Essential Donovan CD

Personnel includes: Donovan; The Jeff Beck Group.
Producers: Terry Kennedy, Peter Eden, Geoff Stephens, Mickie Most.
Compilation producer: Bob Irwin, Al Quaglieri.
Includes liner notes by Jaan Uhelszki.
This is part of Sony's The Essential Collection series.
Liner Note Author: Jaan Uhelszki.
Recording information: 1965-1969.
Photographer: Harry Goodwin.
Donovan's discography was never treated with great respect by Columbia/Epic, and the release of The Essential Donovan marks another low point. Long after his earliest material -- recorded for Pye and Hickory -- was remastered and reissued in several intriguing permutations, Donovan's Epic years had still received only cursory treatment (even while, ironically, the original records of many lesser artists were resurrected and lavished with attention). In 1999, the release of an expanded, remastered version of Donovan's Greatest Hits seemed to promise great things to come, though the label failed to follow through. The Essential Donovan merely reissues Donovan's Greatest Hits -- and actually removes one track, "Riki Tiki Tavi" -- with a new, chronological order. The music is obviously excellent, beginning with Donovan's wistful debut "Catch the Wind" and progressing through his psychedelic pop hits of the late '60s, but Donovan's Greatest Hits presents the same material with perspective and a flair that this series compilation lacks. ~ John Bush
Long after his earliest material -- recorded for Pye and Hickory -- was remastered and reissued in several intriguing permutations, Donovan's Epic years had still received only cursory treatment (even while, ironically, the original records of many lesser artists were resurrected and lavished with attention). In 1999, the release of an expanded, remastered version of Donovan's Greatest Hits seemed to promise great things to come, though the label failed to follow through. The Essential Donovan merely reissues the superior Epic collection Donovan's Greatest Hits -- and actually removes one track, "Riki Tiki Tavi" -- in a new, chronological order. The music is obviously excellent, beginning with Donovan's wistful debut, "Catch the Wind," and progressing through his psychedelic pop hits of the late '60s, but Donovan's Greatest Hits presents the same material with perspective and a flair that this series compilation lacks. ~ John Bush
Containing an economical sampling of the music from Sony's TROUBADOUR box set (and a track list that is remarkably similar to DONOVAN'S GREATEST HITS), THE ESSENTIAL DONOVAN is highly recommended for the casual Donovan fan. His egregious tag as "the British Bob Dylan" and his sometimes-silly hippie vibe notwithstanding, Donovan wrote some of the catchiest singles of the late 1960s, and this disc brings these together in one succinct, chronologically sequenced package.
The collection kicks off with the singer/songwriter's earliest recordings for the Hickory label with the folkie, guy-and-his-guitar charm of "Catch the Wind" and "Colors." When Donovan signed to Epic in 1966, however, he began the string of singles for which he is best known and that epitomized the strange yet breezy pop of the times. This includes "Sunshine Superman," "Mellow Yellow," "Epistle to Dippy," and "There Is a Mountain," each holding up as a delectable pop gem. The gentle "Jennifer Juniper" and the raucous "Barabajagal" (recorded with the Jeff Beck Group) keep the dynamics shifting, and round out this excellent singles set.