What Music are You Listening To? - 67, the Summer of Love

[Bonyduck Campersang]

 

[PhroX]

 

[Caesar of Bread]

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

 

[Chukchi Husky]

Majestica - The Joy of Christmas

 

[gangleri2001]

 

[Caesar of Bread]

(who doesn’t love some Dead Kennedys)

 

[EgonSpengler]

File under 'better late than never': I'm becoming a Donovan fan. I knew "Season of the Witch" (1966) and "Hurdy Gurdy Man" (1968) when I was a kid, and found them delightfully spooky - David Fincher used the latter song in his film Zodiac, about the pursuit of the serial killer - but for some reason I was never moved to pursue his work more. He's been one my big musical 'blindspots', I guess.

Flashforward to this past Summer, when I watched Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza (2021 - and why did I wait so long to watch that movie? it's great), which of course includes a great soundtrack of songs from the period of its setting, including Donovan's "Barabajagal" (1969), a collaboration with The Jeff Beck Group (and Suzi Quatro is one of the backup singers) that went straight onto my Classic Rock playlist. Then, just last weekend, I heard "Clara Clairvoyant" (1970) for the first time, and it too went right into my Classic Rock playlist.

If anyone here, like me, had a phase of listening to the garage rock revival bands of the 2000s - The White Stripes, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Strokes, Jet - your head may spin when listening to "Clara Clairvoyant" for the first time. Fans of Robert Plant will also prick up their ears. And remember, Led Zeppelin I came out in '69, so Donovan and Plant were peers; I don't think either one could have been copying the other, but maybe they influenced one another. I don't know if they knew each other.

I'm wondering now why Donovan isn't mentioned more when people talk or write about the music of his day. He hasn't ever come up much, in my experience. The rhythms in these songs are thrilling. One thing I notice is that it doesn't fit neatly into the popular genres of the late '60s-early '70s, or at least how that music is remembered today. Is it folk? Kinda. Is it psychedelic? Sorta. Is it garage rock? I guess so, although garage rock got lost in the shuffle for a while, until those above-mentioned bands in the 2000s (then it seemed to fade again, I can't remember the last time I heard any of those bands).

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(who doesn’t love some Dead Kennedys)

Dead Kennedys’ Controversial Debut ‘Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables’ Certified Gold by the RIAA

Some 43 years after its release, the Dead Kennedys' controversial, influential debut, 'Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables,' has been certified gold.

variety.com

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

Amazing cover

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

 

[Caesar of Bread]

 

[Caesar of Bread]

 

[Birdjaguar]

Donovan created many fabulous songs.

 

[Birdjaguar]

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

 

[Caesar of Bread]

To add to the Donovan:

 

[EgonSpengler]

I have "I Just Want to Celebrate" (1971) by Rare Earth stuck in my head this morning. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was in an episode of For All Mankind last weekend.

 

[Moff Jerjerrod]

Hopefully this one hasn't been posted before...