Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored numerous international hit singles and albums during the late 1960s. His work became emblematic of the flower power era with its blend of folk, pop, psychedelia and jazz stylings.
Donovan first achieved recognition with live performances on the pop TV series Ready Steady Go! in 1965. Having signed with Pye Records that year, he recorded singles and two albums in the folk vein for Hickory Records, scoring three UK hit singles: "Catch the Wind", "Colours" and "Universal Soldier", the last written by Buffy Sainte-Marie. He then signed to CBS/Epic in the US and became more successful internationally, beginning a long collaboration with British record producer Mickie Most. In September 1966, "Sunshine Superman" topped America's Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week and went to No. 2 in Britain, followed by "Mellow Yellow" at US No. 2 in December 1966, then 1968's "Hurdy Gurdy Man" in the top 5 in both countries and then "Atlantis", which reached US No. 7 in May 1969. The compilation Donovan's Greatest Hits was released in March 1969 and peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200.
Donovan became a friend of other prominent musicians such as Joan Baez, Brian Jones and the Beatles. He taught John Lennon a finger-picking guitar style in 1968 that Lennon employed in "Dear Prudence", "Julia", "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" and other songs. His backing musicians included the Jeff Beck Group and John Bonham, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, who later rose to fame as members of Led Zeppelin. Donovan's commercial fortunes waned after parting with Most in 1969, and he left the industry for a time.
Donovan continued to perform and record intermittently in the 1970s and 1980s. His musical style and hippie image were scorned by critics, especially after the rise of punk rock. His performing and recording became sporadic until a revival in the 1990s with the emergence of Britain's rave scene and, in 1994, he moved permanently to Ireland where he still lives. In 1996, he recorded the album Sutras with producer Rick Rubin and, in 2004, made the album Beat Cafe. Donovan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2014.
Contents
Early life
Donovan was born on 10 May 1946, in Maryhill, Glasgow to a Protestant father and a Catholic mother, Donald and Winifred (née Phillips) Leitch. His grandmothers were both Irish. He contracted polio as a child. The disease and treatment left him with a limp. His family moved to the new town of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. Influenced by his family's love of folk music, he began playing the guitar at 14. He enrolled in art school but soon dropped out, to live out his beatnik aspirations by going on the road. Donovan bought his first guitar in St Ives, Cornwall, in the early 1960s, as well as a fisherman's cap that he wore for years afterward.
Music career
1964–1966: Rise to fame
Returning to Hatfield, Donovan spent several months playing in local clubs, absorbing the folk scene around his home in St Albans, learning the crosspicking guitar technique from local players such as Mac MacLeod and Mick Softley and writing his first songs. In 1964, he travelled to Manchester with Gypsy Dave, then spent the summer in Torquay, Devon. In Torquay, he stayed with Mac MacLeod and took up busking, studying the guitar and learning traditional folk and blues.
In late 1964, Donovan was offered a management and publishing contract by Peter Eden and Geoff Stephens of Pye Records in London, for which he recorded a 10-track demo tape which included the original of his first single, "Catch the Wind" and "Josie". The first song revealed the influence of Woody Guthrie and Ramblin' Jack Elliott, who had also influenced Bob Dylan. Comparisons with Dylan followed for some time. In an interview with KFOK radio in the US on 14 June 2005, MacLeod said: "The press were fond of calling Donovan a Dylan clone as they had both been influenced by the same sources: Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Jesse Fuller, Woody Guthrie and many more."
While recording the demo, Donovan befriended Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, who was recording nearby. He had recently met Jones' ex-girlfriend, Linda Lawrence, who is the mother of Jones' son, Julian Brian (Jones) Leitch. The on-off romantic relationship that developed over five years was a force in Donovan's career. She influenced Donovan's music but refused to marry him and she moved to the United States for several years in the late 1960s. They met by chance in 1970 and married soon after. Donovan had other relationships – one of which resulted in the birth of his first two children, Donovan Leitch and Ione Skye, both of whom became actors.
During Bob Dylan's trip to the UK in the spring of 1965, the British music press were making comparisons of the two singer-songwriters which they presented as a rivalry. This prompted The Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones to say,
We've been watching Donovan too. He isn't too bad a singer but his stuff sounds like Dylan's. His 'Catch The Wind' sounds like 'Chimes of Freedom'. He's got a song, 'Hey Tangerine Eyes' and it sounds like Dylan's 'Mr. Tambourine Man'.
