Donovan's autobiography charts his life from a post-war, Glaswegian childhood to the height of an international career as one of the leading figures of the 1960's music scene. Always feeling like an outsider, he found relief through music and poetry. The book reveals how he came to be influenced by Buddhist teachings, and the music of Woody Guthrie and Joan Baez. The book
Donovan's autobiography charts his life from a post-war, Glaswegian childhood to the height of an international career as one of the leading figures of the 1960's music scene. Always feeling like an outsider, he found relief through music and poetry. The book reveals how he came to be influenced by Buddhist teachings, and the music of Woody Guthrie and Joan Baez. The book explores the significance of falling deeply in love with the woman who was to become his muse, and the profound sense of loss he felt when their relationship came to an end, and how the loss affected him both personally and creatively. A leader of the folk revival in both Britain and America, the book recounts how he rose to be an international star, releasing songs such as "Mellow Yellow" and "Catch the Wind", and his most successful album, "Sunshine Superman". Donovan is acknowledged as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 1960's. The book provides a frank account of his early experiments with drugs and his search for self. He reveals the story of how he developed friendships with Baez, Dylan and the Beatles, with whom he a shared spiritual sojourn to meditate with the Maharishi in India. Donovan's autobiography offers first-hand insights into his music and poetry, recollects his rise to fame and the way in which destiny was to play a hand by re-uniting him with the lost love of his life through a chance meeting.
i'm not going to lie, i could care less about how much this guy loves his shirt. i'd never take donovan seriously, and i bought this for my wife for xmas, she's quite the fan. i read it for the hell of it. and...well, i really enjoyed it. i never knew much about his early career or all the things that he accomplished at such a young age. yeah, not the biggest donovan fan ever, and there's lots of ego stroking going on but after reading the book i decided to take a crack at sunshine superman (the
i'm not going to lie, i could care less about how much this guy loves his shirt. i'd never take donovan seriously, and i bought this for my wife for xmas, she's quite the fan. i read it for the hell of it. and...well, i really enjoyed it. i never knew much about his early career or all the things that he accomplished at such a young age. yeah, not the biggest donovan fan ever, and there's lots of ego stroking going on but after reading the book i decided to take a crack at sunshine superman (the book makes it sound like a complete masterpiece) and you know what? it's a great fuckin' record.
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Clearly it was time for a biography to be written about Donovan. And since nobody else was going to do it, Donovan had to shoulder that burden himself.
At best Donovan’s memoir captures the Zeitgeist of the sixties straight from the horse’s mouth, in his own clumsy yet earnest, somewhat-stream-of-consciousness style. Sure, his dialect is embarrassingly beatnik at times, but what else would you expect from the man who gave us Mellow Yellow? It feels like the genuine artifact; i.e., the gawkishnes
Clearly it was time for a biography to be written about Donovan. And since nobody else was going to do it, Donovan had to shoulder that burden himself.
At best Donovan’s memoir captures the Zeitgeist of the sixties straight from the horse’s mouth, in his own clumsy yet earnest, somewhat-stream-of-consciousness style. Sure, his dialect is embarrassingly beatnik at times, but what else would you expect from the man who gave us Mellow Yellow? It feels like the genuine artifact; i.e., the gawkishness of the writing is evidence that it’s probably not ghostwritten. And the book offers many laughs—some deliberate, though more often they are the unintended byproducts of his God-given hubris and bad prose-poetry.
At its worst, it’s unabashedly self-aggrandizing, rife with typos, and indiscriminately preachy. The scope of Donovan’s influence on music and the world at large is—according to him—too vast to enumerate. But for humor’s sake, let’s list a few of the things Donovan gifted the universe with: inventor of psychedelia and Celtic rock, first use of the sitar on a Western stage, Andy Warhol’s banana cover for the Velvet Underground, the experimental use of horns on Sgt. Pepper, first to feature the electric violin, the catchphrases “Flower Power” and “Love, Love, Love,” world music as we know it.
