Donovan, undoubtedly the foremost folk singer in the country, has assembled for your enjoyment, a number of his favourite songs. The majority are of his own composition, but three of them are written by his friends.
'Universal Soldier' by Buffy St. Marie, illustrates the culpability of those who fight to destroy humanity. This deeply-felt ballad is sung to a guitar backing.
'Turquoise' is one of Donovan's own compositions. A song to express a mood, his quietly effective voice is ranged against the harsh, strident guitar and harmonica backing.
'Colours' is Donovan's expression of the love and pleasure he gains from colours. He plays all the instruments featured in the song; guitar, banjo and harmonica.
Donovan was born in Glasgow, but moved down to Hatfield when he was ten. He left Welwyn Garden City Educational College before taking his G.C.E. and then spent some time on the beaches of Cornwall and North Yorkshire, picking up songs and learning to play the guitar.
Donovan is a dedicated singer and song writer. "The first time I left I only had with me a sleeping bag, a couple of changes of jeans, a book of Walt Whitman prose and a book of Chinese poems. I bought a guitar for a couple of pounds and started to learn it. Nobody realised that I was learning. I used to watch the fingers and then go away and practise, until I had learned the guitar, and I also learned lots of songs."
He prefers the "little mod chick I had met who just listened to one of my songs — she had never heard folk music before — and valued it straight away on first impression" to the intellectual who has to dissect a song and examine each note before he can give his verdict.
This is Donovan then, a folk-singer with an immense talent for writing and projecting his deepest thoughts.

  Piece together the Donovan story and you have something unique in the world of contemporary music. For what began as a young minstrel strumming a guitar and writing songs that people either loved or hated, has grown and developed into a performer and composer of rare proportions.
  And the Donovan magic which comes across so well on record emerges with even more force when he's seen on one of his all too rare concert appearances.
  —Pieces of Donovan˜ puts together the story of this incredible young man in terms of hit records and songs that never made the charts, but which still remain durable parts of the Donovan catalogue and oft-requested items in his concert programmes.
  So, for just one hour of listening you have as near complete a picture of a singer-composer as has yet been compiled. Donovan has released many albums since his debut with Pye many years ago and they've each managed to catch something of the magic and the mystique that he possesses. For someone who rose to fame because he had the right image and could perform the music of his day with an unquestioned authority, Donovan has come a long way.
  Listening carefully to —Pieces of Donovan˜ makes the understanding of his journey a lot easier and a vastly enjoyable experience for everyone.

He began as a minstrel whose lyrical magic captured quickly the imagination of the young. The fact that he wrote songs for every generation didn't really become evident until he'd scored the first of many hit records and had gained for himself an enviable place on the musical scene.

Donovan. Like all great talents he embodies the mystique that makes it extremely hard to define just where his particular talent lies. He can sit alone on a stage with just a guitar for company and keep an audience engrossed and applauding for more. When he sings he weaves a gentle magic that makes listening a pleasure, especially when they're songs like 'Josie', 'Hey Gyp' and the many others that make up this collection.

Times change and the musical climate swings from one set of ideas to another. But the particular talent that is Donovan remains always the same and this album, vintage Donovan at his very best is a reminder of just how very entertaining he can be.

DONOVAN rose to fame in 1965. With his new and refreshing approach to folk music he proved so popular that he became Ready, Steady, Go's first resident artiste which led to a recording contract. His style, along with denim cap and harmonica stand created Britain's answer to the already famous Bob Dylan. A year later in 1966 he switched from his folk image to Flower Power. His soft rock backing and rhythmic trance-like tunes brilliantly captured the mood at that time. A little later he took up with Eastern mysticism and cosmic philosophizing.

It is worth remembering that Donovan gave the sixties era some of its best songs which are universally enjoyed today. Such great songs as UNIVERSAL SOLDIER written by Buffy Sainte Marie, COLOURS a self-penned smash hit, JOSIE and CANDY MAN plus many more all on this super album.

    From demo-touting beatnik in January to originator of British psychedelic pop before the year was out, Donovan spent 1965 in a whirlwind of activity. His first single in March, 'Catch the Wind', showed an obvious debt to Bob Dylan, while his debut LP in May was a rather tentative hopscotch of original songs and folk club standards. The same month brought a second hit single, 'Colours'. After a short break in the summer for further recording sessions and Stateside appearances, the hectic release schedule was resumed.

