Donovan has to be in my top 100 of all-time favorite Musicians. Unfortunately he never caught on here in the West like other artists from the UK. He was popular, sure, but but he never reached the same level of popularity or success of his counterparts. Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones referred to Donovan as the UK’s Bob Dylan.

He emerged onto the scene in 1965 with three UK hit singles: “Catch the Wind”, “Colours” and “Universal Soldier”, the last written by Buffy Sainte-Marie. In September 1966, “Sunshine Superman” topped America’s Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week and went to number two in Britain, followed by “Mellow Yellow” at US No. 2 in December 1966, then 1968’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man” in the top 5 in both countries, then “Atlantis”, which reached US No. 7 in May 1969.

He became a friend of pop and folk musicians including Joan Baez, Brian Jones and the Beatles. He taught John Lennon a finger-picking guitar style in 1968 that Lennon employed in “Dear Prudence”, “Julia”, “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” and other songs. His backing musicians included the Jeff Beck Group, and John Bonham, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, who later rose to fame as members of Led Zeppelin. Donovan’s commercial fortunes waned after parting with Most in 1969, and he left the industry for a time.

Now, here, in no specific order, my Top 10 

1. Sunshine Superman 1966
2. Mellow Yellow 1967
3. Wear your Love like Heaven 1967
4. The Hurdy Gurdy Man 1968
5. Catch the Wind 1965
6. Epistle to Dippy 1967
7. Universal Soldier 1965
8. Jennifer Juniper 1968
9. Atlantis 1968
10. There is a Mountain 1967

If you haven’t heard them for awhile, take some time to take a walk down memory lane, it will be worth the trip.

( image courtesy of cheatsheet.com )