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Donovan

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Donovan Leitch was born in Glasgow in 1946 and grew up in Hatfield, in England. As a child he contracted polio, which left him with a limp. Folk songs were sung a great deal at home, and he began playing the guitar at fourteen. He abandoned art college, travelled around as a busker and learned the fingerpicking technique in the St Albans folk scene. In early 1965 he made his breakthrough with appearances on the television programme Ready Steady Go! and his first single, Catch the Wind.

Music and breakthrough

The British press at first saw him as an answer to Bob Dylan, but his songs were lighter and more optimistic. With the producer Mickie Most he found a sound of his own, in which folk came together with pop, psychedelia and jazz. The album Sunshine Superman (1966) features sitar and congas. The title track reached number 1 in America in 1966, followed by Mellow Yellow. Jennifer Juniper, Hurdy Gurdy Man (1968) and Atlantis (1969) were among the songs that came after. Musicians who would later form Led Zeppelin, such as Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, played on his records.

Influence

Donovan became the singer of the flower-power era. He was friends with Joan Baez, Brian Jones and The Beatles, and, like The Beatles, travelled to India to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In 1968 he taught John Lennon a fingerpicking style that Lennon used in Dear Prudence and Julia. After 1969 his success declined, and after the rise of punk critics found his hippie image old-fashioned. In 1996 he made the album Sutras with the producer Rick Rubin. In 2012 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Sunshine Superman and hear how Donovan blends his folk background with the new psychedelic pop of 1966. Then compare it with Dear Prudence by The Beatles and listen for the fingerpicking style that Lennon learned from Donovan.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

See also

Categories: Artists