Donovan 7-Tease (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1974) ***
Genre: Pop
Places I remember: Real Groovy Records
Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Mandolin Man And His Secret
Gear costume: Voyage Into The Golden Screen
Active compensatory factors: I continue to collect Donovan's albums whenever they become available. These are my latest two.
Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Mandolin Man And His Secret
Gear costume: Voyage Into The Golden Screen
I have been after a US copy of For Little Ones for a while now. It's the second half of A Gift From A Flower To A Garden - in the United States they split the double into 2 single albums and I have had a copy of the first half (Wear Your Love Like Heaven) since August last year.
The need to have a copy was fueled by Tim Bowness and Steven Wilson's podcast where they spoke eloquently about the album's special charm. They weren't wrong!
It is brilliant. Donovan's intention was to provide an album for children (not a children's album) to listen to years later. I was 10 in 1967, so I guess I'm a prime example of that idea and vision. It's taken me until my mid sixties, but I have finally reached a point where I can appreciate what he was after.
He succeeds, and then some. I can't get enough of this beguiling album. It feels special, a unique time capsule, and it's like he made it just for me.
Plus, it has a great cover!
7-Tease came a mere 7 years later, but Donovan was a very different creative artist by 1974. I like the album, but the variety of approach kind of dilutes the effectiveness for me. And I don't quite understand what his thematic concept was for these songs. I'll come back to it though in the years to come and see if it makes more sense.
Where do they all belong? A lot more to collect in his great catalogue (and I already own 18 Donovan albums).
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