HMS Donovan (album)

Infobox Album |
Name = H.M.S. Donovan
Type = Album
Artist = Donovan


Released = 1971
Recorded = June 1968 – 1971
Genre = folk
Length = 74:10
Label = Dawn Records
Producer = Donovan Leitch, Mickie Most
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:2mkpu3u5an2k link] |
Last album = "Open Road"
(1971)
This album = "H.M.S. Donovan"
(1971)
Next album = "Cosmic Wheels"
(1973)|

"H.M.S. Donovan" is the ninth studio album, and tenth album overall, from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It marks the second album of Donovan's children's music, after the "For Little Ones" portion of "A Gift from a Flower to a Garden". "H.M.S. Donovan" is the second double album of Donovan's career, and was released in the UK only, in July 1971 (Dawn Records DNLD 4001 (stereo)).

History

Donovan married his longtime affection Linda Lawrence (once girlfriend of Brian Jones) in October 1970. When Linda became pregnant with their first child, he began working to complete a children's album that would eventually contain recordings spanning from July 1968 to 1971. Paul McCartney was present for some of the 1968 recordings ("Mr. Wind", "The Walrus and the Carpenter", "The Unicorn"), and there are bootleg recordings where Donovan plays these songs with Paul present. A demo of "Mr. Wind" was recorded after the "Barabajagal" sessions in a lower register and without the voice effects. The original lyrics of the song were printed on the British version of "Sunshine Superman", four years before the release of "H.M.S. Donovan".

"H.M.S. Donovan" was chiefly produced by Donovan, although "Homesickness" was produced by Mickie Most. "Homesickness" is the sole electric rocker on this album of acoustic songs and the original recording date is the subject of debate. It is widely reported that Donovan and Mickie Most stopped working together after the "Barabajagal" sessions.

For the majority of the songs on this album, Donovan wrote music for poems that were originally written by others. Many of the poems were from One Hundred Poems for Children compiled by Herbert Strang (Clarendon Press, Oxford – 1925). Other poems come from Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass".

Some of the songs on "H.M.S. Donovan" share melodies with other songs in Donovan's canon. "Jabberwocky" has an acoustic arrangement with the same melody as "Celtic Rock" from "Open Road". "The Owl and the Pussycat" and "The Unicorn" also have the same melody, but bootleg recordings suggest Donovan once sang these two songs together in a medley during late 1960's live performances. Sydney Carter's "Lord of the Dance" borrows the melody from the Joseph Brackett song "Simple Gifts". "The Star" is better known as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".

Despite the inclusion of Donovan's minor hit "Celia of the Seals", "H.M.S. Donovan" sold poorly and failed to chart in the UK. Epic Records refused to release the album in the US and Pye Records only put the album out on its subsidiary label Dawn Records in the UK. This prompted Donovan to reunite with his old producer Mickie Most to try and find a hit making formula for his next album.

After this album's release, Donovan became involved in two films. First, he played the lead role in Jacques Demy's "The Pied Piper", which was released in the US on May 25, 1972. He also provided the English soundtrack for Franco Zeffirelli's "Brother Sun, Sister Moon", which was released in the US on December 2, 1972.

Reissues

*On January 12, 1998, Beat Goes On Records reissued "H.M.S. Donovan" (BGOCD372) on CD in the UK.

Track listing

Original album

ide one

#"The Walrus and the Carpenter" (words by Lewis Carroll, music by Donovan Leitch) – 8:36
#"Jabberwocky" (words by Lewis Carroll, music by Donovan) – 2:37
#"The Seller of Stars" (words by Thora Stowell, music by Donovan) – 2:52
#"Lost Time" (words by Ffrida Wolfe, music by Donovan) – 2:29
#"The Little White Road" (words by Thora Stowell, music by Donovan) – 2:05
#"The Star" (traditional, arranged by Donovan) – 1:45

ide two

#"Coulter's Candy" (traditional, arranged by Donovan) – 1:44
#"The Road" (words by Lucy Diamond, music by Donovan) – 1:08
#"Things to Wear" (words by Agnes Grozier Herbertson, music by Donovan) – 1:06
#"The Owl and the Pussycat" (words by Edward Lear, music by Donovan) – 2:24
#"Homesickness" (Donovan) – 2:31
#"Fishes in Love" (Donovan) – 1:04
#"Mr. Wind" (Donovan) – 2:38
#"Wynken, Blynken, and Nod" (words by Eugene Field, music by Donovan) – 2:38

ide three

#"Celia of the Seals" (Donovan) – 3:02
#"The Pee Song" (Donovan) – 2:06
#"The Voyage of the Moon" (Donovan) – 5:18
#"The Unicorn" (Donovan) – 0:55
#"Lord of the Dance" (Sydney Carter) – 2:31
#"Little Ben" (Donovan) – 1:44
#"Can Ye Dance" (Donovan) – 1:32

ide four

#"In an Old Fashioned Picture Book" (Donovan) – 3:11
#"The Song of the Wandering Aengus" (words by William Butler Yeats, music by Donovan) – 3:56
#"A Funny Man" (words by Natalie Joan, music by Donovan) – 1:51
#"Lord of the Reedy River" (Donovan) – 2:38
#"Henry Martin" (traditional, arranged by Donovan) – 5:08
#"Queen Mab" (words by Thomas Hood, music by Donovan) – 2:18
#"La Moora" (Donovan) – 2:21