1967–1969: International success
In July 1967, Epic released "There Is a Mountain", which just missed the US top ten and was later used as the basis for the Allman Brothers Band's "Mountain Jam". In September, Donovan toured the US, backed by a jazz group and accompanied by his father, who introduced the show. Later that month, Epic released Donovan's fifth album, a set titled, A Gift from a Flower to a Garden, the first rock music box set and only the third pop-rock double album released. It was split into halves. The first, Wear Your Love Like Heaven, was for people of his generation who would one day be parents; the second, For Little Ones, was songs Donovan had written for coming generations. Worried it might be a poor seller, Epic boss Clive Davis also insisted the albums be split and sold separately in the US (the "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" album cover was photographed at Bodiam Castle), but his fears were unfounded – although it took time, the original boxed set sold steadily, eventually peaking at 19 in the US album chart and achieving gold record status in the US in early 1970.
The psychedelic and mystical overtones were unmistakable – the front cover featured an infra-red photograph by Karl Ferris showing Donovan at Bodiam Castle, dressed in a robe, holding flowers and peacock feathers, while the back photo showed him holding hands with Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The liner notes included an appeal for young people to give up drugs. His disavowal of drugs came after his time with the Maharishi in Rishikesh, a topic discussed in a two-part interview for the first two issues of Rolling Stone.
In late 1967 Donovan contributed two songs to the Ken Loach film Poor Cow. "Be Not Too Hard" was a musical setting of Christopher Logue's poem September Song and was later recorded by such artists as Joan Baez and Shusha Guppy. The title track, originally entitled "Poor Love", was the B-side of his next single, "Jennifer Juniper", which was inspired by Jenny Boyd, sister of George Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd and was another top 40 hit in the US. Donovan developed interest in eastern mysticism and claims to have interested the Beatles in transcendental meditation.
In early 1968 he was part of the group that travelled to the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh. The visit gained worldwide attention thanks to the presence of all four Beatles as well as Beach Boys lead singer Mike Love, as well as actress Mia Farrow and her sister Prudence (who inspired Lennon to write "Dear Prudence"). According to a 1968 Paul McCartney interview with Radio Luxembourg, it was during this time that Donovan taught Lennon and McCartney finger-picking guitar styles including the clawhammer, which he had learned from Mac MacLeod. Lennon used this technique on songs including "Dear Prudence", "Julia", "Happiness is a Warm Gun" and "Look at Me", and McCartney with "Blackbird" and "Mother Nature's Son".
1970s: Changes
In late 1969, the relationship with Most ended after an argument over an unidentified recording session in Los Angeles. In the 1995 BBC Radio 2 The Donovan Story, Most recounted:
The only time we ever fell out was in Los Angeles when there was all these, I suppose, big stars of their day, the Stephen Stillses and the Mama Casses, all at the session and nothing was actually being played. Somebody brought some dope into the session and I stopped the session and slung them out. You know you need someone to say, "it's my session, I'm paying for it." We fell out over that.
Donovan said he wanted to record with someone else, and he and Most did not work together again until Cosmic Wheels (1973). After the rift, Donovan spent two months writing and recording the album Open Road as a member of the rock trio Open Road. Stripping the sound of Most's heavy studio productions down to stuff that could be played by a live band, Donovan dubbed the sound "Celtic Rock". The album peaked at No. 16 in the US, the third-highest of any of his full-length releases to date, but as his concert appearances became less frequent and new artists and styles of popular music began to emerge, his commercial success began to decline. Donovan said:
I was exhausted and looking for roots and new directions. I checked into Morgan Studios in London and stayed a long while creating Open Road and the HMS Donovan sessions. Downstairs was McCartney, doing his solo album. I had left Mickie after great years together. The new decade dawned and I had accomplished everything any young singer-songwriter could achieve. What else was there to do but to experiment beyond the fame and into the new life, regardless of the result?
Donovan's plan for Open Road was to tour the world for a year, beginning with a boat voyage around the Aegean Sea, documented in the 1970 film There is an Ocean. This was partially on the advice from his management to go into tax exile, during which he was not to set foot in the UK until April 1971, but after touring to France, Italy, Russia and Japan, he cut the tour short:
I travelled to Japan and was set to stay out of the UK for a year and earn the largest fees yet for a solo performer, and all tax-free. At the time the UK tax for us was 98%. During that Japanese tour I had a gentle breakdown, which made me decide to break the tax exile. Millions were at stake. My father, my agent, they pleaded for me not to step onto the BOAC jet bound for London. I did and went back to my little cottage in the woods. Two days later a young woman came seeking a cottage to rent. It was Linda.