    Sandwiched between the 'Universal Soldier' EP of anti-war songs and a third hit single, 'Turquoise', the 'Fairy Tale' album emerged in October. This was a far more assured affair than Donovan's first LP. In addition to 'Colours' and 'The Ballad Of A Crystal Man' (the only Donovan-penned number on the 'Universal Soldier' EP), 'Fairy Tale' contained six new compositions. There was also an arrangement of the 'Candy Man' ode to a drug dealer, whilst the covers included a fine version of Bert Jansoh's (sic) 'Oh Deed I Do' and the tale of the 'Little Tin Soldier'.

    The latter was composed by Shawn Phillips, whose 12-string guitar playing fleshed out the sound on 'Summer Day Reflection Song' and 'Jersey Thursday', two remarkable numbers that saw Donovan developing a stream-of-consciousness style of writing. Elsewhere 'I'll Try For The Sun' adopted a more simple but no less effective approach, while 'Sunny Goodge Street' married Donovan's stoned imagery to Terry Kennedy's sympathetic arrangement of jazz rhythm section, cello, French horn and flute.

    The whole album can be regarded as showing Donovan in transition from Dylan-influenced folk singer to the highly original artist of the Mickie Most years, with 'Sunny Goodge Street' and 'Jersey Thursday' in particular paving the way for later gems like 'Hampstead Incident' and 'Sand And Foam'.

Lorne Murdoch

“Welcome to the phenomenon of Donovan.”

