Donovan

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Donovan Leitch is little more than a footnote today, but in the mid-sixties the names Donovan and Dylan often showed up in print together when the nascent folk music scene was emerging. The Scottish Donovan initially leaned heavily on traditional Scottish folk music while incorporating pop, psychedelia, jazz, Eastern music, and music for children. His work became synonymous with the flower power movement of the sixties.

His first two records, Catch The Wind 1965, and Fairytale 1965 were heavy on the folk and contained his early hits Catch the Wind, Colours, and Buffy Sainte-Marie's Universal Soldier. Sunshine Superman 1966 gave birth to psychedelia with the title track, and also included the oft-covered Season Of The Witch, and strong songs Ferris Wheel and The Trip. 1967's Mellow Yellow featured the title track, further pushing the psychedelia and flower power themes. The stand alone single Epistle To Dippy was released one month prior to Mellow Yellow.

A Gift from a Flower to a Garden 1967, (a double album also released separately as Wear Your Love Like Heaven and For Little Ones) contained the title hit, and was well received in the press. The Wear Your Love Like Heaven record verges on twee, but Donovan's heartfelt delivery and a plethora of fine melodies saves it. The second record of children's songs is a lovely collection of lullabies heavy on fables  and fairy tales, but plays well enough to enjoy as an adult of the flower power persuasion. The Hurdy Gurdy Man 1968 continued the hits with the title track and the lilting Jennifer Juniper. 

Donovan's Greatest Hits 1969 is the record most likely to be found in any record collection with a focus on the sixties. It collects his hit singles, including three singles that had not ever been issued on LP, Epistle to Dippy, There Is a Mountain (the melody was used by Allman Brothers for their Mountain Jam), and the lovely Laléna. It's a classic of the era, and a stellar collection. If you want to know how a talented artist and a golden touch producer can turn disparate influences into radio gold, Donovan and producer Mickie Most give a class A example right here. Later CD reissues included Riki Tiki Tavi from Open Road 1970 and three fine singles from Barabajagal 1969; the title track, To Susan On The West Coast Waiting (an unusually sweet anti-war song), and Atlantis. The addition of those four singles makes this the essential Donovan, as no singles released after Barabajagal ever charted.

Not that Barabajagal is any slouch. A mix of his fey innocence, some classic singles, two songs with the Jeff Beck Group (Barabajagal and Trudi) and heartfelt love songs, it is one of his most successful single albums for a reason. Open Road followed and sold well on the heels of Barabajagal, but didn't deliver the chart singles so important to his work. It is telling that it is the first Donovan record without Mickie Most since the first two records.

That's the end of the story for most listeners. Cosmic Wheels 1973 attempted unsuccessfully to align Donovan with glam rock, and several other attempts at commercialization in the seventies just didn't get it done. Times and tastes change, and Donovan's association with the naivety of the flower power sixties didn't translate to the times. He continued to release music (sometimes without US release), and his last record, Gaelia (The Sulan Sessions), Celtic folk music, was issued in 2023. Several of the "invisible" releases over the years are available for streaming, and some are worth a listen. Try Sutras 1991, a spare production by Rick Rubin, or Beat Cafe from 2004.