''What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid'' is the debut album from Scottish singer-songwriter

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...

. It was released in the UK four days after his nineteenth birthday on 14 May 1965, through

Pye Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...

(catalog number NPL 18117). Terry Kennedy, Peter Eden, and Geoff Stephens produced the album. The album was released in the US as ''Catch the Wind'' on

Hickory Records Hickory Records is an American record label founded in 1954 by Acuff-Rose Music, which operated the label up to 1979. Sony Music Publishing (then Sony/ATV) revived the label in 2007. Originally based in Nashville, and functioning as an independ ...

in June 1965. Hickory Records changed the title to match that of Donovan's debut single.

History

In late 1964, Peter Eden and Geoff Stephens offered Donovan a recording contract with

in the UK. Donovan had performed around Britain and had become well known in British folk circles before his record contract. His 1964 demo tapes (released as '' Sixty Four'' in 2004) show a great resemblance to both

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...

and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, which probably prompted the "British answer to Bob Dylan" press line that was subsequently released. ''What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid'' is notable because it captures Donovan at a point where his style and vision were starting to diverge significantly from those of Guthrie and Dylan. The music primarily consists of Donovan singing and playing mouth harp and

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, much like his live performances of the time. He still had some vestiges of

's style, and here covers Guthrie's " Riding In My Car" (titled here as "Car Car"). ''What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid'' also includes British

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

("Tangerine Puppet") and even some

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

("Cuttin' Out"). Donovan re-recorded "Catch the Wind" for the album, which was initially released as his debut single in the UK on 12 March 1965. Other musicians featured on the album are

Brian Locking Brian "Licorice" Locking (22 December 1938 – 8 October 2020) was an English musician and songwriter known for his tenure as bassist with '' The Wildcats'' in 1959 and The Shadows, between 1962 and 1963. During his time with the Shadows he ap ...

on bass, Skip Alan (who joined the Pretty Things later the same year) on drums, and Gypsy Dave on

kazoo The kazoo is a musical instrument that adds a ''buzzing'' timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (itself a membranophone), one of a class of instruments that modify the player's v ...

Reissues

* On 13 September 1968, ''What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid'' was reissued in an edited form ( Marble Arch Records MAL 795) in the UK. "Car Car" and "Donna Donna" were both removed from the album, possibly because they were not written by Donovan. * On 26 February 1996, Sequel Records reissued ''What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid'' in the US under its US title ''Catch the Wind'' on compact disc. Three bonus tracks were added to the track listing. The first bonus track, "Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do?", was released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to Donovan's UK debut single. The second bonus track is the

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

of Donovan's UK debut single. The third bonus track, "Every Man Has His Chain", was originally released on Donovan's ''Catch the Wind'' EP in France. * On 22 January 2002,

Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is, as of 2013, a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest ...

reissued the complete ''What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid'' for the first time on compact disc. The US version of the CD titled ''Catch the Wind'' was released six years earlier. The CD features four bonus tracks. The first two tracks are Donovan's debut single "Catch the Wind" (a different take than the album track) and its b-side "Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do?". The third bonus track "Every Man Has His Chain" was once a rare track in Donovan's discography, and was originally released on the French EP ''Catch the Wind'' in 1965. Donovan's second single "Colours" is also released here, in a version different from the one included on the '' Fairytale'' album.

Track listing

Original album (UK)

Side 1 #" Josie" (Donovan Leitch) – 3:28 #"

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 ...

" (Donovan Leitch) – 2:56 #" Remember the Alamo" ( Jane Bowers) – 3:04 #"Cuttin' Out" (Leitch) – 2:19 #" Car Car" (

) – 1:31 #"Keep on Truckin'" (traditional; arranged by Leitch) – 1:50 Side 2 #"Goldwatch Blues" (

Mick Softley Michael Softley (26 September 1939 – 1 September 2017) was an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. A figurehead during the British folk scene, Softley set up his own folk club, released three albums and worked with performers such as M ...

) – 2:33 #"To Sing for You" (Leitch) – 2:45 #"

You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond "You'll Need Somebody on Your Bond" (later titled "You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond") is a Gospel music, gospel song that is attributed to both tradition and to gospel blues musician Blind Willie Johnson. Johnson first recorded the song in ...

" (traditional; arranged by Leitch) – 4:04 #"Tangerine Puppet" (Leitch) – 1:51 #" Donna Donna" ( Aaron Zeitlin, Sholom Secunda, Arthur S Kevess, Teddi Schwartz) – 2:56 #"Ramblin' Boy" (Leitch) – 2:33

1996 Sequel Records CD-reissue (Title: ''Catch the Wind'')

The original album plus the following bonus tracks: #"Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do?" (Leitch) – 2:56 #"Catch the Wind" (Leitch) – 2:18 #"Every Man Has His Chain" (Leitch) – 2:09

2002 Sanctuary Records CD-reissue

The original album plus the following bonus tracks: #"Catch the Wind" (Single version with strings) (Leitch) – 2:18 #"Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do?" (Single b-side) (Leitch) – 2:56 #"Every Man Has His Chain" (French EP track) (Leitch) – 2:12 #"Colours" (Single version) (Leitch) – 2:45

Personnel

– vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica *

– bass * Skip Alan (Alan Skipper) – drums * Gypsy Dave (David Mills) – kazoo

References

External links

''What's Bin Did And What's Bin Hid'' – Donovan Unofficial Site

Sanctuary Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:What's Bin Did And What's Bin Hid 1965 debut albums Donovan albums Pye Records albums Hickory Records albums Sanctuary Records albums