    These words introduced the singer's 1968 In Concert album and seem no less relevant now. His work has encompassed many fields of music: be it the guerilla minstrel of the protest era or the courtly troubadour of late '60s aspirations; yet it remains distinctive and unique. A gift for melody permeates all of his songs, several of which pioneered Caribbean and other ethnic forms long before such work became fashionable. Although introduced to the pop world as a de rigueur folk singer, this was merely a brief prelude to a new golden era. Within months he'd shed the Okie lilt, the anti-bomb rhetoric, and the tangible aura of Boho culture, to be replaced by a sage for troubled times adept at penning pop chart quips or homages to idealistic dreams.
    Although born in Glasgow, Scotland on May 10, 1946, Donovan Leitch spent his adolescence in Hatfield, England, where his family had moved when he was aged 10. He nonetheless retained the Celtic heritage of his homeland and vividly recalls family gatherings at weddings or the traditional New Year celebrations, where Scottish and Irish songs were sung. Donovan brought to these an interest in the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly, before embracing the U.S. folk revival upon entering college. “I thought I'd left pop feeling behind,” he later stated when describing his immersion into the bohemian culture of Woody Guthrie, Derroll Adams, Jack Elliott, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg.
    Donovan quickly gravitated to a small folk enclave in St. Albans, a town some 30 miles north of London. Its focal point was a local public house, the Cock, and there he joined several other aspiring performers and musicians, notably Mick Softley and Maddy Prior. One individual, known only as “Dirty Hugh,” taught Donovan the finger-picking style of the Carter Family before the young singer hitchhiked away from home following his 16th birthday. Donovan then wound his way to St. Ives in Cornwall, a peaceful, rustic haunt which became a natural magnet for many young musicians during the idyllic summer months.
    He nonetheless remained an integral part of the St. Albans coterie which, in mid-1964, undertook a trip to Southend to sleep rough on the beach and dance to an aspiring R&B act, the Cops and Robbers. Donovan performed several songs during the group's intermission and, in doing so, impressed their managers, Geoff Stephens and Peter Eden. Although largely conversant with the demands of Tin Pan Alley-styled pop, they recorded a series of publishers' demos with the young singer, two of which are released here for the first time. “London Town” was composed by Tim Hardin, the author of “Reason To Believe,” and contains many elements resurfacing in one of his later recordings, “Green Rocky Road.” Donovan's self-confidence is already evident and this same feature prevails on his striking interpretation of Buffy Sainte-Marie's “Codine,” one of the era's most powerful anti-drug songs.
    Stephens and Eden took the resultant tape to Elkan Allen, producer of the influential television show, “Ready Steady Go,” who promoted the artist as a new favorite on the European folk scene. Don's peaked cap and denims contrasted with the show's otherwise strictly Mod fraternity, but his nimble, topical songs about, for example, the current hit parade, made an immediate impression. Donovan enjoyed a three-week residency on the program, which in turn led to a recording deal with Pye in the U.K. and Hickory in the U.S. Within weeks, the young singer was immersed in a prolific series of recordings.
    His debut single, “Catch The Wind,” reached the British Top 10 in March 1965. This beautiful song was inspired by Linda Lawrence, now Donovan's wife, but at that time the girlfriend of Rolling Stones' guitarist Brian Jones, whom the singer had met while recording his first demos. Don later stated that he began writing prodigiously on meeting Linda and, although his debut album, What's Bin Did And What's Bin Hid, included material by mentors Guthrie and Softley, it was the performer's own songs which gave a truer indication of his art. “Colours” followed “Catch The Wind” to the fourth spot in the U.K. Top 10, while a 4-track protest EP, “The Universal Soldier,” sold well enough to reach number 14 in the same chart. The title track was another Buffy Sainte-Marie composition, and it joined “Colours” on the U.S. edition of Fairytale, Donovan's second album.
    Although each of these releases featured contributions from Shadows' bassist Brian Locking, they remained firmly within the folk tradition.
    Much play was made of a superficial similarity to Bob Dylan, but those who troubled to look beyond the visual trappings and acoustic guitar found a highly lyrical artist, whose work was buoyed by an enchanting romanticism. “My father used to recite monologues,” he recalls, “in particular, the poetry of Robert Service. It's from there I got my love of rhyme.” Within a year of his first recordings, Donovan would leave the tag of imitator behind with a new and ambitious composition.
