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Saturday, October 13, 2018

DONOVAN 

Fairy Tale


Nice posting about and of Donovan lately over at Rockasteria or 'Plain & Fancy' if you prefer 




Tracks 1. Colours (Donovan Leitch) - 2:44 2. To Try For The Sun (Donovan Leitch) - 3:41 3. Sunny Goodge Street (Donovan Leitch) - 2:56 4. Oh Deed I Do (Bert Jansch) - 2:09 5. Circus Of Sour (Paul Bernath) - 1:53 6. The Summer Day Reflection Song (Donovan Leitch) - 2:16 7. Candy Man (Traditional; Arranged by Donovan Leitch) - 3:30 8. Jersey Thursday (Donovan Leitch) - 2:15 9. Belated Forgiveness Plea (Donovan Leitch) - 2:58 10.The Ballad Of A Crystal Man (Donovan Leitch) - 3:55 11.The Little Tin Soldier (Shawn Phillips) - 3:02 12.The Ballad Of Geraldine (Donovan Leitch) - 4:41 13.Universal Soldier (Buffy Sainte-Marie) - 2:15 14.The Ballad Of A Crystal Man (Donovan Leitch) - 3:18 15.The War Drags On (Mike Softley) - 3:44 16.Do You Hear Me Now (Bert Jansch) - 1:50 17.Turquoise (Donovan Leitch) - 3:31 18.Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness) (Donovan Leitch) - 3:12 
  
Musicians *Donovan - Banjo, Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals *Skip Alan (Alan Skipper) - Drums *Brian Locking - Bass Guitar *Harold McNair - Flute *Shawn Phillips - Guitar, Twelve String Guitar
I always enjoy reading the texts with the postings at Rockesteria and this is no exception but I don't agree with the thesis and I hold that Dylan v. Donovan was nothing but a media construct that Dylan was aware of and the two artists clearly respected each other and ever since such journalistic constructs even today with the Britpop argument between Oasis and the Gallagher brothers and Damon Albarn from Blur was stupid and an invention. Rivalries such as this are media driven by journeymen hacks with little else to do if they cannot understand what is being sung and written about. Mind you it is worth noting the text here is written by Nick Bornholt back in 67 so we forgive him. Hindsight is a wonderful thing . . . . although curiously the notes refer to his first album 'Catch the Wind' or 'What's Bin Did . . . . .' rather than the featured 2nd album here 'Fairy Tales' which came out later in the year

I bought 'What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid' when it came out and always loved that album and loved Dylan too and still do from 'The Times  . . . . .' onward. I didn't always enjoy everything the two artists did (God bothering vulnerability from Dylan left me cold) but boy do I appreciate that the music world has plenty enough room for both

The one who really taught us to play and learn all the traditional songs was Martin Carthy – who incidentally was contacted by Dylan when Bob first came to the UK. Bob was influenced, as all American folk artists are, by the Celtic music of Ireland, Scotland and England. But in 1962 we folk Brits were also being influenced by some folk Blues and the American folk-exponents of our Celtic Heritage ... Dylan appeared after Woody [Guthrie], Pete [Seeger] and Joanie [Baez] had conquered our hearts, and he sounded like a cowboy at first but I knew where he got his stuff – it was Woody at first, then it was Jack Kerouac and the stream-of-consciousness poetry which moved him along. But when I heard 'Blowin' in the Wind' it was the clarion call to the new generation – and we artists were encouraged to be as brave in writing our thoughts in music ... We were not captured by his influence, we were encouraged to mimic him – and remember every British band from the Stones to the Beatles were copying note for note, lick for lick, all the American pop and blues artists – this is the way young artists learn. There's no shame in mimicking a hero or two – it flexes the creative muscles and tones the quality of our composition and technique. It was not only Dylan who influenced us – for me he was a spearhead into protest, and we all had a go at his style. I sounded like him for five minutes – others made a career of his sound. Like troubadours, Bob and I can write about any facet of the human condition. To be compared was natural, but I am not a copyist.[18] Donovan Leitch



Enjoy it is worth checking out this from 1965



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