|
Rating:  -
Sunshine Superman was Donovan's best selling album in the sixties, not least because it included the single Sunshine Superman (For John And Paul), a huge hit both in America and the UK. It marked an important turning point in Donovan's career as he had changed managers, producers and record labels, and developed his sound with the addition of a band of musicians. He also had a brilliant new arranger in the person of John Cameron, whose work on Sunshine Superman was such an integral part of the record.
As the booklet essay describes, these changes turned out to come at a cost due to complications at the British side of the business end, as the new arrangement had been negotiated in America and had contractual complications in the UK which led to huge delays in records coming out, if at all. This seemed especially perplexing in Britain as whereas in America there was a clear change of label from Hickory to Epic, in the UK he remained on Pye.
Sunshine Superman (For John And Paul) had been recorded in December 1965, when it was ahead of its time, but things were moving so fast that by the time it was released the following summer it already sounded as if Donovan was trying to catch up with the times, especially since during the delay Pye had been damagingly releasing older unrepresentative material on singles, such as Josie and Remember The Alamo, and when the album was released that September it was in America only. Sunshine Superman was never released in the UK in its original form, and not at all until June 1967, months after Donovan's follow-up album had been released in America.
If Donovan had been considered to be no more than a folk singer, this album burst out of the folk confines to dumbfound those preconceptions. The songs were based on Donovan's personal experiences and observations, and included Legend Of A Girl Child Linda, about Linda Lawrence; Bert's Blues, concerning a love triangle involving Donovan, the singer Beverley and Bert Jansch; The Trip, about a jazz and folk-rock club in Hollywood where Donovan had been playing; Fat Angel, allegedly inspired by Cass Elliott of the Mamas and the Papas, and soon taken up in live performance by the Jefferson Airplane, who are name-checked in the lyric; and the brilliant Season Of The Witch, best known in the UK in its version by Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity. Most of these were recorded in Hollywood in Spring 1966 with a set of hip L.A. musicians including Shawn Phillips on sitar and Cyrus Faryar from the Modern Folk Quartet. They used an array of instruments including harpsichords, celestes and all manner of percussion, creating a palette far removed from the days of pure acoustic guitar and harmonica, and showcasing Donovan's development as a maturing songwriter, adapting and embracing change and experimentation.
The British version of Sunshine Superman dropped three of the songs (Ferris Wheel, The Trip, Fat Angel) and substituted five from Mellow Yellow (The Observation, Writer In The Sun, Hampstead Incident, Sand And Foam, Young Girl Blues), which was also permanently absent from the UK release schedules, and so this CD probably marks the first time the original album has been for sale in the UK.
Mono masters have been used throughout for the album, though among the bonus tracks is a longer stereo mix of Sunshine Superman (For John And Paul) that was prepared for the album Donovan's Greatest Hits in 1978 (available as Donovan - Greatest Hits & More with extra tracks). There are six other bonus tracks including a couple of out-takes, early versions of Superlungs My Supergirl and Museum (a song he gave to the aforementioned Beverley) and finally two October 1966 demos for songs on Mellow Yellow.
Rating:  -
Sunshine Superman by Donovan has a lot of his great music and many say that this was perhaps his greatest album ever. They just may be right! Donovan's exceptional talent comes through quite clearly on this CD; and the bonus tracks make it very valuable for any Donovan fan. The quality of the sound is excellent and the artwork incorporates the artwork from the original release of this on vinyl back in the day.
The CD starts with the title track which was also one of Donovan's biggest hits ever, "Sunshine Superman." Simply put, "Sunshine Superman" is a masterpiece; it has that great folk rock flavor with just a touch of flower power as a side dish! Donovan never skips a beat; his excellent diction enhances his performance and the stunning musical arrangement fits in perfectly with Donovan's vocals. The music makes good use of the guitars, too. "Legend Of A Girl Child Linda" gets a most sensitive treatment from Donovan; he does this one up right! The arrangement makes good use of the percussion and the woodwind instruments; and the strings are heavenly! This is great music.
"Three Kingfishers" has a psychedelic flavor to it that works wonders for this ballad; and listen for "Ferris Wheel." "Ferris Wheel" has folk and psychedelic elements to the arrangement and Donovan never skips a beat--awesome! "Ferris Wheel" lacks nothing--it's all THAT good. How's about those drums, too? "Bert's Blues" has a great sound to it and Donovan delivers this very well. Donovan handles complex tempo and key changes on "Bert's Blues" just like the champ he was and still remains!
"Season Of The Witch" is another highlight of this album; I really like "Season Of The Witch;" and if you enjoy this genre of music you're bound to like this song. "Trip" has a terrific beat--if you won't find yourself energized by "Trip" you had better check your pulse! The guitars and percussion work well as Donovan sings "Trip" to perfection--and beyond! I love it. "Guinevere" is another ballad that gets a sensitive treatment; and "Fat Angel" uses the guitar to great advantage. I just plain love the sound of "Fat Angel" and Donovan makes this quite a strong tune.
"Celeste" has a very pretty melody; and then we get seven bonus tracks! "Breezes of Patchulie" has a very lush musical arrangement that complements Donovan's singing faultlessly; and the flavor of the first version of "Museum" stuns me with its beauty. "Museum" is clearly a major highlight of this album; the guitars sound great and Donovan never sounded better. "Superlungs" has a psychedelic rock feel to it; and listen for Donovan to do justice to "Land of Doesn't Have To Be."