    “Sunshine Superman,” subtitled “For John And Paul” but again inspired by Linda Lawrence, had been planned and written by late 1965, while the ensuing album of the same name, which combined classical, folk, jazz and rock styles, was created in Donovan's head a year and a half before the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper. The single itself was unveiled on “A Whole Scene Going,” a U.K. TV pop/magazine program, and this stunning song duly topped the U.S. chart when released in July. Contractual imbroglios ensured that a British release was withheld until December, when it deservedly soared to number two. “Sunshine Superman” remains one of the era's most engaging, and indeed innovative performances with bassist Spike Healey and drummer Tony Carr forging an immutable rhythm section while the textured guitar work of Jimmy Page underscores its sense of adventure. This feature was, in turn, enhanced by “The Trip,” a fiery rock-based song which became the single's coupling. Recorded in Los Angeles in May 1966, it featured session hands Bobby Ray (bass) and “Fast” Eddy Hoh (drums), who in turn provided stellar support on several other masters dating from this period.
    Both tracks were recorded under the aegis of the singer's new producer, Mickie Most, who added a distinctive air to many of Don's releases. This was especially apparent on two other tracks from the U.S. Sunshine Superman album, “Season Of The Witch” and “Guinevere.” The former boasts one of rock music's seminal riffs, and while the subject of several cover versions in its own right, the simple, two-chord progression has been adapted by many acts over the years. “Guinevere,” by contast, is a beautiful, delicate composition, while the Camelot metaphor somehow inferred the approaching “flower power” era.
    As well as providing an enthralling album, these highly productive sessions also produced three notable out-takes included herein. Don composed “Breezes Of Patchulie” when he was 16, although at that point it was titled “Darkness Of My Night.” “The song encompassed all the traveling I wished to do,” he later stated, and it does indeed form a vital link between the imagery of Fairytale and Sunshine Superman. Texas folk singer Shawn Phillips supplied the gentle sitar passages, while the innovative use of electric violin heightened the song's wistfulness.
    “Museum” and “Super Lungs” are the original versions of songs to which the singer later returned. The 1966 rendition of the former composition is less formal and much looser than the subsequent recordings surfacing on Mellow Yellow. It benefits greatly from this early arrangement and the rediscovery of this remarkable master is most welcome. Mickie Most cut the song later with proteges Herman's Hermits, although folk singer Beverly (Martin) completed a more sympathetic rendition.
    It was 1969 before Donovan released his version of “Super Lungs,” retitled “Super Lungs My Supergirl,” which has been popularized by another Most artist, Terry Reid, in the interim. This never-before-heard master shows the song's pulsating strength was already in place, with a driving organ break and stinging guitar coda. Donovan now feels that the original take was withheld because of its drug connotation—“She's only 14 but she knows how to draw”—to be revived when times were more liberated.
    The effervescent “Mellow Yellow” provided Donovan with another Top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic. John Paul Jones contributed its memorable horn arrangement, although the singer was unhappy with the initial sound which he considered too brassy. The trumpets were then muted to make them sound more “mellow” and if the color suffix rhymed, it also provided a link with the Beatles' “Yellow Submarine,” for which Don had supplied a line. Paul McCartney reciprocated by being part of the party on the singalong chorus. “Mellow Yellow” duly became the title song to Donovan's fourth album, recorded this time in London, from which “Writer In The Sun,” “Sand And Foam,” and “Sunny South Kensington” have also been drawn. The title of the first named track may imply contentment, but it dates from the contractually hidebound period which delayed the U.K. release of Sunshine Superman. Indeed, the singer was legally barred from recording, which not only explains the flurry of those previous L.A. sessions but also a uniquely sad lyric on which great stress was placed upon the word `retired.' “`Gypsy' Dave, a long-time friend, and I went to Greece,” Don explains, “and I was convinced my career was over. That's when I wrote “Writer In The Sun.”
