seated with guitar in the opening seconds The balding chap sitting on the floor is Derroll Adams the banjo player
And that’s Dorris Henderson with Renbourn.
“I ain’t taking responsibility for cats I don’t know, man!”
The drunk has a look of actor Malcolm McDowell about him
And I just noticed that Renbourn is playing the Stella guitar he’s pictured with on the sleeve of his debut LP
John and Dorris….I am definitely going to dig out ‘Don’t Look Back’ again!
They did a cover of a Love song, ‘A Message To Pretty.’
Can’t have been many Love cover versions in Britain, or anywhere else, in the mid-60s!
Yes, on a single that sold about six copies!
Well, seeing that clip for the first time suggests Dylan just swatting the lightweight aside. Good-natured my ass.
I think Donovan was wrong to try and pitch an inconsequential B-Side in a cutting contest with Dylan. Especially when Bob then counters with something as strong as It’s All Over Now Baby Blue,
Didn’t Donny also play Zimbo a song he’d written with the tune to Tambourine Man to which Dylan said ‘Nice melody man’ ‘Yeah I heard you play it’
‘Yeah I WROTE it’
‘Oh I thought it was a traditional folk tune’
I vaguely remember that.
There’s an awkward moment in Don’t Look Back when, during furore about the glass which was thrown out the hotel window, Dylan rants to the miscreant “you better go down there and clean it up, man”. At that point our Don pipes up meekly “I’ll help you, man”.
Good thing he never toured with The Who
Meanwhile, this is heartbreaking
Everything’s on the internet, isn’t it?
http://i.imgur.com/T4tgIXX.jpg
But who threw the glass??
There’s a Dylan bootleg of that name
I know it’s largely tongue in cheek (ish). And I know Donovan brings it on himself, but it’s a strange thing, for me . . . . whilst I’m reading a book I rarely think about the author’s life; I just enjoy the book, or not. When I watch a film my reaction to it is not usually linked to the traits and peccadillos of the director or cameraman. And when I look at a photograph or a painting that I enjoy, I may be aware of the eccentricities of the creator but it doesn’t spoil the view.
With music (and to a lesser extent, sport) it often seems to be difficult to separate knowledge of the artist from enjoyment of the art.
The interesting thing about Donovan is that most of which he braggs about actually has some basis in truth: in the sixties he was clearly well thought of and well liked. And innovative.
Here’s 20 songs that he can be proud of (that’s 20 more than I have recorded!) – which would you replace and with what? (If you don’t like his music feel free to move on to the next topic . . . .)
Although it had a huge influence on my life, I don’t listen to the early Donovan acoustic material from 1965 much anymore, finding it simplistic and under-produced. However, after he went electric in 1966, through to 1973, he hardly put a foot wrong. Those eight albums from Sunshine Superman to Cosmic Wheels hold up amazingly well.
So from your playlist I’d drop a couple of the acoustic 1965 tracks and stick in Celia Of The Seals from HMS Donovan and maybe something from Open Road like Riki Tiki Tavi.
One of those songs isn’t written by Don, though, Peanuts. Just in case you meant to highlight his songwriting rather than recording…
Two inspired by Jansch, one involving John McLaughlin…
Here’s the only Don song to actually feature Jansch, ‘Tangier’, from 1968. I believe it was written by ‘Gypsy Dave’. I wonder is that what it says on his passport?
Yeah, I knew the Mick Softley song was on the playlist but it was late at night and I overlooked it.
Not sure what I thought I was highlighting really – probably that, in fairness to Donovan, much of what he brags about actually has some basis in truth.
He’s at it again. Today’s entry on Donovan’s Facebook page.
(Ritual Groove is his latest album)
“With the release of RITUAL GROOVE I complete a full upward spiral from my 1966 album SUNSHINE SUPERMAN, where I arrived as a Celtic Poet heralding The Goddess and the New Age. The Goddess speaks through me again and calls for the Return of Her Rituals in Her Honour to Respect Her Garden of Splendour, the planet we call Home. Let Her theme influence your life as you listen to my new work RITUAL GROOVE – soundtrack to a movie not yet made.”
Donovan
I think Donovan is just dandy
Dandy, you say? That reminds me of something. Was there a 1966 LP with that comic on the cover, perhaps? Does anyone here know…?
Nope, the only ‘Dandy’ in the 60s was the Kinks’ song! Covered by Lemmy’s group.
Straight up…..at a time when John and Yoko were buying up fur coats for fun (where was the ‘peace’ in that?)……I give you ‘Celia of the Seals.’
The Don was WAY AHEAD of the game there.
A cover of ‘Dandy’ also graces the b-side of Clinton Ford’s ‘Why Don’t Women Like Me?’ (a George Formby cover) from 1966. I know this because I inherited a copy. It’s not too bad.