The stereo version of "Sunshine Superman" is another gem on this disc; and the demo version of "Good Trip" really shows Donovan working hard to create a fine tune. The CD ends very well with a demo version of "House of Jansch;" and this leaves me wanting more.
Donovan was quite a flower power artist in the 1960s; and fortunately he still lives to give us even more wonderful music. I highly recommend this CD for any Donovan fan; the bonus tracks alone are worth more than the price of admission! This is also a great starter CD for people new to the artistry of Donovan.
Rating: -
Donovan was there, he hung out with Dylan, Joan Baez and listened to the Jefferson Airplane before anyone else had. He was at the apartment with Dylan and the Beatles, at THE party that changed music forever. (See Scorcese's "No Direction Home"). Herein are psychedelic fairy tales designed to calm down bad head states. Music exploded with the Summer of Love('67), this classic was first, more than a year before that, recorded '65 and '66, before the whole thing started. Much of it deals with troubador Donovan's troubled love affair with model Linda Lawrence, sometimes girlfriend of Brian Jones, the golden Rolling Stone. This album is a first in many ways, folk, folk rock, jazz, blues. First to use sitar, tabla, tambura. It is full of King Arthur, Narnia, knight errant, and Alice in Wonderland themes. Arrangements by Mickie Most and John Cameron are miraculously creative.
"His crystal images they will tell you 'bout a brighter day" as Peter, Paul & Mary once said. And this album is chock full of those crystal images, images that make you weep at their beauty.
Starts off with the psychedelic superhero "Sunshine Superman" who is dealing with Linda, and "could have tripped out easier but I've changed my ways"....
"Legend of a Girl Child Linda" where her Narnian "knight goes to battle with his confused mind".
"Twelve Kingfishers", not Three, the misprint remains, you can see them dive in your minds eye.
The girl who get her hair caught in the "Ferris Wheel" is like the Symbolist painting of the girl who traps the silver clad knight in her long blonde hair, "La Belle Dame Sans Merci".
The unforgettable "Season of the Witch" full of striking dark Novemberal images that made Steven Stills, Bloomfield and the Jefferson Airplane cover the song years later.
"The Trip", an early acid commercial with Alice in Wonderland imagery, banned on nearly all radio stations, except underground ones, in the sixties.
"...a seagull said, as I looked to way out then/
The whole wide human race is taking far too much methadrine"... (it was true in '66, it's even truer now.)
...Girl, you drank a lot of 'drink me', but you ain't in Wonderland/ you know I might have been there to greet you girl when your trippin' ship touches sand"...
... Bobby Dylan he sat, the Mad Hatter, broken hourglass in his hand/ and Joanie sat in white lace, looking cool with her black lace fan".
"Fat Angel", talks of the Jefferson Airplane, a then unknown San Francisco group who would "take off" a year later, Fat Angel Mama Cass Elliot, of the Mamas and Papas and Captain High - Jerry Garcia of the then unknown Greatful Dead. "He will bring you happiness in a pipe/ he will ride away on his silver bike...Fly Trans-Love Airlines get you there on time/ Fly Jefferson Airplane, get you there on Time...".
This was the ultimate insiders, hip album in 1966, before the word "hippie" was coined. Original album had not one bad cut. In this version, good until you get to some of the lesser inclusions like the underage "Superlungs, my Supergirl".
This IMPORT, though not perfect, captures the sound of the original LP, much better remix that previous versions. A good trip from beginning to end. Captures the authentic Spirit of the Sixties. Recorded after "Bringing it all Back Home" and BEFORE "Revolver"! Harpsichord, sitar, tabla, and eastern instruments would be used on many other people's future albums, but this one was first.
This is one of the greatest albums of all time, finally presented in a way that does justice to the original LP. One of those albums that never gets stale, fresh as it was in mid 1966.
BTW, in the mid 60's Donovan was considered Dylan's equivalent and then later people put Donovan down because he was more poetic (and fantastic) and didn't involve himself in social commentary. Dylan and Donovan are quite different, there is no earthly reason to like just one!
Rating: -
Well, here's a blast from the past... I've owned the original album for many years (since it came out in 1966, in fact), so was intrigued with the opportunity to pick up a sonically cleaned-up version with no fewer than seven bonus tracks. I still think it's a great work. 'Season of the Witch' is one of the 60s' defining tracks, 'Sunshine Superman' still holds its own as a pop track, and all the rest continue to shine as an ensemble showing the way toward myth-, lore-, and jazz-influenced pop. This was actually quite a creative album, mostly recorded in late 1965 and early 1966 just before similar explorations by the Beatles and others. I've always been a Donovan fan, and this is arguably his best album (and also his most commercially successful, I think). One of the least noticed things about Donovan's music from this period is how he integrated a blues and jazz sound into many of his compositions--this is more evident on "Mellow Yellow", the next issue, but even here one can strongly feel those influences having been absorbed on 'The Trip,' 'Bert's Blues' and 'Three Kingfishers.'
Rating: -
I've been listening to this record for 40 years now. It is an amazing, piece of music. I'm glad to see that others have enjoyed it as much as I.
Television Show
Collectibles
Movie Searches
|
|
|
Search for posters,
art prints, photos, collectables, merchandise, toys, t-shirts
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TV Guide
Program listings, celebrity profiles, industry
gossip, movie reviews, puzzle.
More
Entertainment
& TV Magazines
This site is
Hosted
by Bluehost
Read
my Bluehost Review
Most Popular TV collectibles
|
|
Home
Articles
Images
Forum
Search
Shopping
TV Trivia
Watch TV
Wallpaper
