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Customer Reviews of Essential Donovan

Essential?
I guess this would be essential if you didn't have the "Greatest Hits" already, otherwise it's about the same thing. Of course what's here is all great folk-rock. Everything I know of his is here, including "Mellow Yellow", "Wear Your Love Like Heaven", "Hurdy Gurdy Man", "Jennifer Juniper", and the excellent "Colours". The only difference between this and "Greatest Hits", is just a song or two. Maybe the cheaper one would be the better collection?

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A big upgrade over the previous "Greatest Hits" package
I purchased this CD to replace my vinyl copy of "Donovan"s Greatest Hits" that was originally released back in 1969. That collection had a couple of major flaws. First, there were absolutely no liner notes offered. More importantly, "Catch The Wind" and "Colours" were re-recordings and not the original hits that appeared in the U.S. on Nashville's Hickory Records.
While under no circumstances would I ever consider Donovan to be a five star performer, this recently released CD gives me just what I am looking for. All 14 tracks are indeed the original recordings and the disc also includes three tunes not included on the original Epic "Greatest Hits" package. They are "To Susan On The West Coast Waiting", the Top Ten hit "Atlantis" and finally a song I had not heard in years (somehow I survived the trauma) "Goo Goo Barabajagal" which Donovan recorded with the Jeff Beck Group. Donovan proved to be equally popular on both sides of the Atlantic, achieving approximately the same chart success is Britain as he did here in the States. He had a considerable amount of success on the Billboard Hot 100 Album charts as well. In the early 1970's Donovan walked away from it all. According to the liner notes "Six years of fame was enough. I had done everything. It was extraordinary; you couldn't get any more famous and any more successful." In the early 1990's, my wife and I saw Donovan perform in a local park about a mile from our home. It was just him, his guitar and a microphone. He clearly was enjoying himself and the crowd loved him.
One final note--the remastering job on this CD is first rate. Combine that with the aforementioned liner notes and a great price and you have pretty good bang for your buck.

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Adequate Compilation...But Doesn't Replace "Greatest Hits"
After checking out Epic/Legacy's latest repackaging of Donovan's Sixties material, one has to wonder if they had been smoking those banana skins referenced in "Mellow Yellow." Yes, this single-disc collection includes all twelve of Donovan's Top 40 hits [plus "Colours" (No. 61) and "Season of the Witch" (not released as a single)], but so does 1999's expanded GREATEST HITS, which also included 1970's "Riki Tiki Tavi" (No. 55).

So if you're looking for a top notch single-disc collection, I'd recommend GREATEST HITS. [I first bought it on vinyl when it was originally released in 1969.] If that isn't enough to satisfy your appetitie for the music of this folkie-turned-hippie flower child, 1992's 45-track TROUBADOUR should satisfy even the most die-hard fan.

Bottom line? This is a terrific collection, but there's nothing new here to justify its release.