Donovan – 'Breezes Of Patchouli - His Studio Recordings: 1966-1969'

 

"The long gone breezes are blowing down the sky."

In 1968 at Caltech, there was a knock on my dorm room door.  It was my friend Sandy, who told me, “We are going to have a mini be-in in the common room, get high, and listen to Donovan’s new album, the ‘The Hurdy Gurdy Man’…you in?” I nodded my head and said, “Far-out, Sandy, I’ll be there in a few.”  When I got to the common room, everyone was sitting in a circle, and I took a place in the circle.  Joints were being passed around, one of which tasted odd, and the girl who passed it to me said, “That’s DMT, take another hit, and hold it in as long as you can” which I did. Three minutes later, I was “Joan of Arc,” as the needle dropped on Donovan’s ‘The Hurdy Gurdy Man’ and his words and music conveyed the Zeitgeist of the day.

In the mid-1960s, Scottish-born Donovan Leitch was viewed as both the epitome of hippiedom and unfairly as the UK’s answer to Bob Dylan.  Such perceptions (further enhanced by album titles such as Breezes of Patchouli) have followed him, often unkindly, ever since.  However, there was far more to Donovan than met the eye, as today's freeload will show.

'Breezes Of Patchouli' is a 4 CD set that contains 90 tracks, the 5 albums released during Donovan's heyday 1966-1969, and accompanied by essential related recordings.  The albums are: "Sunshine Superman" from 1966); "Mellow Yellow" from 1967; "The Hurdy Gurdy Man" from 1968; "Barabajagal" from 1969; and the double LP "A Gift From A Flower To A Garden".  The five aforementioned albums occupy the first 3 CDs, while CD4 contains "related recordings" ranging from the familiar extended stereo version of "Sunshine Superman" to alternate versions of "Superlungs" (perhaps best known for its cover version by British rocker Terry Reid) and "Epistle To Dippie."

All the hits are here: "Sunshine Superman", "Mellow Yellow", "Hurdy Gurdy Man" and "Jennifer Juniper" that represent high points in the 1960s pop/psychedelia.  As well, obscure album tracks such as "Writer in the Sun", "Sunny South Kensington" and "Mad John’s Escape" (to name but three) highlight Donovan’s classicist approach. Are there occasional moments of fey and whimsy? You bet, but there’s plenty of era-defining material here that also stands the test of time.  This impressive collection opens with the title track from Donovan's breakthrough LP "Sunshine Superman" which not only quickly climbed the Billboard album and single charts in the US, but began the short, yet incredible run of Mickie Most produced classics Donovan released between 1966 and 1969.

Represented are all the good qualities of "psychedelic rock" and is proof positive that music of this genre need not be filled with extended, heavy guitar riffs and solos, or shake the walls and shatter the windows.

Donovan fully embraced the wide-eyed optimism of the flower power movement, his dreamy, ornate songs radiating a mystical beauty and childlike wonder, and his recordings remain quintessential artifacts of the psychedelic era, capturing the peace and love idealism of their time to perfection.

The sound quality is excellent, and is the best remastering to date.  I've included the well annotated 24-page booklet written by Lorne Murdoch, which tracks through this collection quite rightly, and also includes rare photos as well as insightful information regarding Donovan's musical journey through 1966-69 and even beyond.

To qualify for the freeload, tell us what your favorite psychedelic album is.