by Robert Wilkinson
We kick off our musical weekend celebrating the 77th birthday of Donovan Leitch. Poet, mystic, balladeer, and once considered the Sacred Isles' answer to Bob Dylan, he's still crafting some of the most beautiful songs in the world! It's also the birthday of Jay Ferguson, front man for Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne!
First, Donovan Leitch. This Scottish singer-songwriter called simply by his first name, Donovan (10 May 1946) came to fame in early 1965 with his hits "Catch the Wind," "Colours," and the timeless "Universal Soldier." Given his folk roots in the Celtic music of Ireland, Scotland and England, which also played a major part in American folk and blues roots, it was inevitable that the press would compare him with Bob Dylan, since both were troubadours in the classic sense. That comparison was not entirely fair, since Dylan was far more acerbic and intense than Donovan, who tended toward more a more mystical sense of storytelling, introspective poetry, and playful lyrics.
He followed his initial folk style with pure "flower power" psychedelia, and in 1966 scored a monster #1 hit with "Sunshine Superman." He continued his psychedelic folk-rock stream of songs with "Mellow Yellow," my personal favorite "Season of the Witch," "There Is A Mountain," "Wear Your Love Like Heaven," "Jennifer Juniper," the extremely electric "Hurdy Gurdy Man," "Lalena," and "Atlantis," with dozens more in the years during and after these.
Back in the day he hung out with Joan Baez, Brian Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Jack Bruce, John Paul Jones, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and The Beatles, and taught both John Lennon and Paul McCartney his finger-picking style in 1968. Besides being one of the first to use sitar and tablas on his songs, his eclectic and unique style blends folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music. If you haven't heard his music, prepare for a treat! And if you remember his music, then enjoy going back to a more innocent gentle era!
We'll begin with some great live performances!
From 1964, "Catch the Wind."
Live on television in the mid-60s, "Colours."
From the 1965 NME concert, here’s , "You’re Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond” and "Catch the Wind."
From The Big TNT Show in 1966, "The Universal Soldier" and “Sweet Joy”
Last year I had a clip from the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 doing "The War Drags On," "The Ballad of A Crystal Man," and "Colours," the latter with Joan Baez, but this year it’s disappeared.
Here’s the studio version of "The War Drags On," and “The Ballad of A Crystal Man."
From that period, Pete Seeger brought together Donovan, Shawn Phillips, and the Reverend Gary Davis for this live performance of “Guinevere”
To dig where his head was at during those years, here's a 1966 Donovan Interview.
Here’s Bob Dylan and Donovan during Zimmie's mid-60s UK tour.
From 1966, he’s lip synching on French tv to the grooved out very trippy "Sunshine Superman."
We now move into his psychedelic era, beginning with a French Pop Festival performance in 1966 broadcast on tv in 1967. Here’s one of my personal favorites, the awesome and spell binding "Season Of The Witch." I also found these videos from that pop festival. Lousy quality, but the sound is good. “Sand and Foam” and “Hey Gyp”
Here's an extremely psychedelic performance with the cameras providing a sense of altered reality! For your memories of another time, "Mellow Yellow."
We’ll close out 1967 with this live performance! Here’s 17 minutes of Donovan Live at the Bouton Rouge - 1967
Some songs from the same era include:
"Jennifer Juniper." (1968)
"There Is A Mountain" with Sergio Mendes, 1968.
"The Lullaby Of Spring - All My Loving" (1968)
From 1968, a b/w clip of "Lalena." Here's another performance from The Hollywood Palace show of "Lalena."
Here are some live gems from his appearance in 1968 on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Here’s Donovan doing “Lalena” and “Happiness Runs.”
Still on the show, here's Donovan with Mary Travers and Jennifer Warnes on "To Love Me (Lassie Lay Down)."
Also from the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, here he is doing "Atlantis" helped out by The Smothers Brothers, Peter Paul & Mary, Jennifer Warnes, and Mort Sahl.
Also from 1968, a video of Donovan singing his major psychedelic fuzzed-out hit to a backing track. “Hurdy Gurdy Man”
I found it again! Here’s Donovan at L' Olympia Paris in 1970 doing this psychedelic masterpiece! “Hurdy Gurdy Man”
Here’s another version from Beatle Week in Liverpool where Donovan performs "Hurdy Gurdy Man" with a special verse that George Harrison wrote for the song that never had been recorded.
The audio of his 1973 show in Japan with the extra verse has disappeared.
Here’s a classic 1972 Donovan BBC concert! I put them in order of the original set list. We begin with two in one clip. He opened with “Jennifer Juniper” and followed with “There Is A Mountain,” but this one takes you from the first to the closer, “Mellow Yellow.”
“Cosmic Wheels” and “Maria Magenta”
Here the last four songs are all on one clip. "Cosmic Wheels," "Maria Magenta," "The Pee Song," and "Mellow Yellow."
