The Cover Tape Project


I want to put together a tape of covers of Donovan's songs by we, the people. This internet tape project idea originated on the rec.music.beatles newsgroup, I believe, and since then several other cover collections have appeared eg. Van Morrison.

I haven't got a professional studio or anything, just two good quality audio tape decks and a CD player. Hopefully this will change at the start of next year when I plan to buy a CD burner. This collection isn't going to get down by Christmas anyway so maybe it'll end up on CD.

If you want to send me your masterpieces on DAT or MiniDisc then I'm afraid it's no cigar but feel free to burn a CD and send it on that. You can also e-mail me the MP3 version of the song if you want. Please send me a warning first and wait for my reply, or else my inbox might crash.

If you are recording to audio tape then please use a very good quality tape (eg. Maxell XLII, TDK CDing2 or higher standard) and if possible send me your master. I can understand if you do not want to send the original but obviously the overall quality will be better if I get the highest generation copies.

If you want to help with this project, which will probably take a while to actually reach realization, then drop me an e-mail about which song you'd like to do and I'll get this baby crawling. My address is: john@sabotage.demon.co.uk

Below is a list of people who have expressed an interest in the project and the songs they have opted for. If someone has already chosen the tune you had set your heart on then it's not really a problem but I'd like to avoid the situation of having six versions of Catch The Wind.

If anybody has any poems about Donovan or ones that were inspired by his work then you could commit them to tape and I'll interweave them throughout the tape for a bit of a change of flavour. I want to get as many artists together for this project. Later on we'll need graphic designers for the cover and inlay art but I'm getting ahead of myself again ...

Here is a list of covers that I actually have in my possession:

  1. Sleep (Sutras) - Greg Schmidt (3'07)
  2. Sailing Homeward - Roger Mock (2'28)
  3. The Mandolin Man And His Secret - Roger Mock (4'02)
  4. The Song Of Wandering Aengus - The Keswick City Ramblers (5'19)
  5. To Try For The Sun - David Hendrick (4'34)
  6. Please Don't Bend - Mrs. Pontén & Larsson (3'39)
  7. Catch The Wind - Karen Imperial (2'53)
    to hear a snippet of this song please click here (205KB - need MP3 player)
  8. The Lullaby Of Spring - Karen Imperial (3'35)
    to hear this song please click here (2.49MB - need MP3 player)
  9. Get Thy Bearings - Douglas Barrett Jones (3'43)
    to hear a snippet of this song please click here (510KB - need MP3 player)
  10. Teen Angel - Douglas Barrett Jones (2'13)
    to hear this song please click here (1.55MB - need MP3 player)
  11. Riki Tiki Tavi - Joan Hemming (2'03)
  12. Wear Your Love Like Heaven - Chris Nolan (2'26)
  13. Ballad Of A Crystal Man - Timothy Hull (3'30)
  14. Catch The Wind - Lukas Devita (2'59)
  15. Atlantis - Lukas Devita (2'50)
  16. To Susan On The West Coast Waiting - Barry Schwam (3'20)
  17. Circus Of Sour (Extended Version) - Todd Austin (2'58)
  18. Josie/Colours - Jorma Heikkilä (3'00)
  19. Little Ben - Jorma Heikkilä (3'08)
  20. Seller Of Stars - Jorma Heikkilä (3'33)
  21. Cuttin Out - Michael Hilton (4'06)
  22. The Sun Is A Very Magic Fellow - The Willies (2'56)
  23. Tangerine Puppet - Joey McGowan (2'07)
  24. Hey Gyp (Dig The Speed) - Graham Bailey and Carl Puttnam (3'15)
  25. Season Of The Witch - Lazer Boy (4'10)
    total: 81'54
And here is a list of songs that I have been promised: As you can see, people haven't actually decided on a song for certain so please don't be put off because someone else has namechecked it. Finally - don't be shy, I will be contributing to the project and I can only play the recorder!