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 Leitch was born May 10, 1946 in Glasgow and raised outside of London; at 18 he recorded his first demo, and in 1965 was tapped as a regular on the television pop showcase Ready, Steady, Go! He soon issued his debut single "Catch the Wind," earning the first round of Dylan comparisons with his ramshackle folk sound and ragamuffin look; the single nevertheless reached the UK Top Five, with a subsequent meeting between the two singer/songwriters captured in the classic D.A. Pennebaker documentary Don't Look Back.

Donovan's follow-up single, "Colours," was also a hit, and after making his American debut at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, he issued Fairytale, his second and last LP for the Hickory label. Signing with Epic in 1966, he released his breakthrough album, Sunshine Superman, which in its exotic arrangements and pointedly psychedelic lyrical outlook heralded a major shift from his previous work; the title track topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, with the enigmatic "Mellow Yellow" reaching the number two spot a few months later. Donovan remained a chart fixture throughout 1967, generating a series of hits including "Epistle to Dippy," "There Is a Mountain," and "Wear Your Love Like Heaven"; that year he traveled to India alongside the Beatles to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a journey which inspired him to renounce drug use and encourage his listeners to turn to meditation. The ambitious double album A Gift from a Flower to a Garden followed, and in 1968 Donovan resurfaced with The Hurdy Gurdy Man, scoring a Top Five smash with the hallucinatory title cut; the record also yielded the hit "Jennifer Juniper."

Barabajagal from 1969 generated Donovan's final Top 40 hit, "Atlantis"; for the title track, he collaborated with the Jeff Beck Group, with whom he also worked on 1970's Open Road. He then retreated to Ireland, emerging from a period of seclusion by starring in and scoring the 1972 film The Pied Piper; a pair of new LPs, Cosmic Wheels and Essence to Essence, appeared the following year to disappointing reviews and little commercial interest. Following 1974's 7-Tease, he spent the next years living quietly in California's Joshua Tree desert, mounting only a small club tour to promote 1976's Slow Down; a self-titled LP appeared a year later, and in the wake of 1983's Jerry Wexler-produced Lady of the Stars, he essentially retired from writing and recording altogether. The Donovan revival began in earnest in 1991 when Happy Mondays titled a song in his honor for their groundbreaking Pills 'n' Thrills & Bellyaches; he later toured with the group as well. Five years later, Donovan released his comeback LP, Sutras, helmed by producer-du-jour Rick Rubin. ther album had the misfiortune to be released after Rubin's landmark Johnny Cash record, American Recordings and was virtually ignored or misunderstood by critics. Donovan toured briefly to support Sutras and then went missing once again, playing out only sporadically. In 2004, however, he reappeared with the intimate and stylish Beat Cafe, a collection of nearly all-original songs produced by keyboardist John Chelew. Donovan also enlisted bassist Danny Thompson and drummer Jim Keltner to round out his quartet. The album also featured a pair of covers, a spoken-word rendition of poet Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle," and a startling rendition of the traditional tune, "The Cuckoo." Sony released the double-disc CD/DVD Try for the Sun: The Journey of Donovan, the following year.

2005 Digitally remastered re-issue features seven bonus tracks 'Breezes Of Patchulie', 'Museum' (First Version), 'Superlungs' (First Version), 'The Land Of Doesn't Have To', 'Sunshine', 'Good Trip' (Demo), 'House Of Jansch' (Demo). Sunshine Superman marked the coming of psychedelia and utilised the production skills of already established producer, Mickie Most, whose bass heavy style complements Donovan's enigmatic lyrics and their beatnik delivery brilliantly. EMI.

This re-release of Sunshine Superman might well be titled "The Ultimate Experience," or "The Total Immersion Version" - expanded to 67 minutes, it contains a new 24-bit remastering of the U.S. version of the album (the U.K. version, though it contained Donovan's preferred cover art, was compromised in its content by its extended delay in release, into the following year, owing to legal wrangling of the artist's management and recording contracts in the U.K.), plus seven chronologically related bonus tracks, "Breezes of Patchulie," "Museum" (in an early, lighter-textured version than its officially released recording from the next album), "Superlungs" (in the first of three distinctly different renditions); the longer stereo mix of "Sunshine Superman," and four never-before-heard tracks - "The Land of Doesn't Have to Be" and demo versions of "Good Trip" and "House of Jansch." The upgraded sound is a wonder, bringing out the full nuances in the playing and overcoming the compressed sound with which American audiences have had to put up with on the U.S. version of this album for decades - coupled with the sheer diversity of sounds, from the bold psychedelic pop of the title song to the reflective folk of "Legend of a Girl Child Linda," to the raga-folk of "Three Kingfishers" and "Ferris Wheel," the bluesy resonances of "Bert's Blues," and the ominous, full-electric sound (with the band, and the electric guitars especially, right in your face here) of "Season of the Witch" - the latter's tone may suddenly remind you, just a little bit, of "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield, and considering how much time Donovan had spent recording in L.A., it's difficult to believe he hadn't at least heard the latter song; and juxtaposed as it is with "The Trip," his song about his first performing sojourn to L.A., the comparison seems more than apt; the latter song also rocks harder than ever, with a killer bassline and the electric and acoustic guitars more exposed than ever. "Guinevere" sounds like a live cut now, it's so expanded and rich, and "The Fat Angel" is now a perfectly produced piece of blues/raga/folk-rock. And "Celeste" now shows all of the details and nuances of the playing on the backing instruments, as well as presenting Donovan's voice in a rich, expansive playing that gives it more beauty and resonance than ever. This record didn't do badly when it was released originally, but if even just the original ten songs could've sounded half this good in the U.S., Sunshine Superman might well be thought of today as being of a piece with the Beatles' Revolver, Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, and the Byrds' Fifth Dimension - it had the music for it, if not the mastering or the press behind it. And coupled with the bonus cuts (which also sound better than any prior Donovan material on CD) and detailed annotation, this is essential listening, almost off the scale for quality.



1. Sunshine Superman
2. Legend Of A Girl Child Linda
3. Three Kingfishers
4. Ferris Wheel
5. Bert's Blues
6. Season Of The Witch
7. The Trip
8. Guinevere
9. The Fat Angel
10. Celeste
11. Breezes Of Patchulie
12. Museum (First Version)
13. Superlungs (First Version)
14. The Land Of Doesn't Have To Be
15. Sunshine Superman
16. Good Trip (Demo) (Mono)
17. House Of Jansch (Demo) (Mono)

Also have,
Mellow Yellow [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] [IMPORT]
Hurdy Gurdy Man [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] [IMPORT]
Barabajagal [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] [IMPORT]