    “Sand And Foam” is another travel song, reflecting a brief sojurn in Mexico, whereas “Sunny South Kensington” was an homage to the part of London in which two illustrators, Mick and Sheena Taylor lived, coincidentally opposite the museum. Donovan pushed like crazy to have their work on his album sleeves in an era when record companies still preferred a convenient protograph.
    “Epistle To Dippy” was issued in the U.S. as the followup to “Mellow Yellow.” This imaginative song was, in fact, an open letter to a school friend who had become a soldier and was spending part of a 7-year-post in Malaysia. “Dippy” heard the song and made contact with Don, who then brought him out of the army. Meanwhile, in Britain the singer enjoyed another British Top 10 hit with “There Is A Mountain,” a hypnotic, calypso-based round which reflected the singer's interest in the bluebeat and rocksteady, the forerunners of reggae. Jamaican Harold McNair provided the flute, drummer Tony Carr was from Malta, while the verse form was inspired by Japanese haiku poetry of Derroll Adams to create a truly cosmopolitan `world' music.
    Donovan's next album release in the U.K. was A Gift From A Flower To A Garden, a double set released separately in the U.S. as Wear Your Love Like Heaven and For The Little Ones. Don produced this ambitious work himself, opting for the warm, enveloping sound prevalent on the title track of the former and the beautiful “Oh Gosh.” The latter set was generally lighter in tone, invoking the artist's Scottish heritage, and its enchanting, pastoral atmosphere is captured to perfection in “The Tinker And The Crab.” Donovan then maintained his spirit of innocence with “Jennifer Juniper,” a sweet hymn to childhood which reached the U.K. Top 5.
    The difference between latter's simplicity and the more forceful “Hurdy Gurdy Man” could not be more marked. A Top 5 hit in the U.S. and U.K., this ostensibly acoustic song, complete with the singer's highly distinctive, tremulous intonation, was then treated to layers of wailing guitar work, courtesy of Jimmy Page and Allan Holdsworth. Clem Clatini supplied the pounding drums, although John Bonham later claimed that he, too, contributed to the session. As the single was arranged by John Paul Jones, it provided an early focal point for three future members of Led Zeppelin, who often used the same contrast between wooden and electric instruments. Meanwhile its coupling, “Teen Angel,” was one of Don's earliest compositions, yet it somehow caught the pastoral mood which marked the immediate post-psychedelic flourish.
    Initially entitled “Poor Love,” “Poor Cow” was the theme song to a film based on a novel by Nell Gunn. Issued on the flip of “Jennifer Juniper,” it complemented the acoustic nature of its coupling, while boasting an ornate string quartet. The same sense of tenderness also appears on “Lalena,” released only as a single in the U.S. but which remains one of the era's most poignant recordings. “I was always interested in theatre,” Donovan explained. “Brecht's `Threepenny Opera' featured the singer Lotte Lenya and that's where the title for this song came from.”
    Gentle qualities also surfaced on “To Susan On The West Coast Waiting,” although the lyric reclaimed some of the protest elements of the singer's early work. Here, however, he was more effective, and by creating a snapshot vignette, introduced a more personal insight. “Although the song mentions Vietnam, it's really about all wars,” Donovan explained. “I also wanted to get inside the characters, and be in touch with the feminine perception.” The finished master, which also featured the voices of three fans who had been waiting outside the studio, was a U.S. hit in its own right, although its sales were overshadowed by those if its A-side, “Atlantis,” which soared into the Top 10. Here Donovan introduced a narrative voice to relate the tale of a lost city and continent, although the legend is not solely confined to Mediterranean scholars as several Irish tales also tell of a people of the sea. The song was buoyed by a mantra-like coda which served to enhance its mystical nature.
    Those viewing Donovan as a poetic minstrel, barring “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” were doubtlessly surprised in 1969 when he unleashed Barabajagal (Love is Hot), a searing collaboration with the Jeff Beck Group (Beck, Ron Wood, Nicky Hopkins and Tony Newman). Vocalists Madeline Bell, Leslie Duncan and Suzie Quatro emphasized the song's pumping riff while Newman in particular pushed the edgy rhythm as far as he dared. The sheer tension of the performance, which reached number 12 in Britain, constrasts that of “Happiness Runs,” previously known as “Pebble And The Man.” Graham Nash, Mike McGear/McCartney and the aforementioned Leslie Duncan were on hand to add vocals to an enchanting song, which appeared on the Barabajagal album.
