Well I'm not sure if this is embarrassing . . . . . . I don't think I like this track as much as I did when it came out but cared more for his folkie roots 'Catch The Wind' etc but the electric Donovan did come up with some great stuff . . . . ('Season Of The Witch' which I still like to play . . . ) Mellow Yellow began to cloy somewhat and 'Sunshine Superman' began to shake my faith but only after a while and when it came out I dug it so much I bought the single . . . . . 

On this day in music history: September 3, 1966 - “Sunshine Superman” by Donovan hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 1 week. Written by Donovan Leitch, it is the biggest US chart single for the Scottish born singer, songwriter and musician. Starting his career off by singing Dylanesque folk songs like his first hit single “Catch The Wind”, Donovan’s songwriting begins to evolve and move in new directions. “Sunshine Superman” is inspired partially by Leitch’s future wife Linda Lawrence, who had previously dated Rolling Stone Brian Jones. Wary of becoming involved with another musician, and the often unpredictable lifestyle it brings, she breaks off the relationship. Not willing to let her go easily, Donovan puts his feelings about winning her back into the song, expressed in the repeated refrain “‘Cause I made my mind up you’re going to be mine…”. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London in January of 1966, “Sunshine Superman” also features future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones playing guitar and bass respectively. The record marks a major turning point in Donovan’s career, which sees him moving away from his earlier folk oriented material that led the young singer/songwriter to be compared to Bob Dylan by the British press. The two actually meet in 1965 during Dylan’s now legendary tour of the UK captured in the documentary film “Don’t Look Back” and become friends. His first release on Epic Records (his previous records were released by Nashville, TN based indie Hickory Records in the US) in July of 1966, it quickly takes off. Entering the Hot 100 at #90 on July 30, 1966, it streaks to the top of the chart five weeks later. The UK release of the single is delayed until December of that year, due to a contractual dispute between Donovan and his British label Pye Records. “Sunshine Superman is a major hit there as well, peaking at #2 on the UK singles chart.