Throughout the book, you have to wonder at the veracity of the portrayal. Sure, everyone’s entitled to a perspective, but Donovan seems to completely forget his likely audience, pointing out the obvious or reinventing it. His need to convince the reader of the novelty and significance of his music—not to mention lifestyle, philosophy, and theology—verges on pathetic, especially considering that most people reading his autobiography are probably already fans to begin with. The entire book reads as a study in how underrated he was, and yet he manages to effortlessly rank himself among The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and The Rolling Stones in terms of influence. By the end of the novel (because that’s what it is, truly), Donovan comes to the conclusion that he must forsake the evils of fame and fortune for true love and a simpler life. Hence his decision to drop out of the music world in 1970, and the book comes perfectly full-circle. Of course, a quick Allmusic.com search brings up a slew of widely unpopular albums and tours stretching from 1970 to the present…
But let’s cut him some slack. Ok Donno, maybe Bob Dylan wasn’t making fun of you in “Don’t Look Back.” Maybe John Lennon didn’t come to see your show because he was reluctant to let Beatlemania steal any of your thunder. Or MAYBE he just thought you were a total dork, like most everyone else did.
But you know what, Donovan? You ARE a total dork, and that’s why I love you. And somehow the essence of that fact—and the idea that only a man with a little moondust in his brain could compose such stirring music about mermaids, fairies, and staying groovy—still shines through. And that’s why I can’t give this book less than 3 stars: one for being—in his writing if not his facts—shamefully honest, one for adapting the book as a love story (awwww), and one for ending the story in 1970.
OK, and maybe a half-star for resembling Bilbo Baggins.
I always thought Donovan got a raw deal in the endless comparisons with Dylan. I still think he is better. (They 'hung out' together quite a lot.) For anyone who was around in the 60s this is a great read. Donovan socialised or worked with just about any 'name' you can think of from those days of 'free love.' And Donovan got plenty of that too. The speed at which he moved from bumming around St Ives and learning guitar to releasing records and performing major gigs is amazing. Less than a year.
I always thought Donovan got a raw deal in the endless comparisons with Dylan. I still think he is better. (They 'hung out' together quite a lot.) For anyone who was around in the 60s this is a great read. Donovan socialised or worked with just about any 'name' you can think of from those days of 'free love.' And Donovan got plenty of that too. The speed at which he moved from bumming around St Ives and learning guitar to releasing records and performing major gigs is amazing. Less than a year. I never realised how huge he was in the USA. Bigger than the UK.
A lot of the book reads as though Donovan is still smoking exotic substances. Much of his speech is straight from the flower power groovy chick era. But for me that just helped send me right back to those days. It's amazing to realise that he had done it all and quit the business by his early twenties.
It's a measure of any book if you are sad to reach the end. I was. Highly recommended to ageing hippies everywhere.
"Touching, illuminating and frank." New York Times.
"Entertaining and indisputably personal account." Mojo
If we are to believe everything Donovan tells us in this book, then he invented the 60's, the beatles, the rolling stones, Dylan, LSD, marijuana, Ravi Shankar & the indian inspired music and fashion of the time and anything cool or ground breaking for the 60's. In fact he would lead us to believe that he was the forefront of every movement social, musical or otherwise that occurred from 1960's onward.
Yes Hurdy Gurdy Man is a cool song, but I'm hard pressed to remember any others. I wasn't th
If we are to believe everything Donovan tells us in this book, then he invented the 60's, the beatles, the rolling stones, Dylan, LSD, marijuana, Ravi Shankar & the indian inspired music and fashion of the time and anything cool or ground breaking for the 60's. In fact he would lead us to believe that he was the forefront of every movement social, musical or otherwise that occurred from 1960's onward.
Yes Hurdy Gurdy Man is a cool song, but I'm hard pressed to remember any others. I wasn't there but I feel pretty confident that Donovan was probably a big thing for the first few months of 1964 then he faded into oblivion only to resurface to write this book to tell us that "man if you remember me and the 60's, then you weren't really there man!" Yeah good cover Donovan.
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When I first flipped through this book it looked fascinating, and I couldn't wait to find it used. Now I have no idea what I saw in it - it's a vapid, rather boring account of Donovan's rise to fame with a subplot of whether or not he'll reunite with Linda (Brian Jones' ex!), the girl he pushed away but who is is true love. Since I looked through the photos before I started it and saw pictures of their wedding, I ruined the suspense for myself and am ruining it for you. The early parts about his
When I first flipped through this book it looked fascinating, and I couldn't wait to find it used. Now I have no idea what I saw in it - it's a vapid, rather boring account of Donovan's rise to fame with a subplot of whether or not he'll reunite with Linda (Brian Jones' ex!), the girl he pushed away but who is is true love. Since I looked through the photos before I started it and saw pictures of their wedding, I ruined the suspense for myself and am ruining it for you. The early parts about his musical influences and how he learned technique from anyone who'd teach him are fairly interest but once he gets famous it's mostly name dropping. It's a pretty good picture of the rock scene of the 60s but it's not like the world was waiting for another of those.