Here’s a 44 minute show from 1974! Donovan in Concert - 1974
Also from 1974, 26 minutes of Donovan on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert - Donovan
For those who want the original studio versions of his songs, here they are with most set to still photos or footage. His early stuff is definitely folk alley!
Back to the very trippy "Sunshine Superman."
"Season of the Witch." For two more incredible takes on this song from radically different approaches, I found the original Vanilla Fudge totally psychedelic studio version of "Season of the Witch," which is an amazing piece of work in itself! To close this trifecta of performances of this oh so strange song, here's the funkier Super Session version of Donovan's "Season of the Witch" featuring Stephen Stills, Al Kooper, and Mike Bloomfield. Enjoy these three entirely different arrangements of this magnificent mystical tune!
Back to the studio versions of Donovan's best in the psychedelic era:
"Wear Your Love Like Heaven." (Bonus points if you remember which company used this song in the 70s to sell its product! Answer to this Kosmic Question at the end of the article.)
From 1997, live in Hamburg, "El Dorado"
Here’s a great live 2010 clip from the El Rey Theater in LA benefitting TM! “Hurdy Gurdy Man.” From the same gig, here's Donovan doing "Mellow Yellow."
From 2011, classic footage! Live at the Royal Albert Hall, accompanied by the great Jimmy Page, "Sunshine Superman."
Last year I had 5 great ones from his 2007 performance at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, but 4 of them disappeared this year. I did find this very brief PBS promo clip for the show (with the sound ever so lightly distorted) of a medley of his hits including "There is a Mountain,” “Catch the Wind,” “Young Girl Blues,” “Season of the Witch,” “Mellow Yellow,” and “Hurdy Gurdy Man."
Here’s the closer of that show and our birthday tribute! “Hurdy Gurdy Man.”
Last year I couldn't find anything from his great 1996 album Sutras, but this year I found the entire album on separate clips. I’ve listed them in order of the album tracks. The themes are definitely spiritual and worth more than one listen, so if you can find a copy, by all means get one!
I found this rare live gem! It’s a 49 minute audio only show combining some of those songs with some of his greatest! The first half are hit hits, and the second half are from the album “Sutras.” Enjoy! Donovan Live In Copenhagen 1997
For our closer, a great funky groove from his 1976 album “Slow Down World,” “A Well Known Has Been”
For our encore, his 2012 performance at Sundance doing “Season of the Witch.”
For our second encore, an entire 34 minute set caught on video! Donovan Live at the Vienna Folk Festival - 1981
If you want to find out more about what this amazing talent has been and is still doing, please visit Donovan's Official Website.
So it's a very Happy and Merry 76th Solar Return and Birthday to this Scottish poet and mystic, a Taurus of amazing smiles and gentle awareness. All the best from the Cosmic Cantina!
(The answer to the Kosmic Question is the Eau De Love (by Menley & James) fragrance commercial!)
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May 10 is also the birthday of Jay Ferguson (May 10, 1947), vocalist, keyboardist, and percussionist for Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne. He wrote many songs on their early albums, so since I just did a Spirit tribute, if you want to hear his work with that band, please check out all the material on their first 4 albums and live shows at Friday Night Spirit Dancing at the 2022 Birthday of the Legendary Ed "Cass" Cassidy and Spirit.
After Spirit, he also founded and wrote for Jo Jo Gunne. Here’s their first and only huge hit, the exciting “Run Run Run”
Here’s their entire first album! Jo Jo Gunne
Here’s their second album, Bite Down Hard
Here’s the music video of his 1978 hit “Thunder Island”
We’ll close this short set with a 2010 reworking of an earlier hit, “Shakedown Cruise”
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May 10 is also the birthday of guitarist Shane Fontayne (10 May 1954). I don't have time to do a tribute this year, so I'll just give you this from wikipedia:
Shane Fontayne is the professional name of English rock guitarist Mick Barakan. Active since the 1970s, he was the guitarist for Bruce Springsteen during the 1992-1993 "Other Band" Tour, as Springsteen had disbanded his own E Street Band three years earlier. During his career he has worked with Ian Hunter, Van Zant, John Waite, Chris Botti, Joe Cocker, Johnny Hallyday, Marc Cohn, Randy VanWarmer, and others.... In the 1970s he was associated with Byzantium, an English psychedelic music band, and over the years has worked with a range of artists, including Steve Forbert... Maria McKee... and later Joe Cocker (and) Richard Marx.He was the guitarist for the French rocker Johnny Hallyday for his 1995 tour "Lorada tour", and 1996 concert in Las Vegas. In addition, Fontayne has been singer/songwriter Marc Cohn's touring guitarist since 1998. He has recently worked with Crosby, Stills & Nash on tour. On 2 December 2012 Fontayne played lead electric guitar for Ann and Nancy Wilson's version of "Stairway to Heaven" during the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony for Led Zeppelin.
© Copyright 2023 Robert Wilkinson
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