When this album was released in 1968, I was 14, and I remember that I avoided this album with a vengeance. Which is strange, because I was a huge fan of his Mickie Most produced albums. But even in 1968, the hippy-dippy version of Donovan was a turn-off to me. I can enjoy the studio albums from 1966 to 1968, but a live album at the height of flower power, no thanks.
Decades later, and at the age of 64, I'm finally listening to "Donovan in Concert." It's a great album, because one, his vocals are superb, and two, his minimal band behind him is fantastic. At least in this show, he didn't do his 'hits but instead focused on his deep cuts from his studio albums from that era. What we have here is a jazz-orientated background, with Donovan coming off not so much as flower power child, but a torch singer for the Aquarius age. "Young Girl Blues" is backed by piano, a bowed-standup bass, and light, gentle percussion and flute. Strangely, it sort of reminds me of Nina Simone, in that like that iconic singer, can tear into the song, take it apart, and then put it back together toward the end of the piece.
Donovan at this point in his career had the teenage female who loved the gentle folk singer, with the Scottish accent. Still, I'm amazed that I never picked up on the sophistication of his arrangements, which to me is not all down to Mickie Most, but Donovan's sensitivity to his material, and not down-playing the hit song aspect of the material. There's a sexual aspect, that is smokey, but one can understand that the flowers are part of the seduction of his image and sound. Lyrically he has a journalist quality in placing the landscape to the listener. "Donovan in Concert" is for sure very much a snapshot of that era, but years or decades later, I'm now admiring his daring of making dream music that transforms one into space, more likely a private place, but one that's in your own head.
No comments:
Post a Comment