1980s–1990s
The punk era (1976–1980) provoked a backlash in Britain against the optimism and whimsy of the hippie era, of which Donovan was a prime example. The word "hippie" became pejorative and Donovan's fortunes suffered. In this period, he released the albums Neutronica (1980), Love Is Only Feeling (1981) and Lady of the Stars (1984), and guest-starred on Stars on Ice, a half-hour variety show on ice produced by CTV in Toronto. There was a respite when he appeared alongside Sting, Phil Collins, Bob Geldof, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck in the Amnesty International benefit show The Secret Policeman's Other Ball. Accompanied by Danny Thompson, Donovan performed several hits including "Sunshine Superman", "Mellow Yellow", "Colours", "Universal Soldier" and "Catch the Wind". He was also in the performance of Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" for the show's finale. Donovan also appeared at the Glastonbury Festival on 18 June 1989 with the band Ozric Tentacles accompanying him onstage.
In 1990, Donovan released a live album featuring new performances of his classic songs. In 1991, Nettwerk released a tribute album to Donovan, Island of Circles. Sony's double-CD boxed set Troubadour: The Definitive Collection 1964–1976 (1992) continued the restoration of his reputation and was followed by the 1994 release of Four Donovan Originals, which saw his four classic Epic LPs on CD in their original form for the first time in the UK. He found an ally in rap producer and Def Jam label owner Rick Rubin and recorded the album Sutras for Rubin's American Recordings label.
2000s
In 2000, Donovan narrated and played himself in the Futurama episode "The Deep South " on 16 April with a parody of the song "Atlantis".
A new album, Beat Cafe, on Appleseed Records in 2004, marked a return to the jazzy sound of his 1960s recordings and featured bassist Danny Thompson and drummer Jim Keltner, with production by John Chelew (The Blind Boys of Alabama). At a series of Beat Cafe performances in New York, Richard Barone (The Bongos) joined Donovan to sing and read passages from Allen Ginsberg's Howl.
In May 2004, Donovan played "Sunshine Superman" at the wedding concert for the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark. He released his early demo tapes, Sixty Four and a re-recording of the Brother Sun, Sister Moon soundtrack on iTunes. A set of his Mickie Most albums was released on 9 May 2005. This EMI set has extra tracks including another song recorded with the Jeff Beck Group. In 2005, his autobiography The Hurdy Gurdy Man was published. In May/June 2005, Donovan toured the UK (Beat Cafe Tour) and Europe with Tom Mansi on double bass, former Damned drummer Rat Scabies and Flipron keyboard player, Joe Atkinson.
In 2006, Donovan played British festivals and two dates at Camden's The Jazz Cafe, London.
In January 2007, Donovan played at the Kennedy Center, in Washington, D.C.; at Alice Tully Hall, in New York City; and at the Kodak Theatre, in Los Angeles, in conjunction with a presentation by filmmaker David Lynch supporting the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and world peace. The concert at the Kodak Theatre was filmed by Raven Productions and broadcast on public television as a pledge drive. Donovan's partnership with the David Lynch Foundation saw him performing concerts through October 2007, as well as giving presentations about Transcendental meditation. He appeared at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, in May 2007, and toured the UK with Lynch in October 2007.
In March 2007, Donovan played two shows at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. He had planned a spring 2007 release of an album, along with a UK tour, but the tour was cancelled and the album delayed.
2010s–2020s
In October 2010, Donovan released the double album Ritual Groove, which he had described as "a soundtrack to a movie not yet made." On 10 May 2021, his 75th birthday, Donovan released the music video for the album's song "I Am the Shaman". David Lynch produced the track and directed the video.
In 2012, he released The Sensual Donovan, recorded in 1971 with John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas, backed by The Crusaders. In 2013, he recorded the album Shadows of Blue at Treasure Isle Studios in Nashville. The album includes songs he wrote in the 1970s and explores a country style.
