"Hurdy Gurdy Songs: Words & Music by Donovan 1965-1971" by VARIOUS – Featuring Herman’s Hermits, Terry Reid, Julie Felix, The Standells, Marianne Faithfull, Noel Harrison, Dana Gillespie and more (June 2021 UK Ace Records CD Compilation – Duncan Cowell Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...His Name Is Love..."

I won't come as any shock to collectors that Ace Records of the UK are seriously good at these types of CD compilations (they stumble on occasion, but it isn't often). But then - just sometimes - they genuinely surprise you with a 'knock-em-for-six' winner that opens up your glaucoma-smothered eyeballs very wide indeed. 

Anyone still thinking that England's DONOVAN was only ever about hippy-dippy 60ts peace-and-love man (that was part of his message too, but not all) will realise after hearing this near ninety-minute chock-a-block CD that Donovan's songwriting chops went way beyond that narrow straightjacket. Like Dylan, his songs were not just filled with great melody, but self-examining pain, external circumstances infringement and reaching lyrics - and in the hands of other savvy interpreters - often equalled or even bettered the originals. There's a shedload of known/obscure goodies on offer here to wade through, so let's have at the sunshine supermen and women...

UK released Friday, 4 June 2021 - "Hurdy Gurdy Songs: Words & Music by Donovan 1965-1971" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Records CDTOP 1595 (Barcode 029667102025) is a 24-Track CD Compilation that plays out as follows (78:39 minutes):

1. Museum - HERMAN'S HERMITS (July 1967 UK 45-Single on Columbia DB 8235, A-side - also on the 1967 UK Stereo LP "Blaze" on Columbia SCXC 35)

2. Superlungs - TERRY REID (from his November 1969 UK Stereo LP "Terry Reid" on Columbia SCX 6370 – also the A-side of a UK promo-only 1-sided 45-single "Terry Reid Is Superlungs" on Columbia PSRS 323)

3. Sunny Goodge Street - TOM NORTHCOTT (June 1967 US 45-single on Warner Brothers 7051, A-side)

4. The Pebble And The Man - BRIDGET ST. JOHN (from her February 1971 second album "Songs For The Gentle Man" on Dandelion DAN 8007)

5. Sunshine Superman - THE STANDELLS (from their January 1967 US compilation LP "The Hot Ones" on Tower Records ST 5049 in Stereo)

6. Hurdy Gurdy Man - EARTHA KITT (March 1970 UK 45-single on Spark SRL 1039, A-side – also on the May 1970 UK LP "Sentimental Eartha" on Spark Records SRLP 105) 

7. Young Girl Blues - MARIANNE FAITHFULL (from her March 1967 fifth UK LP "Loveinamist" on Decca LK 4854 in Mono)

8. Poor Cow - NOEL HARRISON (from the 1969 UK album "The Great Electric Experiment Is Over" on Reprise RS 6321 in Stereo)

9. Celeste – PAUL JONES (from the November 1969 UK LP "Come Into My Music Box" on Columbia SCX 6347 in Stereo)

10. Season Of The Witch - LOU RAWLS (June 1969 US 45-single on Capitol 2550, B-side of "Your Good Thing (Is About To End)" - also on the 1969 US Stereo LP "The Way it Was, The Way It Is" on Capitol ST 215)

11. Translove Airways (Fat Angel) - BIG JIM SULLIVAN (August 1968 US 45-single on Mercury 72849, B-side of "Sunshine Superman" - also on the 1967 US LP "Sitar Beat" on Mercury SR-61137 - credited as "Sitar A Gogo" when issued January 1968 on Mercury SML 30001 in the UK with different artwork)

12. You Just Gotta Know My Mind - DANA GILLESPIE (November 1968 UK 45-single on Decca F 12847, A-side - also featured on the US Stereo LP "Foolish Season" on London PS 540)

13. Oh Gosh - SANDIE SHAW (from the 1969 UK Mono LP "Reviewing The Situation" on Pye NPL 18323)

14. There Is A Mountain - DANDY (November 1967 UK 45-single on Giant GN 47, A-side)

15. Try And Catch The Wind – THE GOSDIN BROTHERS (from the 1968 US Stereo LP "Sounds Of Goodbye" on Capitol ST 2852)

16. Skip-A-Long Sam - THE SUGAR SHOPPE (July 1968 US 45-single on Capitol 2233, A-side - also on their 1968 US Stereo LP "The Sugar Shoppe" on Capitol ST 2959)

