Donovan

Dean wrote: Donovan originally wrote Catch The Wind in 1964 when he was an impressionable 18 year old just starting to make a name for himself in the UK folk scene (Dylan would have been 23 and releasing his 4th studio album at that time).  The 1965 meeting of the two documented in Dont Look Back is now the stuff of legends (especially the exchange between them over "My Darling Tangerine Eyes"/"Mr Tambourine Man" that never made the final cut of the film), and no doubt resulted in the change of direction that Donovan undertook soon after. I suspect that had circumstances been different the relationship between Dylan and Donovan would have been a fair bit warmer but the press taunting of Dylan over this new upstart seemed to get under his skin - though quite how Donovan's lightweight songs could ever be perceived as a threat is anyone's guess, perhaps he feared that Donovan's accessibility would dilute what he was doing. Anyway, by the time Donovan released his second album Fairytale in late 1965, he was writing very un-Dylanesque little corkers like this gem:

Dylan and Donavon were quite chummy when both performed at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. And Donavon, despite his one Dylan clone song, was enthusiastically received by the 70,000 fans that attended the 3 day Newport Festival. By late '65 and early '66, Dylan purposely distanced from other folk and  folk rock stars like Donavon, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs et al. It's a shame because both Donavon and Dylan initially followed folk rock paths before Donavon went full on psych rock and Dylan went in a backwards direction that featured country/folk with his 1967 album John Wesley  Harding.

Edited by SteveG - September 22 2015 at 16:09

Dean wrote: Donovan originally wrote Catch The Wind in 1964 when he was an impressionable 18 year old just starting to make a name for himself in the UK folk scene (Dylan would have been 23 and releasing his 4th studio album at that time).  The 1965 meeting of the two documented in Dont Look Back is now the stuff of legends (especially the exchange between them over "My Darling Tangerine Eyes"/"Mr Tambourine Man" that never made the final cut of the film), and no doubt resulted in the change of direction that Donovan undertook soon after. I suspect that had circumstances been different the relationship between Dylan and Donovan would have been a fair bit warmer but the press taunting of Dylan over this new upstart seemed to get under his skin - though quite how Donovan's lightweight songs could ever be perceived as a threat is anyone's guess, perhaps he feared that Donovan's accessibility would dilute what he was doing. Anyway, by the time Donovan released his second album Fairytale in late 1965, he was writing very un-Dylanesque little corkers like this gem:

I  agree that "Dylan clone" is an unfair comparison. Personally I think the whole idea came from

The Dylan clone thing was a pretty heavy topic at the time, especially for Donovan and the others who were being put into that category.  Remember the "Don't Look Back" movie where Dylan and Donovan meet and Donovan is given the cold shoulder....pretty shoddy treatment 'cause Donovan was considered a mere copycat.  The tag has been given to most successful young songwriters of the time from Gordon Lightfoot and Loudon Wainwright to Paul Simon and Tim Buckley.  None of these singers had much to do with Dylan outside of the fact that they sang acoustic folk music and often used electric accompaniment.  Dylan's Self Portrait album was, at the time, panned mainly 'cause Dylan was trying to play copycat to those who he considered to have stolen from him.  Critics and fans alike agreed that Dylan had put a sh*tty album out on spite just to show that his competitors wrote songs that just didn't stack up to his own. 

I'm also one of the older guys in this place and all kinds of things come to mind with Donovan -I was a teenager living in the Bay area during the height of those glorious 'Psychedelic 60's" - There was just so much happening on the musical landscape with other greats like The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Mamas & Papas, Hendrix, Buffalo Springfield, the British Invasion, and of course The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper & Magical Mystery Tour.

But Donovan was one in particular caught my attention-"Catch the Wind" was the first of his songs I heard over the radio airwaves - Looking back or in retrospect, (And as already been mentioned), I agree it was more the music press & critics that made the Dylan comparison - At the time I really didn't hear it and besides I really didn't care much for Dylan -

Donovan's rather blissful & surreal style (and at times nonsensical lyrics) was perfect for the time that added to the magic of that era. And I'm happy that his music is still sparking interest, revivals, and discovery. Other songs besides Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow my other favorites are Lalena, Epistle to Dippy, Jennifer-Juniper, There is a Mountain, and Atlantis -

Rando wrote: I'm also one of the older guys in this place and all kinds of things come to mind with Donovan -I was a teenager living in the Bay area during the height of those glorious 'Psychedelic 60's" - There was just so much happening on the musical landscape with other greats like The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Mamas & Papas, Hendrix, Buffalo Springfield, the British Invasion, and of course The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper & Magical Mystery Tour. But Donovan was one in particular caught my attention-"Catch the Wind" was the first of his songs I heard over the radio airwaves - Looking back or in retrospect, (And as already been mentioned), I agree it was more the music press & critics that made the Dylan comparison - At the time I really didn't hear it and besides I really didn't care much for Dylan - Donovan's rather blissful & surreal style (and at times nonsensical lyrics) was perfect for the time that added to the magic of that era. And I'm happy that his music is still sparking interest, revivals, and discovery. Other songs besides Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow my other favorites are Lalena, Epistle to Dippy, Jennifer-Juniper, There is a Mountain, and Atlantis -

Ah, the good old days!