Donovan (GB)

About

Also known as: Danovan, Donavan, Donovan Leitch, Donovan Philips Leitch, Donovon

Donovan Philips Leitch arrived on the UK scene in early 1965 and almost immediately got tagged as the British answer to Bob Dylan, though his songs carried a warmth and optimism that set him apart from the start. His debut single Catch the Wind shot into the British top five, and a meeting with Dylan that same year was even captured in D.A. Pennebaker's documentary Dont Look Back. By 1966 he had signed to Epic Records and recorded Sunshine Superman, a psychedelic folk pop record built around exotic instruments like the sitar and conga. Mellow Yellow became the song that followed him for decades. His 1967 double album A Gift from a Flower to a Garden cemented his connection to the hippie movement, and he studied in India alongside The Beatles with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The Hurdy Gurdy Man and Barabajagal, featuring the Jeff Beck Group, kept his run going into the late sixties. After stepping back from public life in the early seventies, he returned in 1996 with Sutras, produced by Rick Rubin, and again in 2004 with Beat Cafe.