Donovan had his first hit in 1964 when he was 18 or 19 and had a number of big hits after that, so he's been famous for most of his life, and it shows. He's very full of himself. The book is filled with asides that his was the first recording of a harpischord in a pop song, his song "Sunny Goodge Street" used the phrase "love, love, love" YEARS before the Beatles sang "All You Need Is Love", he put out a box set (which he designed!) TWO YEARS before George Harrison did, the term "flower power" was coined to refer to him, his session to record "Hurdy Gurdy Man" with John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page was what got them to form Led Zeppelin, etc., etc. Well Mama pin a rose on you! Also there's lots of descriptions of smoking dope and hash and of various dalliances with girls, resulting in a couple of kids, though it was Linda all along. Really.
I got a mild kick out of a mention of Bongo Wolf who was associated with P.J. Proby and was also a fringe character in LA science fiction fandom, where I grew up.
Besides all that, it's poorly edited with lots of spelling and continuity mistakes.
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I love Donovan's music and the book of poetry he wrote many years ago (Dry Songs and Scribbles) was brilliant. He writes very sweetly- his lyrics are beautifully and romantically structured.
But I was extremely disappointed in this book; as a long time fan of Donovan, I got no perspective into his journey into the creative process nor a new understanding of his relationship to music, writing or the people around him. Much of the book seems to be a listing of names ('we were at ... with- followed
I love Donovan's music and the book of poetry he wrote many years ago (Dry Songs and Scribbles) was brilliant. He writes very sweetly- his lyrics are beautifully and romantically structured.
But I was extremely disappointed in this book; as a long time fan of Donovan, I got no perspective into his journey into the creative process nor a new understanding of his relationship to music, writing or the people around him. Much of the book seems to be a listing of names ('we were at ... with- followed by a list of famous persons' names) with no substance as to why the friends were together. I had the feeling that someone was talking about a party with the admonition 'you had to be there to understand.'
I will continue to eagerly wait for his new music as I think has a real grasp of the poetry of romance. I did not find his genius to this autobiography.
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a very interesting book by a great musician of the 60s, he simply reveals what his fans wish to know about his personal life and his song writing process... etc
I admit it--I have always loved Donovan. Probably not surprising for those who know me well, I am a mass of personalities and one of them is definitely a hippie. I fell madly in love with Donovan when I was a little girl and they would play his videos on the defunct but fabulous MTV show (remember back before it was taken up with intelligence-sucking reality shows and they played music?)Closet Classics. I loved "Sunshine Superman" and "Atlantis" and of course "Mellow Yellow". He was a cute littl
I admit it--I have always loved Donovan. Probably not surprising for those who know me well, I am a mass of personalities and one of them is definitely a hippie. I fell madly in love with Donovan when I was a little girl and they would play his videos on the defunct but fabulous MTV show (remember back before it was taken up with intelligence-sucking reality shows and they played music?)Closet Classics. I loved "Sunshine Superman" and "Atlantis" and of course "Mellow Yellow". He was a cute little hippie with a Scottish accent--what's not to love? As I got older I explored his music further and continued to be a fan. He's not for everyone, I suppose--and definitely not for the "I am oh so cool and cynical" types--he's a total flower child--optimistic and sweet. After reading this I am pleased to say he has not changed that.
