There's a funny scene in Don't Look Back, D.A. Pennebaker's great documentary film of Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of England, where Dylan reacts to a newspaper headline about English folk-rock musician Donovan — who at the time was being called by some England's own Dylan.
"Who's this Donovan?" Dylan asks with mock indignation.
In retrospect the comparisons are particularly humorous, as Dylan's social and political lyrical content — they labeled it protest music at the time — really had very little in common with Donovan's brand of trippy-hippie mysticism. They both played acoustic guitar and harmonica, but that was really where the comparisons ended. Dylan's songs became the anthems of a generation, while Donovan's are used today in television commercials (Donovan himself humorously refers to this as "selling in" rather than "selling out" on this DVD).
But at the time, Donovan's popularity — at least as evidenced by his record sales — did actually rival Dylan's. During the mid-sixties especially, his songs like "Sunshine Superman," "Mellow Yellow," and "Hurdy Gurdy Man" regularly topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. He also frequently drew headlines by hob-nobbing with the rock royalty of the time. Donovan even went with the Beatles to India for their now infamous meeting with the Maharishi.
Yes, that Donovan. Now you remember, right?
Watching this DVD recorded in L.A. earlier this year at a benefit concert for the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness Based Education and World Peace, the most striking thing you notice is how little Donovan has changed all these years later. He looks the same. He sounds the same. And apparently, he also still holds the same basic hippie philosophy he did back then — embracing the same transcendental meditation today that he learned with the Beatles in the sixties.
Speaking of Lynch, the filmmaker introduces Donovan on this DVD — which only made me wonder to myself what it would have been like if this film had been directed by him. The peace and love of Donovan's trippy lyrics juxtaposed against the darker visions of most of Lynch's films would certainly make for an interesting combination if nothing else.
That said, I was pleasantly surprised by just how good the performance captured on this DVD actually is. Donovan largely goes it alone here, backed only by his acoustic guitar and harmonica, as well as stand-up bassist Tom Mansi and percussionist (congas mostly) Stewart Lawrence. Donovan's daughter Astrella Celeste and Beach Boy Mike Love also make guest appearances.
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Article comments
1 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites and Boston.com.