Donovan: Collection (1965 - 1971) [Vinyl Rip 16/44 & mp3-320] Re-up

Upon his emergence during the mid-'60s, Donovan was anointed "Britain's answer to Bob Dylan," a facile but largely unfounded comparison which compromised the Scottish folk-pop troubadour's own unique vision. Where the thrust of Dylan's music remains its bleak introspection and bitter realism, Donovan fully embraced the wide-eyed optimism of the flower power movement, his ethereal, ornate songs radiating a mystical beauty and childlike wonder; for better or worse, his recordings remain quintessential artifacts of the psychedelic era, capturing the peace and love idealism of their time to perfection. Donovan Leitch was born May 10, 1946 in Glasgow and raised outside of London; at 18 he recorded his first demo, and in 1965 was tapped as a regular on the television pop showcase Ready, Steady, Go! He soon issued his debut single "Catch the Wind," earning the first round of Dylan comparisons with his ramshackle folk sound and ragamuffin look; the single nevertheless reached the U.K. Top Five, with a subsequent meeting between the two singer/songwriters captured in the classic D.A. Pennebaker documentary Don't Look Back.

Donovan's follow-up single, "Colours," was also a hit, and after making his American debut at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, he issued Fairytale, his second and last LP for the Hickory label. Signing with Epic in 1966, he released his breakthrough album, Sunshine Superman, which in its exotic arrangements and pointedly psychedelic lyrical outlook heralded a major shift from his previous work; the title track topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, with the enigmatic "Mellow Yellow" reaching the number two spot a few months later. Donovan remained a chart fixture throughout 1967, generating a series of hits including "Epistle to Dippy," "There Is a Mountain," and "Wear Your Love Like Heaven"; that year he traveled to India alongside the Beatles to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a journey which inspired him to renounce drug use and encourage his listeners to turn to meditation. The ambitious double album A Gift from a Flower to a Garden followed, and in 1968 Donovan resurfaced with The Hurdy Gurdy Man, scoring a Top Five smash with the hallucinatory title cut; the record also yielded the hit "Jennifer Juniper."

Barabajagal from 1969 generated Donovan's final Top 40 hit, "Atlantis"; for the title track, he collaborated with the Jeff Beck Group, with whom he also worked on 1970s Open Road. He then retreated to Ireland, emerging from a period of seclusion by starring in and scoring the 1972 film The Pied Piper; a pair of new LPs, Cosmic Wheels and Essence to Essence, appeared the following year to disappointing reviews and little commercial interest. Following 1974's 7-Tease, he spent the next years living quietly in California's Joshua Tree desert, mounting only a small club tour to promote 1976's Slow Down; a self-titled LP appeared a year later, and in the wake of 1983's Jerry Wexler-produced Lady of the Stars, he essentially retired from writing and recording altogether. The Donovan revival began in earnest in 1991 when Happy Mondays titled a song in his honor for their groundbreaking Pills 'n' Thrills & Bellyaches; he later toured with the group as well. Five years later, Donovan released his comeback LP, Sutras, helmed by producer du jour Rick Rubin. (The album had the misfortune to be released after Rubin's landmark Johnny Cash record, American Recordings and was virtually ignored or misunderstood by critics.) Donovan toured briefly to support Sutras and then went missing once again, playing out only sporadically. In 2004, however, he reappeared with the intimate and stylish Beat Cafe, a collection of nearly all-original songs produced by keyboardist John Chelew. Donovan also enlisted bassist Danny Thompson and drummer Jim Keltner to round out his quartet. The album featured a pair of covers, a spoken word rendition of poet Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle," and a startling rendition of the traditional tune "The Cuckoo."

by Jason Ankeny, allmusic

Tracklist VNL01 - What's Bin Did And What's Bin Hid - 1965:
Pye Records, NPL 18117, UK

Side 1
Josie
Catch The Wind
The Alamo
Cuttin' Out
Car Car
Keep On Truckin'

Side 2
Goldwatch Blues
To Sing For You
You're Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond
Tangerine Puppet
Donna Donna
Ramblin' Boy




