And career-wise, he seemed more than willing to sit out the decades. It later became Eleanor Rigby.' "īy then, Donovan was famous and ridiculously rich, thanks to top 10 hits such as "Sunshine Superman," "Hurdy Gurdy Man" (backed in the studio by three-fourths of what would later become Led Zeppelin) and "Mellow Yellow." The last, with an uncredited McCartney on backup vocals, created quite the storm in the psychedelic '60s thanks to its famous image of "electrical bananas," which supposedly inspired drug-addled fans to roast banana skins, scrape and then smoke them for what they believed to be a natural high (the term was actually a British nickname for vibrators).īetween 19, Donovan would record 13 albums, but had no more hits. Singing a familiar melody, Donovan re-creates the moment: " Olanatunji, blowing his mind in the dark with a pipe full of clay'. He recalls Paul McCartney popping into his London flat with his guitar and some new lyrics with clear drug references. "It was all moving very fast, and nobody knew how long it was going to last. He toured in "caravans" with acts such as the Who, Kinks, Hollies and Animals. "The camera was friendly immediately - I went into everybody's living room and the parents went, Ahh, isn't he nice.' " "I was the curly-haired kid from Scotland, the vagabond among the sea of faces," Donovan recalls. In February 1965, Donovan made the first of three straight appearances on the pop music program "Ready Steady Go." He didn't even have a record to lip-sync to at the time, and thus became the first act to sing live on the show. As a teenager, he and a pal, Gypsy Dave, spent their summers hitchhiking through the British Isles, singing for supper.Įarly on, Donovan was dubbed the British Bob Dylan - their first meeting in 1966 is captured in the documentary "Don't Look Back" - but he wisely stepped out of Dylan's considerable shadow and began to assert his own gentle voice, lacing it with Celtic and Eastern influences and fusing elements of folk, rock and what is now called world music. "It's the most fun when it begins, just before the fame," Donovan says, sighing lightly. Interviewed here recently, Donovan did a little time tripping through what he calls "a swirl of mixed memories." In conversation, Donovan's supple, carefully enunciated speech sounds as comfortingly Celtic as it did spinning out fairy-tale landscapes on the introduction to the song "Atlantis." There's a touch of gray to the singer's familiar curls (at 50, Donovan's a granddaddy), and his face radiates an elfin sweetness, not unlike a stress-free Richard Simmons. Like its creator, "Sutras" is soothingly familiar its soft-spun, understated groove reflects both spiritual inclinations and literary inspirations. Now, Donovan's back with "Sutras," his first studio album in 14 years, and a reintroductory tour that's taking him to small venues (the Birchmere tonight) and bookstores (a mini-concert at Borders in Rockville last night). a man-child of magic," and the public embraced such mystic pop hits as "Catch the Wind," "Sunshine Superman," "Jennifer Juniper," "Mellow Yellow" and "Wear Your Love Like Heaven."ĭonovan Leitch, who used to perform on a dais surrounded by flowers, was "new age" before they coined the term. Writer(s): LEITCH DONOVAN PHILLIPSLyrics powered by years ago, a brand-new Rolling Stone magazine described Scottish folk rocker Donovan as "the prince of flower power. I′m just mad about saffron A-saffron's mad about me I′m-a just mad about saffron She's just mad about me They call me mellow yellow (Quite rightly) They call me mellow yellow (Quite rightly) They call me mellow yellow I'm just mad about fourteen Fourteen′s mad about me I′m-a just mad about-a fourteen A-she's just mad about me They call me mellow yellow They call me mellow yellow (Quite rightly) They call me mellow yellow Born-a high forever to fly A-wind-a velocity nil Born-a high forever to fly If you want, your cup I will fill They call me mellow yellow (Quite rightly) They call me mellow yellow (Quite rightly) They call me mellow yellow So 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) They call me mellow yellow (Quite rightly) They call me mellow yellow Saffron, yeah I′m just-a mad about her I'm-a just-a mad about-a saffron She′s just mad about me They call it mellow yellow (Quite rightly) They call me mellow yellow (Quite rightly) They call me mellow yellow Oh, so yellow.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |