This is an archived post from our old website. Please excuse us if it looks a bit off, we are working through old posts and making sure they look tip top!
Donovan is celebrating fifty years in music by touring the UK and Ireland.
Stopping off at Scarborough Spa this Friday, 9th October, the legendary folk-rock and psychedelia singer-songwriter has recently been inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (2012) and The Songwriters Hall of Fame (2014), as well as receivingThe Mojo Maverick Award from Jimmy Page. He talks to Alex Foster about his career ahead of this visit to the Yorkshire Coast.
With hits such as ‘Mellow Yellow’ (which was recently featured in the blockbuster film ‘Minions’) ‘Sunshine Superman’ and my personal favourite ‘Catch The Wind’, I have to admit I had to hide my excitement a little when I found out I was going to be given the opportunity to speak to the man himself, Donovan Leitch. From the off he told me interesting tales of his many adventures, his upbringing and his time with The Beatles.
As ‘Catch The Wind’ is one of my favourite songs of all time I just had to ask him what the story was behind that song. He proceeded to tell me that he wrote the song in late 1964 while “bumming around” in his parents’ house. “I’d just got back from St Ives where a friend and myself had been chasing a girl named Lorna, all of which the song is about. I returned to a place called ‘The Island’ [which isn’t actually an island, he laughs] in St Ives. I held my guitar above my head and the strings coincidentally ‘Caught The Wind’.”
Moving on, I ask him about his time with John, Paul, George and Ringo. The first time he heard them was whilst he had a job washing dishes. A cardboard wall stood between him and a jukebox, from which he heard playing The Beatles, Buddy Holly and The Everley Brothers. He’d then go home to his little two-up, two-down style residence and listen to these records while his parents were out working (his mum worked in a shredded wheat factory and his dad contributed towards building the first Comet Aircraft). When he first heard ‘Love Me Do’ by The Beatles he felt “simply electrified”.
He reveals that in later years when he was working with the band, he taught John Lennon a unique finger style guitar technique which he couldn’t teach Paul McCartney, as he was left handed, but Paul walked around for a few days and later learnt it by ear. “It looked almost as if Paul was playing it backwards.” George showed little interest in the technique as he wanted to focus on his song writing. This guitar style is reflected heavily on The Beatles ‘White Album’ in songs such as ‘Blackbird’, ‘Dear Prudence’ and ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’.
He also reveals that what first got him interested in meditation was when George had lent him a book on it, flaring his interest. I asked if meditation changes the way he writes songs and he told me he started writing songs about meditation before he’d even begun practicing it. “Once I had started practicing meditation it gave my songs deeper meaning, and heavily inspired ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’.
Our conversation moves on to today’s music technology and the internet. His opinion is that “it’s a double edged sword, it can be a blessing if used correctly. I think it’s brilliant that the tools are given to people to record easily from home but the problem is that people struggle to get together and play nowadays” he says firmly. “I’m a big believer that anything should be written acoustically before taken to an electric guitar and a general full band set up.”
As a Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee, I was curious as to who else he himself feels deserves such an honour; his own suggestion being Leonard Cohen, as he “invented a style that every guitar player should learn” and is “almost melancholy”.
The impression left after my brief chat with Donovan is that he’s an inspiring, interesting and kind gentleman with a great persona. His music speaks for itself and the live performance at Scarborough Spa this week looks set to be a real treat for local music lovers.
An Evening with Donovan, Scarborough Spa, Friday 9th October.
Tickets £30: doors open 7pm for 7.30pm performance
For further ticket information click here.
For more information on Donovan visit his website or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
The ‘Donovan Retrospective’ album is out now.
Donovan also plays Leeds Town Hall on October 10th.
