The Best of Donovan (1969 album)
Encyclopedia
The Best of Donovan is a compilation album
from Scottish
singer-songwriter
Donovan
. It was released in the US
(Hickory LPS 149) in November 1969. The Best of Donovan marked the third Hickory Records compilation of Donovan's 1965 Pye Records material in the United States, following the Like It Is, Was, and Evermore Shall Be
from 1968.
responded by releasing Donovan's Greatest Hits
in January 1969, which went on to become Donovan's highest selling album, reaching #4 on the U.S. Billboard charts.
In response to the success of Donovan's Greatest Hits, Hickory Records
assembled another compilation of Donovan's 1965 Pye Records
recordings and titled it The Best of Donovan. Like Like It Is, Was, and Evermore Shall Be
, this compilation was released with psychedelic cover art that fit in with Donovan's late 1960s image rather than his 1965 image as a folk singer. Hickory's marketing strategy worked to a degree, as The Best of Donovan charted at #135 in the United States.
Though the collection presents some material (including "Jersey Thursday") in stereo for the first time, a technical flaw was also present. The pitch on several tracks appears to 'wind up to speed', because of the way the transfer machine handled the source tape's banding
.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
from Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
. It was released in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(Hickory LPS 149) in November 1969. The Best of Donovan marked the third Hickory Records compilation of Donovan's 1965 Pye Records material in the United States, following the Like It Is, Was, and Evermore Shall Be
Like It Is, Was, and Evermore Shall Be
Like It Is, Was, and Evermore Shall Be is a compilation album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the US in April 1968...
from 1968.
History
Strong sales of Donovan's material continued throughout the late 1960s, prompting many fans to desire a greatest hits compilation of the most popular hits. Donovan and Epic RecordsEpic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
responded by releasing Donovan's Greatest Hits
Donovan's Greatest Hits
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 , and in the United Kingdom in March 1969 . Donovan's Greatest Hits was a major seller, reaching #4 in the US...
in January 1969, which went on to become Donovan's highest selling album, reaching #4 on the U.S. Billboard charts.
In response to the success of Donovan's Greatest Hits, Hickory Records
Hickory Records
Hickory Records is a United States record label founded by Acuff-Rose Music in 1954 which operated the label up to 1979. Present owner Sony/ATV Music Publishing revived the label in 2007. Originally based in Nashville, functioning as an independent label throughout its history, it has had several...
assembled another compilation of Donovan's 1965 Pye Records
Pye Records
Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...
recordings and titled it The Best of Donovan. Like Like It Is, Was, and Evermore Shall Be
Like It Is, Was, and Evermore Shall Be
Like It Is, Was, and Evermore Shall Be is a compilation album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the US in April 1968...
, this compilation was released with psychedelic cover art that fit in with Donovan's late 1960s image rather than his 1965 image as a folk singer. Hickory's marketing strategy worked to a degree, as The Best of Donovan charted at #135 in the United States.
Though the collection presents some material (including "Jersey Thursday") in stereo for the first time, a technical flaw was also present. The pitch on several tracks appears to 'wind up to speed', because of the way the transfer machine handled the source tape's banding
Banding
Banding is a medical procedure which uses elastic bands for constriction. Banding may be used to tie off blood vessels in order to stop bleeding, as in the treatment of bleeding esophageal varices. The band restricts blood flow to the ligated tissue, so that it eventually dies and sloughs away...
.
Side one
- "Universal Soldier" (Buffy Sainte-MarieBuffy Sainte-MarieBuffy Sainte-Marie, OC is a Canadian Cree singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire includes...
) – 2:13 - "Colours" – 2:44
- "Catch the Wind" – 2:53
- "Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)" – 3:05
- "Little Tin Soldier" (Shawn PhillipsShawn PhillipsShawn Phillips is a folk-rock musician, primarily influential in the 1960s and 1970s.Phillips has recorded twenty albums and worked with musicians including Donovan, Paul Buckmaster, J. Peter Robinson, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Bernie Taupin, and many others...
) – 2:58
Side two
- "Tangerine Puppet" – 1:50
- "Donna DonnaDonna DonnaDonna Donna is a Yiddish theater song about a calf being led to slaughter. The song's title is a variant on Adonai, a Jewish name for God.-History:...
" (Aaron ZeitlinAaron ZeitlinAaron Zeitlin , the son of the famous Jewish writer Hillel Zeitlin and Esther Kunin, authored several books on Yiddish literature, Poetry and Parapsychology.-Biography:...
, Sholom Secunda, Arthur S Kevess, Teddi Schwartz) – 2:55 - "Candy Man" (traditional; arranged by Donovan Leitch) – 3:25
- "Jersey Thursday" – 2:11
- "Ballad of Geraldine" – 4:35