Donovan

Donovan's last truly great album of the 1960s, 1968's BARABAJAGAL shows interesting artistic growth at least as marked as his transformation from folk troubadour to daffy hippie-pop guru. The title track and "Trudi" feature the Rod Stewart-era Jeff Beck Group as Donovan's backing band; consequently both these songs have a surprising amount of sonic heft to them…

"Breezes of Patchouli" achieves what previous Donovan compilation releases have attempted, but failed, to achieve. The 4 cd set here contains 90 tracks, 5 albums released during Donovan's heyday 1966-1969, accompanied by essential related recordings…

This 1967 concert recorded at the Anaheim Convention Center, just a few weeks after his Hollywood Bowl show, was recorded in its entirety and released as a single LP with a total of 14 tracks. This double-disc CD reissue contains 23 tracks, and is, as it survives, the entire gig. In addition, the sound has been painstakingly remastered; the result is a brilliant sounding document…

This four CD set consists of Sunshine Superman, Mellow Yellow, Hurdy Gurdy Man, and Barabajagal, remastered and repackaged with detailed historical notes. Each of those titles is available in the U.S. catalog, but this box offers advantages beyond the notes – the sound on each is superior to its domestic Epic equivalent…

This is a great record, with one important caveat – anyone looking for the Donovan of AM radio and upbeat ditties like "Sunshine Superman" will have to go for more recent live albums. Donovan in Concert has been neglected over the decades by the fans, who apparently would have preferred a set that encompassed the hits, yet it presents a surprisingly vital side of Donovan's music, as well as excellent versions of some of his best album cuts and good versions of the two actual hits that are here. In contrast to his studio sides, which often reflected the sensibilities of producer Mickie Most more than those of Donovan, the live material here, cut at the Anaheim Convention Center in early 1968, features Donovan doing his music, his way…

Upon his emergence during the mid-'60s, Donovan was anointed "Britain's answer to Bob Dylan," a facile but largely unfounded comparison which compromised the Scottish folk-pop troubadour's own unique vision. Where the thrust of Dylan's music remains its bleak introspection and bitter realism, Donovan fully embraced the wide-eyed optimism of the flower power movement, his ethereal, ornate songs radiating a mystical beauty and childlike wonder; for better or worse, his recordings remain quintessential artifacts of the psychedelic era, capturing the peace and love idealism of their time to perfection…

Donovan was always an affected performer and songwriter, relying too often at times on stances and mannerisms he probably really didn't need, and he never really let go of the cosmic flower-power phase that washed over the 1960s…

Bearing the same name as the 2004 compilation The Essential Donovan and containing every one of that disc's 14 songs, the 2012 double-disc set The Essential Donovan – its release timed to coincide with the singer/songwriter's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame…

Epic's Greatest Hits may not be a perfect collection – for instance, it contains re-recordings of his earliest folk songs, "Catch the Wind" and "Colours," not the originals – but for many casual fans, that may not matter since the remaining nine songs offer an excellent summary of his hit singles…