Tracklist VNL02 - Fairytale - 1965:
Pye Records, NPL 18128, UK

Side A
1 Colours
2 To Try For The Sun
3 Sunny Goodge Street
4 Oh Deed I Do
5 Circus Of Sour
6 Summer Day Reflection Song

Side B
1 Candy Man
2 Jersey Thursday
3 Belated Forgiveness Plea
4 Ballad Of A Crystal Man
5 The Little Tin Soldier
6 Ballad Of Geraldine




Tracklist VNL03 - Universal Soldier - 1967:
Marble Arch Records, MAL 718, UK

Side 1
1 Universal Soldier (Written-By – Buffy St. Marie) 2:15
2 To Sing For You 2:45
3 Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do 2:56
4 Turquoise 3:31
5 Colours 2:11

Side 2
1 Catch The Wind 2:56
2 Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness) 3:08
3 The Ballad Of A Crystal Man 3:19
4 Do You Hear Me Now (Written-By – Bert Jansch) 1:50
B5 The War Drags On (Written-By – Mick Softley) 3:44




Tracklist VNL04 - A Gift From A Flower To A Garden - 1968:
Pye Records, NSPL 20000, UK

The First
01. Wear Your Love Like Heaven
02. Mad John’s Escape
03. Skip-a-long Sam
04. Sun
05. There was a Time
06. Oh Gosh
07. Little Boy in Corduroy
08. Under the Greenwood Tree
09. The Land of Doesn’t Have to Be
10. Someone’s Singing

The Second
11. Song of the Naturalist’s Wife
12. The Enchanted Gypsy
13. Voyage into the Golden Screen
14. Isle of Islay
15. The Mandolin Man and his Secret
16. Lay of the Last Tinker
17. The Tinker and the Crab
18. Widow with Shawl (a portrait)
19. The Lullaby of Spring
20. The Magpie
21. Starfish-on-the-Toast
22. Epistle to Derroll




Tracklist VNL05 - Donovan In Concert - 1968:
Pye Records, NSPL 18237, UK

01. Isle of Islay
02. Young Girl Blues
03. There is a Mountain
04. Poor Cow
05. Celeste
06. The Fat Angel
07. Guinevere
08. Widow with Shawl (A Portrait)
09. Preachin’ Love
10. The Lullaby of Spring
11. Writer in the Sun
12. Pebble and the Man
13. Rules and Regulations
14. Mellow Yellow




Tracklist VNL06 - Donovan’s Greatest Hits - 1969:
Pye Records, NSPL 18283, UK 1976

01. Epistle To Dippy
02. Sunshine Superman
03. There is a Mountain
04. Jennifer Juniper
05. Wear Your Love Like Heaven
06. Season of the Witch
07. Mellow Yellow
08. Colours
09. Hurdy Gurdy Man
10. Catch The Wind
11. Lalena
12. Teen Angel (bonus) b-side of Hurdy Gurdy Man, from Pye mono single 7N 17537




Tracklist VNL07 - Open Road - 1970:
Dawn Records, DNLS 3009, UK

01. Changes
02. Curry Land
03. Joe Bean’s Theme
04. People Used To
05. Celtic Rock
06. Riki Tiki Tavi
07. Clara Clairvoyant
08. Roots of Oak
09. Season of Farewell
10. Poke at the Pope
11. New Year’s Resovolution




Tracklist VNL08 - HMS Donovan - 1971:
Dawn Records, DNLD 4001, UK 1975

01. The Walrus and the Carpenter
02. Jabberwocky
03. The Seller of Stars
04. Lost Time
05. The Little White Road
06. The Star

07. Coulter’s Candy
08. The Road
09. Things To Wear
10. The Owl and the Pussycat
11. Homesickness
12. Fishes in Love
13. Mr. Wind
14. Wynken, Blynken and Nod

15. Celia of the Seals
16. The Pee Song
17. The Voyage of the Moon
18. The Unicorn
19. Lord of the Dance
20. Little Ben
21. Can Ye Dance

22. In An Old-Fashioned Picture Book
23. The Song of Wandering Aengus
24. A Funny Man
25. Lord of The Reedy River
26. Henry Martin
27. Queen Mab
28. La Moora