''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 on Epic Records and in the United Kingdom in March 1969 on

Pye Records Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherho ...

. ''Donovan's Greatest Hits'' peaked at No. 4 on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of ar ...

, and has been certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

by the RIAA. The album was included in critic Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981).

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 Epistle to Dippy is a song and single by Donovan, released in 1967 outside the United Kingdom only. Musicians featured are Donovan on vocals and acoustic guitar, Jimmy Page on electric guitar, John Cameron (musician), John Cameron on keyboards a ...

"; "

There Is a Mountain "There Is a Mountain" is a song and single written and performed by British singer-songwriter Donovan, released in 1967. Background The lyrics refer to a Buddhist saying originally formulated by Qingyuan Weixin, later translated by D. T.&nbs ...

"; and "

Laléna "Laléna" (also spelled "Lalena") is the title of a composition by Donovan. ''Billboard'' described the single as a "beautiful and intriguing original ballad." ''Cash Box'' said that "sweet strings accent a hauntingly beautiful folk-flavored ball ...

." It also presents the unedited " Sunshine Superman" (one minute and fifteen seconds longer than the original 1966 single and LP 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 "Catch the Wind" is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. Pye Records released "Catch the Wind" backed with "Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do?" as Donovan's debut release (Pye 7N.15801) in the United Kingdom on 28 ...

" and "

Colours Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

" with

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 ...

playing 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 ( ...

on bass and keyboards and Clem Cattini on drums. Epic Records could not obtain the right to release the original recordings of these two songs, so Donovan recorded new versions in May 1968 with a full backing band and a lavish production by Mickie Most. It was released in the US on Eopic, catalogue BXN 26439 in stereo, and in the United Kingdom in March 1969 on

, catalogue NPL 18283 in mono and NSPL 18283 in stereo. ''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.

Reissues

In 1987, the original album was issued on compact disc by Epic Records in North America (EK 26439) and Epic/ Sony Records in Japan (28·8P-1033). On 30 March 1999, Epic Legacy reissued a remastered version of the album (EK 65730),with the two sides of the original LP reversed which substitutes the original versions of "Catch the Wind" and "Colours" in place of the 1968 remakes and adds four bonus tracks which became hits after the album was first released.

Track listing

''All tracks by Donovan Leitch. On NSPL 18283, "Season of the Witch" is the first track on side two.''

1969 LP Version (Cat No. BXN 26439)

Side One

" – 3:08 #" Sunshine Superman" (long version) – 4:32 #"

" – 2:33 #"

Jennifer Juniper "Jennifer Juniper" is a song and single by the Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan, released in 1968. It peaked at number 5 in the UK Singles Chart, and at number 26 in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. AllMusic journalist Matthew Greenwald noted that ...

" – 2:40 #"

Wear Your Love Like Heaven "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" is a song and US single by British singer-songwriter Donovan, released in 1967. It became the opening title of his 1967 double-disc album ''A Gift from a Flower to a Garden''. It peaked at No. 23 in the ''Billboar ...

" – 2:23 #" Season of the Witch" – 4:54

Side Two

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 ...

" – 3:37 #"

" (1968 version) – 4:10 #"

Hurdy Gurdy Man "Hurdy Gurdy Man" is a song by the Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was recorded in April 1968 and released the following month as a single. The song gave its name to the album ''The Hurdy Gurdy Man'', which was released in October of that ...

" – 3:15 #"

" (1968 version) – 5:01 #"

" – 2:54

1987 CD version

" – 3:08 #" Sunshine Superman" (long version) – 4:32 #"

" – 2:33 #"

" – 2:40 #"

" – 2:23 #" Season of the Witch" – 4:54 #"

" – 3:37 #"

" (1968 version) – 4:10 #"

" – 3:15 #"

" (1968 version) – 5:01 #"

" – 2:54

1999 remastered CD version

#"Mellow Yellow" – 3:40 #"Colours" (original version) – 2:44 #"Hurdy Gurdy Man" – 3:19 #"Catch the Wind" (original version) – 2:55 #"Laléna" – 2:55 #"Epistle to Dippy" – 3:10 #"Sunshine Superman" (long version) – 4:31 #"There Is a Mountain" – 2:34 #"Jennifer Juniper" – 2:42 #"Wear Your Love Like Heaven" – 2:24 #"Season of the Witch" – 4:55

Bonus tracks

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...

" – 4:59 #"To Susan on the West Coast Waiting" – 3:11 #" Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)" – 3:19 #"

Riki Tiki Tavi "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" is a short story in the 1894 anthology ''The Jungle Book'' by Rudyard Kipling about adventures of a valiant young Indian grey mongoose. It has often been anthologized and has been published several times as a short book. Book 5 ...

" – 2:56

Personnel

* Donovan – vocals, guitars, harmonica * Mike Thompson – guitar, backing vocals *

— guitar;

— bass, keyboards;

Clem Cattini Clemente Anselmo Agustino Cattini (born 20 August 1937) is an English rock and roll drummer of the late 1950s and 60s, who was a member of The Tornados before becoming well known for his work as a session musician. He is one of the most prolifi ...

— drums *

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 ...

— backing instruments * Mickie Most – producer

Notes

External links

Donovan's Greatest Hits – Donovan Unofficial Site
{{Authority control 1969 greatest hits albums Albums produced by Mickie Most Donovan compilation albums Epic Records compilation albums Columbia Records compilation albums Albums produced by Geoff Stephens