DONOVAN..."A GIFT FROM A FLOWER TO A GARDEN"

in the unlikely event there was any lingering doubt, donovan leitch is among the higher echelons of singer/songwriters from the 60s, an insuperable presence whose work is largely left to fritter to waste in the dustbins and gutters of history, generally written off as a novelty with songs like "mellow yellow" and "sunshine superman."



today is reserved for the preservation and laurels of donovan, whose career and legacy have been stigmatized by the "dylan-lite" tag that followed him throughout the 60s. there is a tremendous line of demarcation between dylan and donovan, and the existent dissimilarities are so obvious as to seem self-evident; dylan's music is substantially void of whimsy, noticeably more rife with political and literary allusions, and his instrumentation is much more deeply rooted in old black music, rock and roll, etc. dylan electrified and personalized his own kind of rock and roll, mercifully brought surrealism to popular lyricism, but never strayed too deeply from his musical influences. donovan's music is exceptionally more trippy, more aesthetically psychedelic and otherworldly (though never forsaking his childish impulses).



the first album that's posted here is "a gift from a flower to a garden," a double album that is obscured by donovan's hit singles that preceded and succeeded this effort. the record is split into two distinct halves, with the first album ("wear your love like heaven") more musically built around electric instrumentation, organs and percussion. the second part of the album is more sparingly composed, relying entirely on acoustic guitars and a few intermittent flutes. the second portion of the double-set is intended to be a children's record of some kind, though it does retain appeal for adults who aren't impossibly jaded as well.



of the two i'm more closely aligned with the first record, but its counterpart doesn't disappoint, necessarily, it's just different from the more trippy, pop-oriented approach of the first.


download donovan's "gift from a flower to a garden"

http://www.zshare.net/download/5316215817afe9e7/