Donovan's Greatest Hits

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Donovan's Greatest Hits
Donovan's Greatest Hits cover
Compilation album by Donovan
Released January 1969
Recorded January 1966 – September 1968
Length 39:07
Label Epic Records
Producer(s) Mickie Most
Professional reviews
Donovan chronology
This Is Donovan
(1969)		 Donovan's Greatest Hits
(1969)		 Fairytale
(1969)


Donovan's Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the United States in January of 1969 (Epic Records BXN 26439 (stereo)), and in the United Kingdom in March of 1969 (Pye Records NPL 18283 (monaural) / NSPL 18283 (stereo)). Donovan's Greatest Hits was a major seller, reaching #4 in the US. On March 30, 1999, Epic/Legacy Records released an expanded version of Donovan's Greatest Hits (Epic/Legacy 65730).

Contents

[edit] History

Donovan's Greatest Hits is a distinct entry in Donovan's discography for several reasons. First, it collects three singles that were previously unreleased on any album ("Epistle to Dippy", "There Is a Mountain", "Laleña"). It also presents the unedited "Sunshine Superman" (one minute, fifteen seconds longer than the original 1966 single and album release), and most of the songs appear for the first time in stereo. Lastly, Donovan's Greatest Hits contains re-recordings of "Catch the Wind" and "Colours". Epic Records could not obtain the right to release the original recordings of these two songs, so Donovan rerecorded them in May of 1968 with a full backing band and Mickie Most's lavish production.

Donovan's Greatest Hits marked the high point of Donovan's popularity in both the United States and United Kingdom. It also most likely had the effect of keeping many of Donovan's recordings on the shelf to avoid oversaturating the market. Nearly all of Donovan's next studio album was already recorded by the time of this release but remained unreleased until August 1969.

The 1999 version of Donovan's Greatest Hits has the same cover but some different songs and a different track order. In this release, the rerecorded versions of "Catch the Wind" and "Colours" are replaced by the 1965 versions. Also there are four additional songs that were hits after the original version of Donovan's Greatest Hits was released. These songs are "Atlantis", "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting", and "Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)" from Barabajagal (1969), and "Riki Tiki Tavi" from Open Road (1970).

[edit] Reissues

  • On March 30, 1999, Sony subsidiary Epic Records reissued Donovan's Greatest Hits (Epic 65730) on compact disc. This release substitutes the rerecorded versions of "Catch the Wind" and "Colours" with the originals, shuffles the track order, and adds four bonus tracks.
  • On July 25, 2002, Sony subsidiary Columbia Records reissued Donovan's Greatest Hits on compact disc. This release is identical to the 1999 release, including the original versions of "Catch the Wind" and "Colours", the shuffled track order, and four bonus tracks.

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Original album

All tracks by Donovan Leitch.

[edit] Side one

  1. "Epistle to Dippy" – 3:08
  2. "Sunshine Superman" – 4:32
  3. "There Is a Mountain" – 2:33
  4. "Jennifer Juniper" – 2:40
  5. "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" – 2:23
  6. "Season of the Witch" – 4:54

[edit] Side two

  1. "Mellow Yellow" – 3:37
  2. "Colours" – 4:10
  3. "Hurdy Gurdy Man" – 3:15
  4. "Catch the Wind" – 5:01
  5. "Laleña" – 2:54

[edit] 1999 Epic Records version

All tracks by Donovan Leitch.

  1. "Mellow Yellow" – 3:40
  2. "Colours" – 2:44
  3. "Hurdy Gurdy Man" – 3:19
  4. "Catch the Wind" – 2:55
  5. "Laleña" – 2:55
  6. "Epistle to Dippy" – 3:10
  7. "Sunshine Superman" – 4:31
  8. "There Is a Mountain" – 2:34
  9. "Jennifer Juniper" – 2:42
  10. "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" – 2:24
  11. "Season of the Witch" – 4:55
  12. "Atlantis" – 4:59
  13. "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting" – 3:11
  14. "Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)" – 3:19
  15. "Riki Tiki Tavi" – 2:56

[edit] 2002 Columbia Records version

  1. "Mellow Yellow" – 3:40
  2. "Colours" – 2:44
  3. "Hurdy Gurdy Man" – 3:19
  4. "Catch the Wind" – 2:55
  5. "Laleña" – 2:55
  6. "Epistle to Dippy" – 3:10
  7. "Sunshine Superman" – 4:31
  8. "There Is a Mountain" – 2:34
  9. "Jennifer Juniper" – 2:42
  10. "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" – 2:24
  11. "Season of the Witch" – 4:55
  12. "Atlantis" – 4:59
  13. "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting" – 3:11
  14. "Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)" – 3:19
  15. "Riki Tiki Tavi" – 2:56
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