Donovan's Greatest Hits

Donovan's Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by Donovan
Released January 1969
Recorded January 1966 – September 1968
Length 39:07
Label Epic
Producer Mickie Most (original issue)
except for on expanded CD reissue:
"Catch the Wind" prod. by Terry Kennedy, Peter Eden and Geoff Stephens
and "Riki Tiki Tavi" prod. by Donovan Leitch
Expanded CD reissue prod. Al Quaglieri
Donovan chronology

This Is Donovan
(1969)		 Donovan's Greatest Hits
(1969)		 Fairytale
(1969)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1] (Original album)

[2] (1999 reissue)

Donovan's Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the United States in January 1969 (Epic Records BXN 26439 (stereo)), and in the United Kingdom in March 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).

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", "Laléna"). 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" with Big Jim Sullivan playing guitar. Epic Records could not obtain the right to release the original recordings of these two songs, so Donovan rerecorded them in May 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 original 1965 versions. There are also four additional songs that were hits after the original version of Donovan's Greatest Hits was released: "Atlantis", "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting", and "Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)" from Barabajagal (1969), and "Riki Tiki Tavi" from Open Road (1970).

Reissues

Track listing

Original album

All tracks by Donovan Leitch.

Side one

  1. "Epistle to Dippy" – 3:08
  2. "Sunshine Superman" (long version) – 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

NB: ON NSPL 18283, "Season of the Witch" is the first track on Side 2

Side two

  1. "Mellow Yellow" – 3:37
  2. "Colours" (1968 version) – 4:10
  3. "Hurdy Gurdy Man" – 3:15
  4. "Catch the Wind" (1968 version) – 5:01
  5. "Laléna" – 2:54

1999 Epic Records/2002 Columbia Records version

  1. "Mellow Yellow" – 3:40
  2. "Colours" (original version) – 2:44
  3. "Hurdy Gurdy Man" – 3:19
  4. "Catch the Wind" (original version) – 2:55
  5. "Laléna" – 2:55
  6. "Epistle to Dippy" – 3:10
  7. "Sunshine Superman" (long version) – 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

Personnel

Notes

  1. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r61360
  2. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r400736

External links