Sunshine Superman [US] Review by John Bush.
Paced by the title track, one of Donovan's best singles, 1966's Sunshine Superman heralded the coming psychedelic age with a new world/old world bent: several ambitious psychedelic productions and a raft of wistful folk songs. Producer Mickie Most fashioned a new sound for the Scottish folksinger, a sparse, swinging, bass-heavy style perfectly complementing Donovan's enigmatic lyrics and delightfully skewed, beatnik delivery. The two side-openers, "Sunshine Superman" and "Season of the Witch," are easily the highlights of the album; the first is the quintessential bright summer sing-along, the second a chugging eve-of-destruction tale. The rest of Sunshine Superman is filled with lengthy, abstract, repetitive folk jams, perfect for lazy summer afternoons, but more problematic when close attention is paid. Accompanied by acoustic guitar and a chamber quartet, the second track, "Legend of a Girl Child Linda," plods on for nearly seven minutes, Donovan's hippie-dippie delivery rendering "lace" into "layyyzzz." After that notable low point, he performs much better, tingling a few spines with his enunciation on the ancient-sounding folksongs "Guinevere," "Three King Fishers," and "Ferris Wheel." Elsewhere, he salutes the Jefferson Airplane on "The Fat Angel" and fellow British folkie Bert Jansch on "Bert's Blues." Donovan's songs are quite solid, but Mickie Most's insistence on extroverted productions (it would grow even more pronounced with time) resulted in a collection of songs that sound good on their own but aren't very comfortable in context.
Tracklist:
CD1:
1.Sunshine Superman
2.Legend of a Girl Child Linda
3.Three Kingfishers
4.Ferris Wheel
5.Bert's Blues
6.Season of the Witch
7.The Trip
8.Guinevere
9.The Fat Angel
10.Celeste
11.Breezes of Patchuli
12.Museum [First Version]
13.Superlungs [First Version]
14.The Land of Doesn't Have To Be
15.Sunny South Kensington
16.Epistle to Dippy [Stereo Version]
17.Writer in the Sun
18.Hampstead Incident
19.Sunshine Superman [Long Version]
CD2:
1.Sunshine Superman [Mono Version]
2.Legend of a Girl Child Linda [Mono Version]
3.The Observation [Mono Version]
4.Guinevere [Mono Version]
5.Celeste [Mono Version]
6.Writer in the Sun [Mono Version]
7.Season of the Witch [Mono Version]
8.Hampstead Incident [Mono Version]
9.Sand And Foam [Mono Version]
10.Young Girl Blues [Mono Version]
11.Three Kingfishers [Mono Version]
12.Bert's Blues [Mono Version]
13.Ferris Wheel [Mono Version]
14.The Trip [Mono Version]
15.The Fat Angel [Mono Version]
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! ASK and it appears... I disagree, the arrangements of these songs were VERY innovative for the time, and had a lot of wide influence. I love "Legend...Linda", and especially "Celeste" This was a wonderful 2 cd set which is now sadly out of print. The Stereo is marvelous, and was highly praised when it came out several years ago, way better than the rechanneled disaster that was originally issued on EPIC. Jimmy Page is excellent. There was a special one shot show (with Page) at the Royal Albert Hall of the whole album when this came out, it was a dvd, but now that's out of print also. Boooo!!
ReplyDeleteJohnno
absolutely right!
DeleteMuchas gracias.
ReplyDeleteSaludos.
Thanks...GZ
ReplyDeleteThank you for Donovan.
ReplyDelete"he salutes the Jefferson Airplane on 'The Fat Angel'..." The song is dedicated to Mama Cass of The Mamas & The Papas.
ReplyDelete