Saturday, July 10, 2010
DONOVAN..."HURDY GURDY MAN"
"hurdy gurdy man" is one of donovan's strangest releases and possibly my favorite, as it takes the formula of "sunshine superman" and develops songs that employ a textural drone (in "peregrine," "river song" and "tangier"), as well as featuring his obligatory paisley pop whimsy in songs like "jennifer juniper." the album also displayed mangled folk songs with a palpably dark influence as in the title track and "get thy bearings," which utilizes a rambling saxophone (that literally effervesces out of nowhere). sadly, none of those tracks are found on youtube, so the two singles from this album shall have to suffice for the time being. anyway, definitely worth hearing as it expands the dimensions and dynamic of donovan's music. after a string of four terrific albums in "sunshine superman," "mellow yellow," "gift from a flower to a garden," and "hurdy gurdy man," he would begin to scale back his productions and gravitate towards a sparer sound.
i'm having trouble uploading this to mediafire, so here's a link from "psych spaniolos" blog
http://rapidshare.com/files/99056338/Donovan_-_The_Hurdy_Gurdy_Man.rar.html
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Great post! Donovan was very much a reflection of that time. My second date with the girl who is still my wife was to a Donovan concert. "Hurdy Gurdy" outlined a departure from history as we'd been taught. "Sunny Goodge Street", as sung by Tom Northcott, captured the surrealistic intensity of the streets. Together, the 2 songs framed a new alertness and posture toward existence that remains with us.
ReplyDeleteI have Steve Hillage's version of Hurdy Gurdy Man, whicb is excellent. On the same Lp he does It's all too much. I think it's produced by Todd Rundgren...
ReplyDeleteL.U.V. The title of your blog Idisdore - from one of my favourite Scott Walker songs.
xxx
Bob