This is a very engaging and informative autobiography. It's also a really good way to set the record straight. Donovan has gotten a really raw deal. His musical importance has been overshadowed by both the Beatles (whom he was friends with) and Bob Dylan(he was also friendly with Dylan) and because he left the business fairly young to follow a more spiritual path and raise his kids. He also lived a more healthy lifestyle and did not let ambition rule his life. He does come off a bit self-aggrandizing at times--only slightly and I believe that part of that is due to being treated as a piece of fluff by many in the musical community and of course among the vultures of the journalism business. He did do many things first that more famous musicians did later and I suspect anyone would get tired of seeing things they did first heralded by the world as revolutionary when done by others. What is amazing about this is that the very people he's accused of imitating or riding the coattails of, have come forward themselves to give him credit including the Beatles, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. I personally am not a fan of Dylan (he is compared to Dylan most of all)--I never have been--I can admit to his song writing ability but I would rather be tied to a chair and beaten with a rubber hose than forced to listen to his nasal whining and I think he is incredibly overrated. But even Dylan himself has gone on record to say he liked Donovan, learned things from Donovan and gave Donovan his due. He released many critically acclaimed albums in the last decade and was involved in many of the big and important music festivals during the 60's. He's had a long and strong marriage and raised his children with his wife as well as her son by Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. He's continued to write music and poetry. And he comes off as an overall nice guy.
I found that he loves many things that I also love--Pre-Raphaelite painting and style, antiques, nature, and Indian mysticism. He's also an accomplished guitar player and writer. He even lived in Gypsy caravans (another of my eccentricities--I want to own a caravan and my boyfriend has promised to build me one --thank goodness he's an accomplished woodworker and craftsman). Admittedly this makes me love him more. But even stepping aside from my personal fondness for him, he's a good writer--funny and with the gift of making you feel as if he's sitting around talking to you as a friend, but also explaining musical techniques and journal entries and owning up to his flaws. From reading some of the other reviews of this book I can see that his attempts to defend his contributions have not been totally successful, but there will always be those that have to run down others to make their own heroes sound bigger. I don't feel that need but I am glad to see that he's had the best revenge--a long, happy and art filled life.
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I have been a Donovan fan since I heard him croon the most wonderful song (and my namesake) "Jennifer Juniper." I knew I was in love. Imagine the surprise that overcame me when I discovered that Donovan had written an autobiography. I just had to have it.
I was not disappointed. This is a fabulous look at the 1960's from a true bohemian point of view. Although some may not agree, he describes his influences and muse without being too pretentious. After all, he did spend a summer in St. Ives strum
I have been a Donovan fan since I heard him croon the most wonderful song (and my namesake) "Jennifer Juniper." I knew I was in love. Imagine the surprise that overcame me when I discovered that Donovan had written an autobiography. I just had to have it.
I was not disappointed. This is a fabulous look at the 1960's from a true bohemian point of view. Although some may not agree, he describes his influences and muse without being too pretentious. After all, he did spend a summer in St. Ives strumming his guitar. So what if he met and became friends with the Beatles and Dylan? It was part of his story, and something that we needed to hear.
All in all, this book is another example of self discovery, and a love story that spans decades. Now that I finished this memoir about the Hurdy Gurdy man, I know some of the stories behind the beautiful lyrics that I cannot seem to get out of my head. "I'm just mad about Saffron...."
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Verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry boring and disappointing. I like several of Donovan's songs and I thought I would learn more about him by reading his autobiography. I didn't learn very much about him at all. It seemed that one day he was a beatnick, heading for life on the road, and the next day he's a musician. Then, the day after that, he's on Ready, Steady, Go and has a record deal. I read several books while I was reading this one because it was quite boring. I still like his music, but this book did no
Verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry boring and disappointing. I like several of Donovan's songs and I thought I would learn more about him by reading his autobiography. I didn't learn very much about him at all. It seemed that one day he was a beatnick, heading for life on the road, and the next day he's a musician. Then, the day after that, he's on Ready, Steady, Go and has a record deal. I read several books while I was reading this one because it was quite boring. I still like his music, but this book did not move him higher on my list of favourite musicians.
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Loved this Donovan book - if i was like Donovan I'd say i was the first person ever to have read it, but i guess Donovan was the first person ever to have read it and I would just be bad vibin' him if i was to say i'd been there first :0) As much as i love him, this book is hilarious for all the wrong reasons. Ego is a very funny thing...
This book was very good. I do not understand why it is that people think it improper for Donovan to tell of his accomplishments, for he does it in a straight forward way. And personally, I feel like no one else talks of them, so he has every right to do so.
I enjoyed the casual way he writes and tells his story, very beatnik.
I found out Donovan worked in the same St.Ives restaurant in Cornwall, and hung out in the same places, and dossed in the same woods as I did. His St Albans early sixties period was interesting for me too, especially his guitar playing development.
