''Barabajagal'' is the seventh studio album and eighth album overall from British singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the United States on 11 August 1969 ( Epic Records BN 26481 (stereo)), but was not released in the United Kingdom because of a continuing contractual dispute that also prevented '' Sunshine Superman'', ''

Mellow Yellow "Mellow Yellow" is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. In the US, it reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Outside the US, "Mellow Yellow" peaked at No. 8 in the UK in early 1967. Content The song was ru ...

'', and ''

The Hurdy Gurdy Man ''The Hurdy Gurdy Man'' is the sixth studio album (seventh overall) by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the US in October 1968 (Epic Records BN 26420 (stereo)), but not in the UK, because of a continuing contractual dispu ...

'' from being released in the UK.

History

While the majority of the ''Barabajagal'' sessions took place in November 1968, "Happiness Runs" and "Where Is She" were recorded the previous May. All of these songs except "Atlantis", "I Love My Shirt" and "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting" were shelved while '' Donovan's Greatest Hits'' was still high in the charts. "Atlantis" / "I Love My Shirt" was released as a single in November 1968 in the UK. In the US, "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting" / "Atlantis" was released in March 1969. "Atlantis" ended up charting higher than its a-side. Some of the songs recorded were originally meant to be included on the unreleased ''Moon in Capricorn'' album. In May 1969, Mickie Most produced at least one session with Donovan fronting the

Jeff Beck Group The Jeff Beck Group was a British rock band formed in London in January 1967 by former Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck. Their innovative approach to heavy-sounding blues, rhythm and blues and rock was a major influence on popular music. Firs ...

. "Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)" (also known as "Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)" and simply " Barabajagal") and "Trudi" (originally "Bed with Me") resulted from these sessions. There were other songs recorded by Donovan and the Jeff Beck Group, but they remained unreleased until they appeared as bonus tracks on the 2005 UK reissue of the album. Rod Stewart was in the band at this time, but he does not sing lead on any of the songs that were released. Tony Newman is featured as drummer. "Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)" / "Trudi" was released as a single in June 1969 in the UK and in August 1969 in the United States. Following the pattern of Donovan's previous releases, his next album was named after the hit single of the time. The inclusion of "Atlantis" and "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting" helped make ''Barabajagal'' a strong seller in the United States. The songs on this album represent all facets of Donovan's career. Several rockers adorn the album, including the title track, "Trudi", "The Love Song" and "Superlungs (My Supergirl)". "I Love My Shirt" updates the sound of Donovan's children's music, and there are several slow songs featuring breathy vocals ("Where Is She?", "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting") reminiscent of the '' For Little Ones'' portion of ''A Gift from a Flower to a Garden''. It is during the ''Barabajagal'' sessions that Donovan's musical vision and work ethic began to diverge from that of producer Mickie Most. The two eventually stopped working together, effectively ending Donovan's chart success. "Happiness Runs" is a round sung by Donovan,

Graham Nash Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...

, Michael McCartney, and

Lesley Duncan Lesley Cox (née Duncan; 12 August 1943 – 12 March 2010) was an English singer-songwriter, best known for her work during the 1970s. She received much airplay on British radio stations such as BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, but never achieved ...

and was originally released without the round as "Pebble and the Man" on ''

Donovan in Concert ''Donovan in Concert'' is the sixth album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan, and the first live album of his career. It was recorded in the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California on 17 November 1967. It was released in the Uni ...

''. "Superlungs (My Supergirl)" was originally recorded during the '' Sunshine Superman'' sessions, but was not used for that album. That recording was released on '' Troubadour: The Definitive Collection 1964–1976''. Donovan re-recorded the song for ''Barabajagal''.

Reissues

*On 25 October 1990, Epic Records reissued ''Barabajagal'' (Epic 26481), in the US on CD. *On 16 May 2005,

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

reissued ''Barabajagal'' (EMI 8735692), in the UK on CD, with thirteen bonus tracks. *On 1 October 2018, The state51 Conspiracy reissued ''Barabajagal'' (CON236LP), in the UK and Ireland, on 180 gram vinyl.

Track listing

Original album

2005 EMI version (UK) bonus tracks

#"Stromberg Twins" – 4:40 #"Snakeskin" – 2:41 #"Lauretta's Cousin Laurinda" – 4:18 #"The Swan (Lord of the Reedy River)" – 3:08 #"Poor Man's Sunshine (Nativity)" – 5:19 #"New Year's Resolution (Donovan's Celtic Jam)" – 3:16 #"Runaway" (demo) – 3:03 #"Sweet Beverley" (demo) – 2:59 #"Marjorie (Margarine)" (demo) – 3:17 #"Little White Flower" (demo) – 2:09 #"Good Morning Mr. Wind" (demo) – 2:08 #"Palais Girl" (demo) – 2:26 #"Lord of the Universe" (demo) – 3:12

Personnel

London

* Donovan – guitar, harmonica, vocals * Jeff Beck,

Big Jim Sullivan James George Tomkins (14 February 1941 – 2 October 2012), known professionally as Big Jim Sullivan, was an English musician whose career started in 1958. He was best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was one of t ...

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing guitar with a ...

– guitar *

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

Danny Thompson Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Mart ...

– bass guitar *

Madeline Bell Madeline Bell (born July 23, 1942) is an American soul singer, who became famous as a performer in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s with pop group Blue Mink, having arrived from America in the gospel show ''Black Nativity'' in 1962, with the ...

– backing vocals * Tony Carr – percussion, drums *

– backing vocals * Aynsley Dunbar – drums *

Alan Hawkshaw William Alan Hawkshaw (27 March 1937 – 16 October 2021) was a British composer and performer, particularly of library music used as themes for movies and television programs. Hawkshaw worked extensively for the KPM production music company ...

– piano *

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably ...

– keyboards *

Harold McNair Harold McNair (5 November 1931 – 7 March 1971) was a Jamaican-born saxophonist and flautist. Early life McNair was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He attended the Alpha Boys School under the tutelage of Vincent Tulloch, while playing with Jo ...

– flute * Rod Stewart – backing vocals * Mickie Most – producer

Los Angeles

The following musicians played on "I Love My Shirt", "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting", "Atlantis" and "Pamela Jo": * James Kehn – percussion, drums *

Gabriel Mekler Gabriel Mekler (2 December 1942 – 4 September 1977) was an American songwriter, musician, and record producer who attained fame in the 1960s, helming albums for Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, and Janis Joplin. He also collaborated with R&B sing ...

– keyboards *

Richie Podolor Richard Allen Podolor (January 7, 1936 – March 9, 2022) was an American musician, record producer and songwriter. His career started as a session musician in the 1950s, and he was best known as the producer of Three Dog Night. Life and caree ...

– producer

References

External links

''Barabajagal'' – Donovan Unofficial Site

''Barabajagal''
(

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich web applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players. Fla ...

) at Myspace (streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control Donovan albums 1969 albums Epic Records albums Albums produced by Mickie Most Albums recorded at Olympic Sound Studios