Donovan
Donovan Phillips Leitch was born in Glasgow in May 1946 and moved
to Hartfield, England when he was ten. By 1964 he was living in a
seaside art studio in St Ives, Cornwall, writing songs and waiting
on tables in cafe's and occasionally travelling around
England to perform at folk clubs with a Kazoo player called Gypsy
Dave.
Also in 1964 - while in Manchester to perform at a folk
club - Donovan was arrested on a charge of stealing 5,000
cigarettes and some chocolates from a cinema. He spent two weeks
on remand in Strangeways Prison.
Early in 1965, he attracted the attention of a few people who
would help shape his future. Firstly, Geoff Stephens and Peter
Eden spotted him performing in Southend and offered to manage him.
At their insistence he recorded some demo tracks at a Denmark
Street studio which came to the attention of a production staff
member of the TV show Ready
Steady Go which resulted in slots on the show for three
consecutive weeks.
Despite widespread media comments about his similarity in style
and appearance to Bob Dylan (right down to
the denim cap, harmonica rack and guitar inscribed "This
machine kills") Donovan's TV appearances landed him a record
deal with Pye.
His debut single, Catch The Wind, peaked at Number 4
on the UK Chart in April 1965 and Donovan began performing at
concerts with artists such as The Beatles,
The Rolling Stones and Tom
Jones.
In July of that year, Donovan made his debut appearances in the
US, including a set at the Newport Folk Festival, where
(ironically) Bob Dylan was booed by the crowd for performing
an electric set.
By
December, he had fired his managers, signed with Allen Klein in
the US and recorded Sunshine Superman with producer Mickie
Most - a move away from pure folk to pop. Sunshine
Superman hit Number 1 in the USA, earning Donovan his first
gold record, and much of 1966 was taken up with a tour of Europe.
December 1966 found Mellow Yellow at Number Two in the
USA - his second million seller, despite being banned in Boston,
MA for allegedly being abortion-themed (?!).
 The single peaked at Number 8 in the UK. In the wake of The
Beatles visit to India, Donovan flew to a Transcendental
Meditation course there in 1968, meeting Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
and becoming his disciple for a while.
The early 1970s found Donovan living in Ireland and touring
with an electric backing band called Open Road. After recording
with Cozy Powell, Carole King and Peter
Frampton he moved to California in 1974.
His career remained quiet throughout the 80's, with occasional
low-key tours and little in the way of recordings.
The 1990s provided Donovan with a second wind as he became
increasingly hip once more with a new wave of bands like the Happy
Mondays (not least because Donovan was father-in-law to the
band's vocalist Shaun Ryder), and he continued to tour and record
into the new millennium.
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