A tribute album to Donovan, Gazing with Tranquility, was released in October 2015 under nonprofit label Rock the Cause Records to benefit the charity Huntington's Hope. It features covers by The Flaming Lips, Lissie and Sharon Van Etten.
In 2019, Donovan released Eco-Song, an album of songs with an ecological theme, inspired by Greta Thunberg. He hoped to adapt the album into a rock opera but was unable due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Brian Jones's death, Donovan released a tribute album, Joolz Juke, featuring Jones's grandson (and Donovan's step-grandson), Joolz Jones. In 2021, he released the album Lunarian, dedicated to his wife. The album's song "Still Waters" was recorded decades earlier with Nils Lofgren. Donovan and Lawrence created an animated children's television series, Tales of Aluna, with 26 episodes produced by Australian studio Three's a Company. They had developed the series's story over decades.
Donovan released the album Gaelia in December 2022. The album's singles "Rock Me" and "Lover O' Lover" featured David Gilmour on guitar. Donovan took a hiatus in 2024 to prepare for a 60th anniversary concert series planned for 2025.
Legacy
Bill Pearis of BrooklynVegan said: "Donovan personified the hippy-folk ideal, having spent time meditating with the Maharishi, living on a commune and making some of the era's great music."
In November 2003, the University of Hertfordshire awarded Donovan an honorary Doctor of Letters degree. He was nominated by Sara Loveridge (a student at the university who had interviewed and reviewed Donovan for the university paper in 2001–2002); Andrew Morris, Sara's partner and Donovan researcher/writer; and Mac MacLeod.
On 14 April 2012, Donovan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Personal life
Donovan had a relationship with American model Enid Karl and they had two children: actor-musician Donovan Leitch in 1967 and actress Ione Skye in 1970. In October 1970, Donovan married Linda Lawrence. They have two children together, Astrella and Oriole; Oriole had a relationship with Shaun Ryder of the Happy Mondays and had a daughter, Coco, with whom Donovan has held joint art and photography exhibitions. Lawrence was the inspiration for "Sunshine Superman".
Donovan is also the adoptive father of Lawrence's and Brian Jones's son, Julian Brian (Jones) Leitch.
In February 2024, Donovan was disqualified from driving for two years and fined €500 for dangerous driving by Skibbereen District Court in Ireland. A charge of being drunk in charge of a vehicle was dismissed, as the court determined it would be unsafe to convict him for that offence. The court heard that the singer was still working and that he supports charitable causes. He has lived in Ireland for 30 years, with no previous convictions.
Donovan, as of February 2024, lives in Castlemagner, Kanturk in County Cork. He suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and a "restricted lung disease".
Religious beliefs
Donovan identifies as pagan. Raised Protestant, he left the religion after reading Lao Tzu, Zen and Celtic mythology as a teenager. His personal belief system combines Celtic mythology, Buddhism and goddess worship. During a 2022 interview with Variety, he said "[E]very other song of mine celebrates the Goddess. She is Mother Nature. And we have been placed in this extraordinary position, almost on the edge of extinction, by this totally, overly male view that every resource, every river, every breeze, every cloud, every metal in the land should be raped and pillaged and sold as a commodity."
Filmography
Actor
If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969)
The Pied Piper (1972)
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)
As himself
A Boy Called Donovan (1966)
Dont Look Back (1967)
"The Deep South", Futurama season 2 episode 12 (2000)
Musical composer
Poor Cow (1967)
Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
The Pied Piper (1972)
Music and documentary DVD
Festival (directed by Murray Lerner, 1967), with footage from the Newport Festival 1963–66. Also with Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary
Dont Look Back (documentary film by D. A. Pennebaker, 1967)
There is an Ocean (1970), a documentary of Donovan and Open Road travelling and performing outdoors on several Greek islands.
Isle of Wight festival (1970, featuring "Catch the Wind")
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (1981, featuring "Catch the Wind", "Universal Soldier" and "Colours")
Donovan: The Donovan Concert Live in L.A. 21 January 2007
Sunshine Superman: The Journey of Donovan (2008, documentary directed by Hannes Rossacher)
I Am The Shaman (2021, single produced and directed by David Lynch)
Literary works
Leitch, Donovan, The Hurdy Gurdy Man, Century, an imprint of Random House, London, 2005 (published in the US as The Autobiography of Donovan: The Hurdy Gurdy Man), St. Martin's Press, New York, 2005; ISBN 0-312-35252-2