17. Snakeskin - JULIE FELIX (January 1971 UK 45-single on RAK Records RAK 108, A-side)

18. Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness) - KEITH SHIELDS (February 1967 UK 45-single on Decca F 12572, A-side)

19. Three King Fishers - GÁBOR SZABÓ (instrumental from the 1968 US Stereo LP "Bacchanal" on Skye Records SK-3 - also March 1969 UK Stereo LP on Fontana STL 5489)

20. Hampstead Incident - BOJOURA (from the 1968 DUTCH Stereo LP "Night Flight Night Sight" on Polydor Special 236 169)

21. Wear Your Love Like Heaven - PEGGY LIPTON (April 1970 US 45-single on Ode '70 ODE-66001, A-side)

22. Jennifer Juniper - THE SANDPIPERS (from the 1968 US Stereo LP "Softly" on A&M Records SP 4147)

23. Legend Of A Girl Child Linda - JOAN BAEZ with JUDY COLLINS and MIMI FARINA (from the 1967 US Stereo LP "Save The Children: Songs From The Heart Of Women" on Women Strike For Peace W-001)

24. Laleña - DEEP PURPLE (from their November 1969 UK Third Stereo LP "Deep Purple" on Harvest SHVL 759) 

NOTES:

Tracks 3, 7, 12, 13, 14, 18 and 21 in MONO - all others in STEREO

The 24-page booklet featuring superlative liner notes on each entry by ANDY MORTEN hosts the usual array of eye-watering images. Album covers like the Dutch sleeve to the model and folky Raina Van Melsen's 1968 "Night Flight Night Sight" (or Bojoura to you and I) alongside Eartha Kitt's 1970 stab at getting-down-with-the-kids modernity "Sentimental Eartha" on Spark Records are not eactly commonplace in your average Blighty secondhand record shop. There are rare foreign picture sleeves for British singles that were only issued in label bags (Julie Felix on RAK and Herman's Hermits on Columbia) sat beside lesser-seen trade adverts for Terry Reid and sheet music to Donovan's own "Catch The Wind" on Pye Records (yours for only 2/6d). It's a typically in-depth and satisfying read accompanied by tasty Remasters from the hugely experienced Audio Engineer DUNCAN COWELL - the guy who made all those Blue Horizon CD compilations sound so storming (you get 17 Stereo cuts, 7 in Mono). To the tunes...     

An opening trio by 60ts Brits Herman's Hermits and Terry Reid (what a voice never mind superlungs) sidling alongside the largely unknown American Tom Northcott sets the tone - eclectic, period cool and bound to impress. And on it goes... 

Produced by Ron Geesin of Pink Floyd fame, Bridget St. John's ballad version of "The Pebble And The Man" appeared on Side 2 of her second studio album "Songs For The Gentle Man" on John Peel's Dandelion Records 50 years back in February 1971. Coming on a little like a British warbling Nico - it's a lovely, lovely interpretation and has gorgeous production values (see my review for the February 2015 Cherry Red 4CD Box Set "Dandelion Albums And BBC Collection" by St. John). With its 'tripping out' and 'blowing your mind' lyric references, Donovan's supercool and catchy-as-a-cold "Sunshine Superman" had topped the US charts in December 1966 and was hugely popular amongst East Coast underground bands. Not surprisingly then, L.A's The Standells gave it a wallop - issued on their covers compilation LP "The Hot Ones!" which hit US shops in January 1967. Bolstered up by their takes on The Kinks, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, The Lovin' Spoonful and so on - Ace's choice of The Standells over anyone else for this much covered hippy anthem is a clever one - their energy capturing its hooky upbeat edge without ever feeling like their just copying the man. 

