To sing for you (Donovan) (LP 745 - 747)

Donovan  What's Bin Did And What's Bin Hid (Vinyl, Marble Arch Records, 1965, this copy is a 1968 reissue) **** 

Donovan  Cosmic Wheels (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1973) ***

Donovan  Essence To Essence (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1973) ****

Genre: Folk/ Folk-rock 

Places I remember: Spellbound Wax Company (Gisborne); Second hand shop in Havelock North.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Catch The Wind, Lazy Daze

Gear costume: Cosmic Wheels 

Active compensatory factors: What's Bin Did etc was Donovan's first album. This reissue on the budget Marble Arch label removed two tracks - Car Car and Donna Donna were both removed removed (sorry) from the album, possibly because they were not written by Donovan.

It's a remarkably polished album for a debut, and given that Donovan was only 19 years old it makes it all the more impressive. 

Yes there are echoes of Dylan and Woody Guthrie but Donovan's voice is still a very distinctive sound all of his own, even then.

Cosmic Wheels and Essence To Essence were eight years later but the Donovan of 1973 was a very different proposition - one embracing an almost glam sensibility on Cosmic Wheels. No wonder Alice Cooper used him on Billion Dollar Babies.

Essence To Essence is an excellent album. Brilliant musicians like the members of Derek and The Dominos and Peter Frampton obviously helped. They provided the base for Donovan's confident songs to shine. The only remotely embarrassing moment is the cod reggae Yellow Star.

Where do they all belong? He enjoys a singular place in the music world in general and the folk world in particular. Chuck 'Donovan' into Google and you only get links to one person.