Didn’t Herman’ Hermits do a cover as well?
In an Oh You Pretty Things rivalling move, Herman’s Hermits did a cover of the Donovan song Museum from the Sunshine Superman album. Trust me, the original is a really good pop psych track.
“Meet me under the whale in the Natural History Museum”
Herman’s jacket is about his only concession to psychedelia there
They did, the same year in the U.S., and in ’67 over here.
Well remembered mini, except Dandy was the A-Side, certainly in Australia
http://i.imgur.com/j08GJMF.jpg
I don’t have mine to hand, but Discogs says you’re correct. It totally flopped here, but reached no. 2 in Oz!
The B-side is the story of my life, so it’s the kind of thing I remember
I only know Clinton Ford as the Fanlight Fanny hitmaker, and as an annoying fixture on the Billy Cotton Band Show and suchlike.
Seems like Clint’s George Formby fixation was an ongoing thing.
He was a scouser and very much a part of the trad jazz scene with Kenny Ball and George Chisholm.
Brian Matthew was best man at his wedding (it says here)
I bought a couple of Formby 78s recently: When I’m Cleaning Windows b/w Keep Your Seats Please, and Biceps Muscle & Brawn b/w Keep Fit.
“She pulls her hair all down behind
Then pulls down her… Never mind
And after that pulls down the blind
When I’m cleanin’ windows”
Good old George.
In an early example of body shaming, Donovan wrote the song The Fat Angel for Mama Cass. It was covered rather well by Jefferson Airplane on their album Bless Its Pointed Little Head(1969)
And the theme to Ken Loach’s “Poor Cow,” put out, like “To Sir With Love,” as a b-side.
25 years later film themes would be at no. 1 in the charts for 15 weeks at a time…..mind, they were all shite.
In 1969 I went to the London Pavilion cinema (home of the Beatles movies) on Piccadilly Circus to see a film called “If It’s Tuesday This Must Be Belgium” simply because it contained an unreleased Donovan song and a brief appearance by the man himself.
Not a good film, as I recall.
This is an obvious statement perhaps, but it bears repeating. Sunshine Superman is a truly excellent song, and the production (two basses in unison!) absolutely ROCKS. To my ears it sounds more modern than 1966.
Even scrubs up nicely as a sample…
I’d forgotten about that. It sounds great. Jimmy Page’s volume swell pedal travelling through time nicely there.
Donovan? He`s so far up his own arse that his head is coming out of his mouth! I`m a fan.
Here’s someone else who likes Donovan’s music but isn’t entirely happy with Donovan. He could be one of us…
http://anorakthing.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/donovan-live-at-south-orange-performing.html
Nice review. Prime Afterword fodder I’d suggest.
Yes, that’s good. He could be one of us. Sloppy punctuation notwithstanding,
Ha!
I’ve invited him to visit our shores. Better than writing your heart out and getting no comments surely.
Absolutely. He sounds like our kind of guy.
Haven’t got it with me, but following Dylan, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones (hmm, now THAT’S what I call a top table), I’ve got another ‘DONOVAN is the f—– bees’ acolyte from a recent Uncut Special….
Step forward…..erm…..JIMI HENDRIX.
Jimi waxes lyrical about the Catch-The-Wind tunesmith big time. He loved him.
Is there anyway these capital letters could be further enlarged so as to differentiate more between DONOVAN, who could out-sell Dylan, and, say, little joe strummer, who couldn’t out-sell ‘The Theme to Postman Pat’?
Yebbut to be fair, that Postman Pat record is a TUNE.
In a spot of cross-thread pollination, I’d like to leave this here.
It’s the B-side of a 1966 Deram single by a band called The Truth. It’s a cover of DONOVAN’S Hey Gyp, cruelly misspelled here on this Aussie pressing as “Hey Jyp”.
The A-side was title Jingle Jangle a great psych pop song.
This was the 5th Deram single released in the UK and as far as I can gather, only the second to be issued in Australia. The first Aussie release being Cat Stevens’ I Love My Dog.
Anyway I thought @deramdaze would like this.
http://i.imgur.com/8oc5N4r.jpg
Donovan strikes again!
Remember when John Lennon stripped the finish off his guitar around 1968? It’s visible throughout the Let It Be movie and especially the rooftop concert. George later did the same to one of his guitars.
Well, we can thank Donovan for that. It seems it was him who influenced John and Paul to take such drastic action with their instruments.
http://i.imgur.com/8cnHCmD.jpg
‘First there was a varnish, then there was no varnish, then, er, there still wasn’t any…’
And here’s the before and after evidence
http://i.imgur.com/VTv7Evr.jpg