"There Is a Mountain" is a song and single written and performed by
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
singer-songwriter
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 ...
,
[Show 48 - The British are Coming! The British are Coming!: With an emphasis on Donovan, the Bee Gees and the Who. [Part 5] : UNT Digital Library]
/ref> released in 1967.
Background
The lyrics refer to a Buddhist saying originally formulated by Qingyuan Weixin, later translated by D. T. Suzuki in his ''Essays in Zen Buddhism'', one of the first books to popularize Buddhism in Europe and the US. Qingyuan writes
Before I had studied Chan (Zen Buddhism, Zen) for thirty years, I saw mountains as mountains, and rivers as rivers. When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge, I came to the point where I saw that mountains are not mountains, and rivers are not rivers. But now that I have got its very substance I am at rest. For it's just that I see mountains once again as mountains, and rivers once again as rivers''.
Featured musicians are Donovan (vocals and acoustic guitar), Tony Carr
Anthony Carr MBE (born 5 September 1950) is an English sports coach and former Director of Youth Development at the West Ham United football club's youth academy and is recognised as one of the most influential figures in English football. A fo ...
on percussion, 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 ...
on flute and arrangement and 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 ...
on bass.
The B-side of the single is "Sand and Foam", an acoustic album cut about a nighttime visit to a Mexican beach Donovan took while on vacation. It was drawn from ''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 ...
'', which was released a few months prior to "There is a Mountain".
Chart performance
It charted in the UK at No. 8
It charted in the USA at No. 11 on Billboard's Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
Cover versions
*Kenny Loggins
Kenneth Clark Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His ...
covered the tune in 2009 with his youngest daughter Hana on his album ''All Join In
''All Join In'' is the fourteenth studio and third children's (and most recent) album by American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins. It was also his only album on Walt Disney Records, released on July 21, 2009. It was Loggins' first children's album ...
''.
*Dandy Livingstone
Dandy Livingstone (born Robert Livingstone Thompson, 14 December 1943, Kingston, Jamaica) is a British-Jamaican ska, rocksteady, and reggae musician and producer, best known for his 1972 hit, "Suzanne Beware of the Devil", and for his song, " ...
covered the song in 1967.
*The Bobs
The Bobs were an a cappella vocal group founded in San Francisco, California in the early 1980s. They moved to Seattle, Washington and were active recording and touring throughout the United States, Canada and Europe until their farewell show a ...
covered the song in 1994 for their album ''The Bobs Cover the Songs of…
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''.
*Steve Earle
Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author, and actor. Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Initially working in the country music g ...
Covered the song on many of the dates on his 2015 Terraplane World Tour, most notably at HSBF in San Francisco and in Donovan's home city of Glasgow on Oct 27th 2015.
*Wailing Souls
The Wailing Souls (originally The Renegades) are a Jamaican reggae vocal group whose origins date back to the 1960s. The group has undergone several line-up changes over the years with Winston "Pipe" Matthews and Lloyd "Bread" McDonald the only c ...
covered the song on their album ''Psychedelic Souls''.
*"Mountain Jam
"Mountain Jam" is an improvised instrumental jam by The Allman Brothers Band, based on Donovan's 1967 hit song "There Is a Mountain". The first known recording of a performance was done on May 4, 1969, at Macon Central Park. "Mountain Jam" was ...
" on The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guita ...
1972 album '' Eat A Peach'' includes the "There Is A Mountain" theme and gives credit to Donovan.
*The Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...
song "Alligator," from the album ''Anthem of the Sun
''Anthem of the Sun'' is the second album by rock band the Grateful Dead, released in 1968 on Warner Bros/Seven Arts. It is the first album to feature second drummer Mickey Hart. The band was also joined by Tom Constanten, who contributed avan ...
'' includes a "There Is A Mountain" reference at about 9:00.
References
External links
There Is a Mountain (Single) - Donovan Unofficial Site
{{Authority control
Donovan songs
Songs written by Donovan
1967 singles
Song recordings produced by Mickie Most
Kenny Loggins songs
1967 songs
Epic Records singles
Pye Records singles