"Barabajagal" is a song by British singer/songwriter Donovan Leitch, released by

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

in 1969. It was later used as title track to the album ''

Barabajagal ''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 be ...

''. The instrumental backing is provided by

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. First ...

, with backing vocals by

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 ...

Suzi Quatro Susan Kay Quatro (born June 3, 1950) is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. In the 1970s, she scored a string of hit singles that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, reaching No. 1 in th ...

and

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 v ...

Background

The song, along with "Trudi" and "Stromberg Twins", was recorded in May 1969 at the

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a renowned British independent commercial recording studio based in Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st century, including Jimi Hendr ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Other songs were recorded with

but they remained unreleased until they appeared as bonus tracks on the 2005 reissue of the ''Barabajagal'' album. The first UK pressings of the single use the full title "Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)" and give the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

the title "Bed With Me". Subsequent pressings (most UK copies) shorten the title to "Barabajagal" and rename the B-side "Trudi". The title is a made-up name for a seductive lover mentioned in the song. In a later interview, Donovan explained that the song title was an invented word and had been inspired by the phrase "goo goo ga joob" from

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' song "

I Am the Walrus "I Am the Walrus" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 television film ''Magical Mystery Tour''. Written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released as the B-side to the single "Hello, Goodbye" a ...

". The single is credited to Donovan and Jeff Beck Group. In the US it was always credited as "Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)" by Donovan with the Jeff Beck Group, and with the B-side "Trudi". It reached No. 12 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and No. 36 in the US chart. It was Donovan's final top 40 entry in either country. The instrumental backing is provided by The Jeff Beck Group. In his autobiography, Donovan relates how Jeff Beck's guitar had not been delivered to the studio, so they had to borrow one for him to play on the track (at Beck's request, it was a Fender, his preferred instrument).Leitch, D. (2005) ''The Hurdy Gurdy Man'', London:

Century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

(U.S. (2005), ''The Autobiography of Donovan: The Hurdy Gurdy Man'', New York:

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

, ) p.333 In 2005 the track was

remaster Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

ed by

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

for the ''

'' album re-issue.

Personnel

Sources: * Donovan – guitar, vocals *

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a focus ...

– guitar *

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 nu ...

– bass *

– backing vocals *

Micky Waller Michael Waller (6 September 1941 – 29 April 2008) was an English drummer, who played with many of the biggest names on the UK rock and blues scene, after he became a professional musician in 1960. In addition to being a member, albeit sometim ...

– drums *

– backing vocals *

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 *

Mickie Most Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind scores of hit singles for acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Chocolate ...

– producer

Legacy

In 1970 a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

version of the song was issued, as the B-side to "Motejl Modrejl (Mellow Yellow)", by Czech singer and actor

Václav Neckář Václav Neckář (born 23 October 1943 in Prague) is a Czech singer and actor. He is best known for his performance as Miloš Hrma in ''Closely Watched Trains''. Between 1978 and 1979 he cooperated with Polish singer Anna Jantar during their perf ...

on the

Supraphon Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, oriented mainly towards publishing classical music and popular music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers. History The Supraphon name was first registered as a trademark in 1932. T ...

label. The song was covered in 1991 by "The Love-in" on Scream Records, UK. (Scream Records were an early 90s UK hip-hop label, possibly called "From A Whisper to a Scream "). The song was featured on the 2009 "Ronnie Chase" episode (Season 5, Episode 15) of the US television show ''

Nip/Tuck ''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States from July 22, 2003, to March 3, 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime drama, black comedy, family dra ...

''. In 2016, the song was featured in an international

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Febr ...

advertisement campaign starring

Benicio del Toro Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rican actor and producer. He has garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen A ...

References

External links

* {{authority control 1969 singles Donovan songs Song recordings produced by Mickie Most Pye Records singles Songs written by Donovan Epic Records singles 1969 songs