    “`Celia Of The Seals' was a very early environmental song,” stated Donovan, “and was inspired by Celia Hammond, Linda's close friend, who gave up modeling the finest furs.” A leading figure in British fashion, Hammond abandoned a highly successful career in order to pursue animal rights issues, and this blunt composition married the causes together. Released as a single, the song unwittingly closed a particular era as Donovan hatched plans to forge a form of Celtic rock with a group, Open Road.
    Mike O'Neil (keyboards), Mike Thomson (bass) and “Candy” John Carr (drums), each of whom had played on Wear Your Love Like Heaven, joined the singer in this new venture. “I was disillusioned with the music business,” Donovan later recalled, “and wanted to return to basics and my earlier interest in protest and travel.” Three tracks, “Riki Tiki Tavi,” “Clara Clairvoyant” and “Roots Of Oak” have been drawn from the trio's eponymous album which was self-produced and completed in the space of a week. They did fulfill Don's ambitions with the last-named song in particular, exemplifying his gifts for weaving a hypnotic tune. “Clara Clairvoyant” captures the sense of optimism all parties brought to the project, while “Riki Tiki Tavi” is unquestionably the most commercial song on the set. Two versions have been included here, of which the 1969 take is a revealing sketch in progress, emphasizing the song's West Indian framework and the singer's own playfulness with his creation.
    Having met and fallen in love in 1965, Donovan and Linda Lawrence were married in 1970. The ensuing peace of mind and contentment was apparent on Cosmic Wheels, and the couple's mutual interest in astrology provided much of the album's symbolism. Chris Spedding and Donovan arranged the songs while the singer's reunion with Mickie Most and John Cameron further enhanced the material. The evocative title song remains one of the artist's most popular songs, while “Maria Magenta” was yet another of those quirky, yet highly memorable tunes he was so adept at creating. “I Like You,” meanwhile, was indicative of the intimate, autobiographical style Don's work would largely follow from this point on. The shorter version included here was previously only available on a single.
    The singer was subsequently teamed with former Rolling Stones' producer Andrew Loog Oldham, and the newfound pairing cut “Essence To Essence” in London with the assistance of, among others, Grease Band acolytes Henry McCulloch and Alan Spenner. “Yellow Star” reaffirmed Don's infatuation with reggae, while lyrically retaining the celestial imagery of Cosmic Wheels.
    His next album, 7-Tease, was recorded in Nashville and coincidentally featured backing vocals from Buffy Sainte-Marie, even if the upbeat attack of “Rock 'N Rock Souljer” bore little relation to the songs she provided for Don's early recordings. “Shoot me full of rock n' roll” demanded the singer, although his ebullient delivery constrasted that of “The Quest” which rekindled the atmosphere of those first releases, adding a perfect measure of that distinctive harmonica. This approach is even more striking on two previously unreleased demos recorded in Los Angeles at Sound Factory West on September 13, 1974. “Age Of Treason” is a wonderful evocation as Donovan chronicles memories of his parents and the self-discovery he underwent prior to becoming a musician. “What The Soul Desires” is part of the same meditative process and the unearthing of these masters provides a valuable insight to the performer's spiritual development. It was during this period that Don undertook an ambitious U.S. tour which encompassed some 30 cities. The show included actors, costumes and dancers, while the sets featured canvas painted by renowned illustrator John Patrick Byrne, now a highly successful playwright.
    “Dark-Eyed Blue Jean Angel,” from Slow Down World, is the newest track on this compilation. Dedicated to Linda, and released as a single, it recaptured the classical elements so apparent on “Guinevere” and offered a melody just as memorable. The album ended Donovan's tenure with the Epic label, but his career has since continued to prosper. Now domiciled in Ireland with Linda, he survived the rigors of the punk era through astucious touring and continued record deals, completing nine albums in the `70s and three in the `80s, including Donovan (1977, released in Britain on Mickie Most's RAK label), Neutronica (1983) and Lady Of The Stars (1984). Several new acts emerging during the late `80s were eager to pay tribute to Don's work culminating in the release of Island Of Circles, on which various artists perform versions of his songs. The singer celebrated his 25th anniversary with a live set, Donovan Rising, and is currently preparing a new studio album to coincide with a world tour. This expansive collection celebrates the past and present of a gifted artist, one whose career and influence is still very much alive.

