Remember a guy named Donovan Phillips Leitch? This was the performer who, in the 1960s and today, goes by the mononym “Donavan.” The Scottish performer was part of the British Invasion, begun by groups like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and was something of a pioneer in psychedelic rock, with songs about electrical bananas and the like.
Born in 1946, Donovan launched his career in the UK’s folk-music world before entering the international scene. He had his own style, blending Scottish and British folk sounds with the psychedelic style, tossing in some jazz undertones here and there. A lot of his songs, such as Mellow Yellow and Sunshine Superman, still pop up on playlists today. Interesting side note: He is the father, with American model Enid Karl, of the actors Donovan Leitch and Ione Skye. He later married one Linda Lawrence, with whom he had two children. They are still married today, making them something of an outlier in show business.
Donovan’s stuff isn’t as well-known as, say, the Beatles, but it’s worth a listen. Here are six of his better songs.
Season Of The Witch (1966): This song flowed right into the psychedelic era like a smooth summer stream. Donovan himself acknowledged it as a springboard. He played not lead but second guitar for the main studio recording in the CBS Studios in Hollywood, later saying in his autobiography:
Sunshine Superman (1966): Donovan was accompanied on this song by none other than Jimmy Page – yes, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin – on lead guitar. Donovan himself began to be referred to as "Sunshine Superman" in the vernacular of the time, and DC Comics even recognized the song with a couple of iterations of a Sunshine Superman in the comic books. Cashbox described the song as impressive, deeming it “a funky, medium-paced, blues-soaked romancer about a lad who is determined to snare the gal of his dreams." In the song, Donovan didn’t just compare himself to the Man of Steel, but claimed to have surpassed him:I played a white Fender Telecaster Electric Guitar on "Witch", chunking down on the chord pattern, wailing a chilling chorus. A major seventh with an open G, to D 9th with a G-flat bass (Bert Jansch chord). The riff is pure feel.
Mellow Yellow (1966): It’s not every song that has a soft drink named after it. Well, all right, I don’t think the soft drink Mello Yello was in fact named after the song. But this one’s kind of neat; Donovan is known for psychedelic rock, and this one may be the most psychedelic of all, with lyrics like this:Superman or Green Lantern ain't got a-nothin' on me
I can make like a turtle and dive for your pearls in the sea, yep!
Wear Your Love Like Heaven (1967): This song was initially released as a single as opposed to an album set, but was later released again in the 1967 double album A Gift From a Flower to a Garden. It’s more of a dance-friendly song than a lot of Donovan’s work – you probably have to be in some kind of altered state to dance to, say, Mellow Yellow.Electrical banana
Is gonna be a sudden craze
Electrical banana
Is bound to be the very next phase
They call it mellow yellow (Quite rightly)
Read More: Start Your Weekend Right With 7 Great Pieces of Moon Music
Atlantis (1968): Now, I won’t speculate as to whether Donovan really believes in the old tales of Atlantis or not; he isn’t offering to clarify matters on that score at this late date, and I can’t blame him. That, nevertheless, is what this song is about. A good part of the vocals are spoken, not sung, and may draw some inspiration from not only the Irish stories of the Tuatha Dé Danann but also similar mythos from the Indian Vedas – I’ve read some of those but don’t remember any Atlantis allusions, so I’ll defer to Donovan on that one.
Hurdy Gurdy Man (1968): In the summer of 2016, if memory serves, I was walking around Boston, through a park a couple of blocks from Paul Revere’s house, when I heard some strange music. Being innately curious about, well, everything, I followed it, to find an old man with a strange-looking instrument – a hurdy gurdy. It’s a haunting sound, somewhat like what you might expect if a viola had a love child with a set of bagpipes. It was neat, so I dropped a fiver in the old man’s can he had set out for tips. It’s neat to hear in this old Donovan tune, as well.Read More: Start Your Weekend Right With 6 Great Warren Zevon Songs
Listening to Donovan’s tunes takes me back to a long-ago time. Well, at least it was long ago for me. He was turning out hits when I was a little kid, and it’s neat to hear that he’s still around, even if poor health keeps him from touring.
Got any additional suggestions as to Donovan songs? The comments are all yours.