Like so many old-school artists boiled-alive in the musical cauldron of the 60ts and 70ts, they were desperately trying to get down with the kids and appear to be on their wavelength - cue Eartha Kitt's getting-with-it cover of "Hurdy Gurdy Man". Gone is the shimmer and curdle of the original, replaced in 1970 with Hair-like yeah-man leopard-spot-trouser arrangements courtesy of Jimmie Haskell - EK purring through the lyrics like an acid pussycat from 'Tommy'. It's not the out-and-out giggle-fest of The Butthole Surfers or Nigel Planer's Neil from The Young Ones, but it will raise a smile on your Covid-jaded visage (she also had a stab at "Catch The Wind" and "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" on the 1970 UK LP "Sentimental Eartha"). 

Hardly surprising that Donovan's "Young Girl Blues" appealed to Marianne Faithfull - a dark materials tune from an upbeat folkie with lyrics that must have chimed with her own personal demons at the time. Fresh from his "Windmills Of Your Mind" top-10 chart success in February 1969 on Reprise Records (which actually had a B-side that referenced Donovan’s surname called "Leitch On The Beach") - deep-throated Noel Harrison continues the 60ts counter-side to female happiness with "Poor Cow" where again the arrangements veer off into an unexpected almost cha-cha-cha rhythm.

Genius choice goes to the David Axelrod production of Soul man Lou Rawls who slipped out "Season Of The Witch" on the B-side of an Isaac Hayes/David Porter tune "Your Good Thing (Is About To End)" in the summer of 1969. Donovan (as you can imagine) was exactly fertile ground for Soul Men or Women - but his voice and Axelrod's heavy-on-the-drama-sauce Production gives his take a fantastically cool ahead of its time vibe.  

Following that we get our first proper whig-out from ace session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan who apart from contributions to a staggering 59 British Number 1 songs had actually played Guitar on Donovan classics like "Catch The Wind" and "Colours". Another B-side, but this time produced by Lou Reizner, Sullivan lets rip on the instrumental "Translove Airways (Fat Angel)" and is surely the kind of flipside collectors lose their mental marbles over (Jefferson Airplane covered "Fat Angel" on their 1969 live album beast "Bless Its Pointed Little Head"). Ace also cleverly picture the rare British LP artwork on Page 14 where it was called "Sitar A Gogo" (exploitation ahoy) when issued January 1968 on Mercury in Blighty (it had been called "Sitar Beat" in the USA in 1967 and came with a different front sleeve). Whatever way you look at it, his "Translove Airways (Fat Angel)" is a tip-top juicy inclusion. 

Time now for two ladies to do well - Dana Gillespie and Sandie Shaw. With both Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones present as session-players on "You Just Gotta Know My Mind" - Gillespie's November 1968 UK 7" single on Decca has been a seriously pricey collectable for decades. The British LP for "Foolish Seasons" was pulled so the American Stereo copies on London PS 540 are the same. Sandie Shaw opted for the relatively obscure "Oh Gosh" instead of his more mainstream hits - first of three songs on this compilation culled from one of Rock's rare early double-albums - Donovan's 1967 box set "A Gift From A Flower To A Garden". 

And as if they weren't clever-clogs enough as choices, we then get Dandy Livingstone giving it some Caribbean Reggae on his take of "There Is A Mountain" - although personally, it feels a tad out of place to me here. This wee sequencing glitch is quickly pushed aside by a fabulous Gosdin Brothers lyric extension - "Try And Catch The Wind". Rex and Vern fill "Catch..." with Byrds and Nilsson type gorgeousness - their West Coast version in keeping with the acoustic original (just such a lovely tune and a real highlight for me). The only slight dip for me is the Keith Shields attempt at "Hey GYP (Dig The Slowness)" – it's a song that's been done by so many others and probably better I'd venture. And the whole shebang ends on Deep Purple getting more than a little "Child in Time" with their uncharacteristically subtle and mellow take on "Laleña" - very cool indeed.

Ace has of course done Donovan proud - "Hurdy Gurdy Songs..." is a wee gem. Between this and Bob Stanley/Martin Green's excellent "Choctaw Ridge" CD compilation covering the lesser-heard side of Southern Rock from 1968 to 1973 (Ace CHCHD 1585) – Pandemic 2021 has seen this British reissuing maverick produce some genuine belters to tempt our traumatised wallets. And I for one am loving these CD paths less taken - brought to us by an independent record company that actually gives a decent damn. Catch the wind; they've captured a hurricane that continues to blow some fifty years on...