Typical sixties hippy trippy mantra from flower child minstrel Donovan.
Let me start by saying I'm a huge fan of Donovan's music, but I didn't know much about him as a person going into his autobiography.
The first 5 years of Donovan's musical career was meteoric; that timeframe is the focus of
The Hurdy Gurdy Man
. At times, the book is a bit disjointed and muddled. Considering he was writing about events from 4 decades ago (events often clouded by drugs, alcohol, and hormones), it's surprising that he is able to tell as cohesive story as he does. The book begins in
Let me start by saying I'm a huge fan of Donovan's music, but I didn't know much about him as a person going into his autobiography.
The first 5 years of Donovan's musical career was meteoric; that timeframe is the focus of
The Hurdy Gurdy Man
. At times, the book is a bit disjointed and muddled. Considering he was writing about events from 4 decades ago (events often clouded by drugs, alcohol, and hormones), it's surprising that he is able to tell as cohesive story as he does. The book begins in his childhood in Glasgow and ends with him (temporarily) walking away from the music industry around 1970.
In the book's foreword, Donovan states that it's a story about his outsider status and "interior challenges." However, I think that it can also be read as the story of how Donovan met and (after many trials) ends up with the love of his life (Linda) since that is woven through about 3/4 of the book. However you read it, it's a colorful story interspersed with snippets of Donovan's lyrics and poetry.
Donovan often comes across as egotistical in his writing. I'm prepared to chalk that up to the age he's writing about (late teens/early 20s). But there's definite boasting about how he did different musical things "first" and his name-dropping seems forced at times. I don't know whether or not his boasts are true, but I'm inclined to chalk it up to his own searching for the threads of his life story.
What I love about autobiographies is that they allow people to tell their stories through their own lenses. I don't read them to get an objective view; if that's what you're looking for in a (auto)biography, this is not the book for you. If you're looking for an interesting read about Donovan or the "alternative" music scene of the late '60s, you'll probably enjoy
The Hurdy Gurdy Man
.
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Picked this one up at poundland and glad I did ,It was an interesting read and full of interesting tales along the 60's highway with Donovan.
At times Donovan can come across as desperate to write a legacy for himself where surely his songs are enough? Donovan is so desperate to eschew the Bob Dylan comparisons that at times this becomes laughable..his protesting at the fact he wore a Breton cap before Bob and plugged in his Guitar before Bob being two examples.
Musically I think Donovan was far m
Picked this one up at poundland and glad I did ,It was an interesting read and full of interesting tales along the 60's highway with Donovan.
At times Donovan can come across as desperate to write a legacy for himself where surely his songs are enough? Donovan is so desperate to eschew the Bob Dylan comparisons that at times this becomes laughable..his protesting at the fact he wore a Breton cap before Bob and plugged in his Guitar before Bob being two examples.
Musically I think Donovan was far more inventive than Dylan though creatively his body of work (songcraft wise) doesn't compare..lots of things check out however such as Donovans influence on picking styles seen on the Beatles white album so ultimately it's not just the work of a massive ego.
That really is my only complaint it's a good read,Donovan deserves respect but ultimately his claims to have instigated everything from flower power to world music is sometimes a bit much...coming from an independant biographer this would be excusable.
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As pop/rock bios go - this one's not bad. Mr. Leitch writes a competent look back at his childhood in Scotland, his discovery of music and youthful wanderings in Cornwall.
He covers his first flush of fame with a level head and lets the reader in on some of the details of his songwriting and studio recordings. That hotel incident with Bob Dylan (seen in D.A. Pennebaker's "Don't Look Back") is also re-interpreted by Donovan. He becomes the first 60s pop star busted for marijuana possession, hangs
As pop/rock bios go - this one's not bad. Mr. Leitch writes a competent look back at his childhood in Scotland, his discovery of music and youthful wanderings in Cornwall.
He covers his first flush of fame with a level head and lets the reader in on some of the details of his songwriting and studio recordings. That hotel incident with Bob Dylan (seen in D.A. Pennebaker's "Don't Look Back") is also re-interpreted by Donovan. He becomes the first 60s pop star busted for marijuana possession, hangs out with The Beatles and gets a private session with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
The book's narrative ends around 1970-'71, when the psychedelic scene that had nurtured him had virtually disappeared. As one critic put it, Donovan "floated away into the lilac mist". I would have rated it higher, but for "The Don"s self-aggrandizing in places (he claims to have invented 'Celtic rock', 'new age', 'world music' and was responsible for getting Led Zeppelin together, among other things).