Brian Hogg

DONOVAN NOTES
    by Derek Taylor

    In the dreamy world of the later 1960s, everyone I knew liked Donovan. We saw in him everything the practical practicing flower child should be: exotic, musical, on several trips at once; colorful, wordly and wise; a little silly, but nobody's fool; rural and urban, wide-eyed and guileless—and fun.
    I was in and all around the `Beatle-world' then, very absorbed; so I drew a lot of my outside/inside information from Joan, my wife, who watched early evening television when, through Granada or Rediffusion, you could see the latest discoveries...but most of all, on “Ready Steady Go”...when the weekend started here, on Fridays on ITV, you could really see what was happening.
    One night, Joan reported an important sighting. Two sensational newcomers, originals for sure and certain to make it. Both were very interesting, in different ways: one was a Welshman—Tom Jones; the other, a man with an Irish name, Donovan.
    It was early 1965.
    Each had his first single released that year. Each record was a hit and remains an evergreen. For Tom Jones, it was “It's Not Unusual”; for Donovan, “Catch The Wind.”
    Donovan, naturally, remembers those days well. “It was quite amazing. I was catapulted out of obscurity. From sleeping on a beach to a television show and within weeks meeting Dylan, soon after that being introduced to The Beatles. It was Tin Pan Alley. The first star I met was Brian Jones. And the star of my heart whom I met on the first night of fame on television was Linda Lawrence, who became my muse and is now my wife.”
    For millions of people (who then were much more removed from pop music than they are today when it's all around—from MTV to elevator and hotel bar, pub, car, barbershop, department store, Walkmans hissing on trains and buses—indeed, where isn't it?) there was enormous excitement when a new star arrived on television and radio. You knew about it quickly. Like, that night or next morning. There were only a couple of TV pop shows and also (in Britain) only two TV channels. Black and White. In that sparse clarity everything was noticeable.
    In that bright light, Donovan shone out. This cheerful pleasant chap on “Ready Steady Go,” with a cap and a harmonica contraption, was a great hit. Women and girls loved him on sight. How could they not? And men had no trouble with the unthreatening gentleness of his appeal in those not so sardonic, less butch days. It helped a lot, as George Harrison, an early friend, has said, that he wrote some very good songs. He had a most engaging personality and, like Tom Jones, the other live wire sparking on the show, he was a Celt. That should always count for something.
    The media caught the attraction. National newspapers had begun obsessive coverage of the Beatles about sixteen months earlier, dictated by the onset of fab-four-mania, and were now—having been late then—alert for new talent. There was much less cynicism inside and outside the music business. The “pop” press—there was no “rock” then—was far less languid than today, not at all knowing or hard. Fan magazines were uncritical journals—heartwarming precursors of “Hello.”.
    In this welcoming environment, in “Swinging London”—by then so named; whatever the reality, that is how the city was perceived—Donovan became a star and his first single was certainly something very new in the charts. (It has since become a song on which millions have learned to play guitar.) Until Donovan arrived there was no one like him, visible and audible, in Britain.
    Debate ensued. There were comparisons with Bob Dylan, and in some media circles a suggestion of rivalry with Dylan; slightly spiteful talk, wide of the mark. In private the relationship was comfortable, immediate and warm. Each had their place, in those days and since, and the friends and admirers of both saw no problems of compatibility.
    Donovan was soon very hip, very “in.” Quite rightly...as ran one of the lines in a later song, “Mellow Yellow,” famously whispered on the record by Paul McCartney, one of many famous pilgrims to Donovan recording sessions. And wasn't “Mellow Yellow” itself said to refer to the new craze of smoking dried bananas to get high? Yes, it was thus said, but the song wasn't about bananas at all and anyway, you couldn't get high that way; though, of course, many tried.
    Those were times of “hunt the message” and most often most everyone got almost everything wrong in a literal sense though not often missing the feeling that flowed from the music. If it felt good, it was good, and Donovan and his music certaintly felt good. And at first his lyrics were very direct, very pretty and encouraging.
    It was in the spirit of the age that he became very fashionable, while pretending nothing. Also “in” by 1965 were the Byrds, from California, soon with a number one, “Mr. Tambourine Man.” They were the meeting point on the axis between the Beatles and Bob Dylan. I worked for them or with them and Joan and I saw them dozens of times on Sunset Strip. She recalls one night in 1965, early-ish, hearing them pass a tribute on the wing to “Donovan,” a name-check, or name-drop or signal that he was an okay guy, one of us, where it's at, had good vibes. Praise indeed.
    I first saw Donovan in person, off-duty, visiting the Byrds during their first British tour, between shows on a Saturday in August 1965 in Slough, Buckinghamshire. If you have a passion for detail, he had a polka-dot shirt and I forget the rest of what he wore but he and the five Byrds were mighty pleased to see each other and they all sat on the fire escape outside the cinema and exchanged jokes, lyrics and a stick of tea or two.
    Donovan's recall of that period is clear: “Those days were magnificient. I met so many people, did so many things. As I tap away at my autobiography, I'm just getting into that phase.”
    He was enormously feted. People liked meeting Donovan. The combination of street wisdom—learned in his pre-fame days, gigging with his friend and familiar, “Gypsy” Dave—and his opaque innocence and humility was compulsive. He was eighteen going on nineteen. A puff of wind should have blown him over, but he withstood gales over the years.
    In the beginning he met Allen Ginsberg and Christopher Logue, poets, and David Wynne, sculptor, and John Hurt, actor, and got along fine in what were pre-posing days, and he hung out with Byrds and Beatles and Rolling Stones and Dylan, to their mutual benefit. They visited each other's recording sessions, shared each other's trips.
    As he has said, it was a crowded first year on the heights; from club appearances through “Ready Steady Go,” he moved quickly into the charts with two albums, three singles, two EPs and the beginnings of a song called “Sunshine Superman” before his first year of glory, 1965, was through.
    He says now: “That song and the album of the same name were totally influenced by my unique relationship with Linda Lawrence.” “Sunshine Superman,” the first number one, came out in 1966, a triumph for Donovan and his new producer Mickie Most (for both this had been a very good move), a rough diamond with single-minded dedication to commercial success which in that golden age detracted not a jot from Donovan's lyrical and melodic charm and added—at least in my opinion—more than a hogshead of real fire to get a great song really cooking.
