Wednesday 7 December 2016

Fairy Tale – DONOVAN****

Colours/To Try For The Sun/Sunny Goodge Street/Oh Deed I Do/Circus Of Sour/Summer Day Reflection Song/ Candy Man/Jersey Thursday/Belated Forgiveness Plea/The Ballad Of A Crystal Man/The Little Tin Soldier/The Ballad Of Geraldine

Donovan's follow up album Fairytale continued his folk style and contains the UK No. 4 hit single Colours. Donovan was to develop his own more idiosyncratic form of musical expression with his next album. (US:85 UK:20)

"This was Donovan's second album and it caught him in a transitional mood from the gimmicky Dylan-impersonator to mega pop-star with Sunshine Superman etc."

"This is a man opening up in front of the mike, and a man standing back from the groovy maelstrom in front of him to observe and reflect."

"I was in my teens in the 60/70s so I bought this because it was a bit of cheap nostalgia. Listening to these familiar numbers again reminded me what a great writer/performer Donovan was; his lyrics are as fresh today as all those years ago."

"An early Donovan album where, for the most part, he is accompanied only by his own excellent guitar playing and poignant harmonica."

"People often credit Dylan and Joan Baez with writing the best protest songs of the '60s, but there are some excellent examples of Donovan's own contributions here, not least Ballad Of A Crystal Man. It's also important to point out that Donovan's singing, songwriting and playing style are very much his own and I've always thought the Dylan comparisons superficial."

"There are some wonderful songs here about freedom of spirit, love and the reality of finding love and fighting for it in difficult circumstances."

"The album's opener Colours is a 60s classic - it truly is. Fairytale features a lot of tracks like that - just Donovan and his acoustic guitar - more folk than pop really."

"Fairytale is a snip at any price for fans and a great way of discovering the wildly underrated Donovan for the uninitiated - especially those who want to veer away from his better known hits. Highly recommended."

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