Donovan Albums (20)
What The Critics Say
Beat Cafe is Donovan's first record in nine years. His last, the Rick Rubin-produced Sutras was issued in 1993 and was hopelessly misunderstood -- especially coming as it did on the heels of Rubin's first collaboration with Johnny Cash. This side, produced by the rootsy yet eclectic John Chelew who has worked with everyone from Richard Thompson to the Blind Boys of Alabama and John Hiatt goes right to the heart of Donovan's particular musical esthetic. The title on this set is significant. The instrumentation is spare, with drums by Jim Keltner, acoustic , upright bass by the legendary Danny Thompson, and keyboards by Chelew.Donovan handled the guitar chores. In other words, small combo, cafe style. . . Atmosphere is everything in these songs; they are intimate, rhythm-conscious, tuneful, and lyrically savvy. In addition, they're inspired by that eternally present, romantically eulogized generation of poets, dope fiends, midnight travelers, and coffeehouse sages, the Beats. The set features 12 new songs; ten of them are Donovan Leitch originals. The covers include a compelling read of the mysterious and traditional "The Cuckoo,"and a jazzy spoken word take on Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle." There are some flashes of the hippy mystic of old here, but mostly, this is a fingerpopping set by Donovan the enigma as well as Donovan the songwriter. Chelew and band do a wonderful job of illustrating this juxtaposition. With this band tight, deeply in the groove at all times, the tunes open up and out as if the group were on the barroom stage, and extended the dancefloor jumping and jiving into the street on a delirious, humid moonlit night of uncontainable joy. "Poorman's Sunshine," with its skittering brushed snare drums and a B3 tracking the melody with Thompson's bass pushing the rhythm, jumps out at the listener, as does the title track with Thompson driving the whole engine. "Yin My Yang" may have a seemingly ridiculous title, but it's not in the context of what this album tries to achieve. Donovan is celebrating the self-referential, "anything-is-possible" revelation that fuelled the language and spirit of his heroes of yore, and propelled his own romantic, "everything-is-love" aesthetic. The shimmering, dark, Eastern minor-key psychedelic spoken word/sung ditty of "Two Lovers" is one of those poems that makes Donovan so unique (think, "Atlantis" here). The organic jazzed-up funk of "The Question" is one of those crazy moments that makes the whole world open and the body twitch in time. The album ends with the whispering "Shambala," a tender, blissful dirge that is utterly moving and hauntingly beautiful in its optimism and hope. If anything, if albums are "needed" anymore, the spirit in this one is. Donovan reminds listeners that possibility and hope are not passé, but as full of chance and wild grace as ever. Welcome back, Donovan; you've been missed. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Like Johnny Cash before him, Donovan was selected by producer Rick Rubin as a childhood hero he would like to restore to glory. With Rubin's encouragement and production, Donovan does make an impressive comeback with Sutras, which is reminiscent of his earliest records. Sutras abandons the colorful psychedelic pop of his best-known songs for the spare acoustic folk of his first records, and while Donovan's songwriting is a little uneven, the warmth of the performances is charming and welcoming, especially for long-time fans. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Like a lot of 1960s folk-rock veterans, Donovan has found his biggest modern audience in new recordings of his classic hits. This British release is one of them, a 1990s all-acoustic show running an hour and covering such material as "Sunshine Superman," "Jennifer Juniper," "Catch the Wind," "The Hurdy Gurdy Man," "Universal Soldier," "Atlantis," "Colours," "Cosmic Wheels," "Young Girl Blues," and "Wear Your Love Like Heaven," among others. His voice is better here than it was for many a '60s performance, and the recording quality is excellent. The old Columbia Live In Concert still has a certain dopey (in more ways than one) charm, having been recorded in the midst of flower power, but these performances are more engaging and include a bigger cross-section of his repertory. "Hurdy Gurdy Man," for example, works amazingly well without the psychedelic guitar of the studio original, complete with Donovan's wry recollections of his time with the Maharishi, the Beatles, Mia Farrow et al., and an extra verse associated with George Harrison; and "Sunshine Superman" (which includes Donovan's harmonica playing), "Cosmic Wheels," and "Atlantis" are better songs here than their originals. A couple of numbers that should be here aren't ("Hey Gyp" would be welcomed, and one is surprised that Donovan doesn't do more with "There Is a Mountain," given how famous the song is courtesy of the Allman Brothers), but this is still a pleasure. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Donovan re-recorded some old hits -- "Season of the Witch" and "Sunshine Superman" -- and cut some new songs for this independent label release. The result is a pleasant, but inconsequential, effort. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Donovan was reunited with his old producer, Mickie Most, and his old record company head, Clive Davis, for this label debut, which has a tight, sharp, punkish edge to it, notably on the lead-off track, "Local Boy Chops Wood." Unfortunately, no one paid attention. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Slow Down World marked the end of Donovan's ten-year relationship with Columbia Records. A somewhat more downbeat album than the preceding 7-Tease, interweaving the influences of world music ("The Mountain," a gorgeous reprise/follow-up to "There Is a Mountain," that's worth the price of the album), traces of some lingering idealism ("Children of the World"), and romantic balladry "My Love Is True" (Love Song)," interspersed with some bitter reflections on the state of his image and role in the world ("A Well-Known Has-Been"). The title song and a handful of others are a bit too introverted for popular consumption, though they're very successful personal songwriting, dealing with the darker side of the psyche. But the album ends on a delightful high-note with "The Liberation Rag," as upbeat a song as Donovan had generated since "There Is a Mountain," and utilizing an arrangement that deliberately recalls his original, Bob Dylan-influenced sound. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Cosmic Wheels was Donovan's first album in three years to be aimed at mainstream listeners (as opposed to the audience of children and parents for HMS Donovan). For most onlookers, the passage of time meant that this record should have differed considerably from its predecessor, but no one could have expected what was on Cosmic Wheels, at least on side one -- a suppression of all of the flowing lyricism that had been a hallmark of Donovan's previous work. In its place were awkward self-consciously heavy prog rock/hard rock stylings juxtaposed with sound effects, and all woven together in a loud and mostly tuneless and unmemorable first side. Starting with the title track, little of the new-style material worked, and the first six numbers here seem like the musical equivalent of a train wreck in slow motion -- the presence of such notable names as Suzi Quatro and others in the contingent of participating musicians notwithstanding. But the album ended up rescued, or at least partly salvaged, by the acoustic numbers that comprise most of the second side. Overlooking "The Intergalactic Laxative" (the less said about the better), the final third of this record is where any value that it did have, for old listeners at least, resided -- the delightful "Only the Blues" and the ethereal "Appearances," among the most beautiful recordings of his post-'60s career, satisfied longtime fans and could even have earned the artist some new ones, and they keep the record from being a total loss. Fine as they are, they may not be quite worth the effort required to reach them, but their presence comprised the only fully worthwhile moments of what was to be a comeback album -- and as they're not likely to ever turn up on any compilations, their presence ensures that completists and fans will always have to ponder whether to bother owning Cosmic Wheels or not, as opposed to ignoring it completely. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
