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Donovan met the Maharishi and perked enough interest in Transcendental Meditation that after he finished recording A GIFT FROM A FLOWER TO A GARDEN, he was able to lead a troupe of celebs to Rishikesh, India, among the notable names: all four of The Beatles with their wives/girlfriends (John and Cynthia Lennon, George Harrison and Patti Boyd, Paul McCartney and Jane Asher, Ringo and Maureen Starkey), Mia Farrow and her sister Prudence, Mike Love of The Beach Boys. The inspired troupe pretty much all came away disappointed. In fact John wrote Sexie Sadie as a blistering indictment on the two-faced Maharishi (the song was originally titled "Maharishi", same four syllable enunciation as "Sexie Sadie", and George warned him that it could be libelous), John and Paul chronicled Prudence's locking herself in the room in hiding from the guru in Dear Prudence, Ringo left after only 10 days with his wife Maureen, unable to reconcile himself to the vegetarian diet, and some other sources even implied that the Maharishi made overt advances to Mia and/or Prudence. Donovan remained mum on the entire experience. One positive thing did arise out of the trip and that was a source of inspiration for Beatles and Donovan music. According to Paul McCartney, it was during this time that Donovan instructed Lennon and McCartney in the claw hammer style of finger picking which is highly visible on Dear Prudence, Julia, Blackbird, and Mother Nature's Son. For Donovan, the cross-fertilization of The Beatles with Donovan Leitch, resulted in a desire to reach the wider audience of trendier rock which was blooming into the late 60's "classic rock" era. For his next recording, Donovan wanted Jimi Hendrix to play guitar but he was on tour and it was looking like he would call on old friend Jimmy Page again. John Paul Jones and John Bonham would round out the New Yardbirds about to lend their hand to the HURDY GURDY MAN.
HURDY GURDY MAN further benefits from eastern Indian classical influences as in previous inclusions of sitar, tablas, and other instruments, but takes these patterns a step further with the inclusion of harmonic drones. Chiefly used in Peregrine, The River Song, and Tangier, the effect is hypnotic. Those who enjoy and are familiar with Led Zeppelin's song In The Light (Physical Graffiti) will appreciate the earlier use of this. Hurdy Gurdy Man itself was released as a very successful psychedelic-electric single and to that date was Donovan's hardest rock song yet. The electric guitar leads swirled around the listener and no doubt Page contributed to this song! It charted to #4 on the Billboard charts and #5 in the UK. In addition to distorted guitar leads, an east Indian tambura is played by Donovan for seasoning on what would soon be labeled the "Celtic Rock" sound and what would eventually form into Led Zeppelin. The tambura was a gift from George Harrison. The other single on the album, also released prior to the album release was Jennifer Juniper, written for Jenny Boyd, sister of Patti Boyd who was George Harrison's first wife. Donovan met both Boyd's in India with the Maharishi. He became enamored of Jenny's free spirited manner which is reflected in the lilting song featuring wind instruments and a French coda. Included on the CD as a bonus track is the third single from this period, Laleña, written about a character portrayed by Lotte Lenya in the 1931 film, The Three Penny Opera. Of it, Donovan says "she's a streetwalker, but in the history of the world, in all nations, women have taken on various roles from priestess to whore to mother to maiden to wife. This guise of sexual power is very prominent, and therein I saw the plight of the character. Women have roles thrust upon them and make the best they can out of them, so I'm describing the character Lotte Lenya is playing, and a few other women I've seen during my life, but it's a composite character of women who are outcasts on the edge of society."
Most of the other songs on the original album are uplifting, accessible, pop-rock numbers with a splash of jazz or Caribbean flavor, rounding out an excellent album of the highest musicianship, lyric writing, and songcraft from an era. Get Thy Bearings, West Indian Lady, and Teas are significant standouts, but HURDY GURDY MAN is the one Donovan album I pick out as perfect with no warts. Even the bonus material on the CD is the best addition out of all four of the EMI reissues. Laleña already covered above, is accompanied by its B-side Aye My Love and the B-side from Hurdy Gurdy Man single, Teen Angel, both are fine songs. Poor Cow, the B-side to Jennifer Juniper was written for and used in the film of the same name, another very poignant song. What A Beautiful Creature You Are is a duet sung with the amazing Lulu, an infectious, happy, and slightly sexy song with a wisp of Jamaica Mon! Finally, HURDY GURDY MAN is rounded out by the bonus track addition of re-recorded (and actually better sounding) singles of Colours and Catch The Wind which first made their appearance on Epic Records 1969 release of Donovan's Greatest Hits, when Pye Records would deny them access to his first two hit singles. Including them here was pure genius on the part of EMI!
I've given all five of the "hippy" albums, and the small label pastiche Catch The Wind folk album, 5-Stars, but I would like to say that HURDY GURDY MAN, for me, is the 5th Star above the others. Stellar!
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- Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2011
- Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2011
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FRANCISCO JOSE LORENZO RODRÍGUEZReviewed in Spain on December 21, 2024
El disco más flojo de su primera época.
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