Still, for all that - I did enjoy reading "The Hurdy-Gurdy Man", a decent memoir from one of the inner circle of 60s British counter-culture.
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I picked this book up having been warned by another person on one of my reading challenges that Donovan's ego was running a bit wild. Still, having come of age on a lot of his music, I figured I'd give the book a chance.
Well, I have never read such blatant, self-aggrandizing rubbish in my life. In fact, I've hung out around musicians most of my adult life and have never heard such self-aggrandizing rubbish. He claims that he originated Celtic Rock, implies that Led Zepplin was formed because Bon
I picked this book up having been warned by another person on one of my reading challenges that Donovan's ego was running a bit wild. Still, having come of age on a lot of his music, I figured I'd give the book a chance.
Well, I have never read such blatant, self-aggrandizing rubbish in my life. In fact, I've hung out around musicians most of my adult life and have never heard such self-aggrandizing rubbish. He claims that he originated Celtic Rock, implies that Led Zepplin was formed because Bonham, Page, and Jones had worked together so well at a session for one of his albums, says that "flower power" originated at one of his concerts, claims he was a blues virtuoso at age 17, and all sorts of other rubbish. He slags Richie Havens for allegedly having no teeth when they met, and having dental work done to remedy that later on. He only admits to screwing up twice in the whole book -- once by letting the mother of his first two kids live with him, and once by letting the woman he really loved walk away (he does eventually marry her).
And the thing is much of this would have been vaguely tolerable if there had been any real self-analysis, or real reflection on his actions, or any evidence of growth.
I was so annoyed and upset by the book that I called my friend Marc, who shares much of my musical tastes. After listening to me, he noted that when this book came out, he had heard Donovan on Vin Scelsa's radio show, and had come to much the same conclusions from hearing the interview, but was glad that I was confirming his impressions.
In all honesty, and with great sadness, I cannot recommend this book. In fact, if the copy I read was not the property of the public library, I would have given it to the cat to pee on.
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A gentle artistic spirit who wrote some awesome songs (Sunshine Superman, Mellow Yellow) in the swinging sixties between the tender ages of sixteen and twenty four. Yes, at times he comes off as an arrogant little sod (his words, not mine) and he makes some outrageous claims (he created psychedelic rock, Celtic rock, flower power, the guitar finger picking style) but still a mostly enjoyable read through the sixties, man. It did get a little boring towards the end of the sixties, but overall I '
A gentle artistic spirit who wrote some awesome songs (Sunshine Superman, Mellow Yellow) in the swinging sixties between the tender ages of sixteen and twenty four. Yes, at times he comes off as an arrogant little sod (his words, not mine) and he makes some outrageous claims (he created psychedelic rock, Celtic rock, flower power, the guitar finger picking style) but still a mostly enjoyable read through the sixties, man. It did get a little boring towards the end of the sixties, but overall I 'dug' it!
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Donovan burned bright and fast. That's what I learned. I also learned that Donovan should not write 300 page books without a ghost-writer... an editor... ANYONE who could have helped him flesh out lists of events and happenings. At times, I felt I was reading a middle school essay, "What I Did During the 1960s." Sometimes fun, but mostly disappointingly forgettable. I was really hoping for more insight on his experiences and inspirations.
Great book! Donovan is an original folk pioneer & even though some say he's a bit boasty in his writing, I think he's earned it! Yes, he credits himself for bringing 'World Music' & Celtic Music to popular culture but isn't it kinda true? Long story short - I recommend this book to anyone who loves the 60's/counterculture (& also anyone who loves the Beatles.) Donovan shares many great stories about some of the legends of that era. <3
I don't even know where to begin listing all the things that are wrong with this book. Do yourself a favor and don't bother reading it--rent the documentary 'Sunshine Superman - The Journey Of Donovan' instead. More objective, more informative, and better edited by far.
It was interesting. I liked getting some insight into a musician I didn't know much about, but I enjoyed the stories from before his rise to fame more than I enjoyed the ones after.