    That song lives on today as a fab-pop single. Indestructible. Of its time and any time. There had been much already to rejoice the heart for Donovan and his fans and friends and family, who were always large in number. The first year had produced “Catch The Wind,” “Colours” and “Universal Soldier.” They established Donovan as a real force of the mid-sixties. Anyone could hum and sing those songs. There were still errand boys then—before Youth Unemployment, imagine that!—and they could whistle those songs, and did.
    You could parody “Colours” without being too awful. I remember Gene Clark of the Byrds in the terrible and famour Blue Boar Motorway Cafe on the M1 standing by the jukebox...“Red is the colour of my true love's nose...in the morning, when I rise.”
    Donovan moved through the pop world with great ease. He was in the wave after the Beatles...just that few years younger...not afraid to be gentle and funny and ready to try almost anything. “We were extremely busy, all of us around then as we were really waving to each other over crowds. But you could strike up relationships and George and I have been friends really right up to today. It was a friendship not so much based on meetings, so much as feelings. But when we do meet, it's just like walking from one room into another, even after ten years. The camaraderie was just wonderful. The level of songwriters who respected me and whom I respected gave me that support that I needed, being younger. All through that Dylan thing, Bob gave me support.”
    Years passed. Donovan became an established hero-figure of the counter-culture, seemingly serene and very successful. By 1967, he was strong enough to be a “must,” as a headliner for the Monterey Pop Festival of which somehow I was a founder and the press officer.
    But Monterey was not to be for Donovan, visited again by the Raiders of the Great Herb, that exotic plant without which there would have been no counter-culture and no Monterey Festival and Woodstock, for that matter. His visa for travel for removed and the festival compensated itself and paid tribute to Donovan's ranking by making him one of the 12 `Governors,' alongside Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Roger McGuinn, Brian Wilson and Smokey Robinson, among others.
    Donovan and I met fairly often in the years that followed. We each, with our wives and families, chose to live in California twice, and each returned to Europe, twice. We are now settled here. Joan and I are in Suffolk and he and his loving wife, Linda, are in rural Ireland alongside others who find peace and goodwill in a country other than Britain. And who's to blame them, with the Home Counties—where once there was some space to hang out—now filled to bursting point. And Ireland, anyway, was offering such a welcome to artists that it was hard to pass by.
    Donovan was warmly embraced by two of Ireland's best loved, widely respected and highly rated broadcasters. They were, on television's “Late Late Show“...Gay Byrne (“...hello Donovan and welcome...we remember you here”) and Jerry Ryan on radio.
    Donovan was gratified: “The country opened its arms and in a very public way. There are lots of old friends in music here. Lots of studios. It inspires me tremendously to make new music. Noel Redding is here, been here 19 years. He's just putting the heating in his house! There's Roy Harper. And David Putnam, an old friend, growing wild flowers. I think Ray Davies has got something round here. Nigel Kennedy became a friend and visited us at New Year. He also did the Gay Byrne show and we did some music together.”
    When Joan and I met Donovan and Linda again in the 1970s, we were neighbors in Surrey/Berkshire, had children the same age, liked to hang out a bit. Looking through crystal spectacles you could see we had our fun; sometimes we did seem to be living inside those strange lyrics... “First there is a mountain then there is no mountain then there is...” Know what I mean? No?
    Donovan has survived emotionally and spiritually and physically. There was always plenty of steel in that neat, slight frame. The family came out of very old Glasgow—Maryhill—into new Hatfield in one of those post-war work-seeking emigrations to the towns springing up around London—fresh fields and pastimes new. The Great Escape.
    It was 1955, Donovan was nine/ten. Very Scottish with a dialect hard to follow. “I had to write my replies at first.” He soon learned to speak English rather nicely, left school quite early, took to the road, picked up music as a natural element and became a very high-class turner of memorable phrases, self-taught for the most part. A great instinctive.
    He has remained unstrung-out in all the years that followed his discovery and zooming stardom, putting his good fortune down to being overseen by good souls and to Linda's love. “I'd seen enough abuse in Bohemian circles when I was first travelling,” he recalls. “It mattered, too, that one was not in a group and I had two main friends who kept me from harm. The early relationship with Gypsy on the road and on to the stage...that eye to eye contact and the lifelong relationship with Linda that gave me a sense of some reality all through the chaos. Linda brought to our relationship what she knew about people who got into difficulties and who died alone because there was nobody to put a hand on their arm.”
    Donovan wrote a lot of his songs for Linda: “Sunshine Superman,” “Legend Of A Girl Child Linda,” “Catch The Wind” even, and many, many more. When they first met in February 1965, they fell in love and became engaged. They are still together, married, still happy.
    There are children of the union, now grown, Astrella Celeste, Oriole Nebula, and his step-son Julian Brian. Astrella is with him in his music and has been on and off since she was eight. At the time Donovan and I talked, in the spring of 1992, she was planning to sing a little on his tour of England and Scotland and had been working with her father on a new album, probably his 23rd. At only 46, with all his own hair, there's no stopping now. It's much too soon for that.
    For his tour there were planned contributions from Irish violinist, Marie Brennacht, who plays traditional and classical, and from Anthony Thistlewaite of the Waterboys, who plays mandolin and sax. And there would also be, said Donovan, “a bit of keyboards.”
    The tour grew from a planned 12 cities into 35 and having heard, all over again, the songs that will adorn part of the show, it seems totally irrestible. All the poetry, straight and quirky and delightful instrumentations and strums and hums of this most original and enterprising of artists come up as fresh and new and you can't say fairer than that.
    Donovan has had a long career now and there is much new music. Charmed is one word for his life and he has himself provided much of that elfin charm and when things have not gone so well, he has picked himself up, dusted himself off and started all over again. He is alive and happy and in beautiful County Cork in the south of Ireland where there is still room to breathe and the sea and ships all around and airports, if you insist, and even a motorway or two.
    So, good on you, Donovan, and I hope it continues for many a year.