Donovan-the Classics Live
What seems like 100 years ago, I had a buddy who was living with an artist on a farm in San Luis Obispo. If I recall, she was reasonably well known on the Central Coast, and though her name escapes me now, she collaborated on a few works with Wyland in the early '90s, among other things.
The girlfriend I had back then and I went up to visit him, which turned into a fight because she didn’t want to stay with them. But we did, being put up in one of her kid’s rooms, and when I woke up in the morning, she was painting in the living room with Donovan’s Classics Live playing loudly. There’s a lot of memories in all that, because it turned into a strange weekend for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the artist’s much more casual attitude when talking about my sex life. (“I told M——- that you two would get here and f%$@, so there’s plenty of blankets on the bed.” It was true, even though we were fighting, but my Catholic upbringing would keep me from saying something like that).
I’m not an artist-I’m a writer (though if you’ve been reading, you may have your own thoughts), and spending time with her and some painters that were living in her barn was enlightening. I’d just read Brian Wilson’s now discredited autobiography where he was discussing how he thought generally in music, and that there were always melodies playing in his brain. I also remembered taking Spanish in high school, and Sr. Resor explaining that we needed to think in Spanish, and only one phrase ever came to me faster in Spanish than English, “Yo no sé,” (“I don’t know”).
I asked all the painters how they thought, did they think in pictures or words, and then discussed with them their thought process as they prepared to paint-it was fascinating. They generally thought in pictures, and as you might have guessed, I think in words. They didn't seem all that fascinated by it, but I did.
Back to Donovan. Classics Live is mellow, very very mellow to the point of floating away on a cloud. I’ve found a few reviews online, and the knowledgeable music scholars consider this to be a money grab, an artist well past his prime re-recording his classic tunes with the hope that the unsuspecting will pick up inferior versions of the songs the artist made famous on another label.
And it’s most likely true. The Wikipedia page for this album refers to it as Rising, and gives a complicated history for it's release that I wasn't really aware of until I read it. I did know it was a re-issue with a new title when I bought it, but not much else.
No matter. Donovan was a folk singer to begin with, so playing stripped down, acoustic versions of his classics doesn’t hurt the songs in the least. Donovan’s voice is in fine form, and the three new (at the time) songs blend in well, with “Young and Growing,” being one of the best on the album. Hurdy Gurdy Man, Wear Your Love Like Heaven and Sunshine Superman all benefit in this format.
I’ve played it often, pulling it out on Sunday mornings or times when I want some quiet music playing at a loud volume.
My only complaint is that my favorite Donovan song isn’t on here-no Mellow Yellow.
