I believe your reference about not being a household name in his own household was to the Thompson marriage. Donovan, on the other hand, has had a very strong marriage.
Linda Thompson discusses her marriage with Richard in the last issue of Record Collector ( not the new issue with Tom Jones ( chills and fever on the cover)
Can't say I blame him. The 60s albums are well known classics and the 70s albums nobody seems to care about aside from maybe Cosmic Wheels.
He probably knows that many audience members will complain if he does not do his best known material. As nearly all performers do the same, I cannot fault Donovan.
I assume you mean this one from 1981: You can find most of the tracks on YouTube. Personally, I found it a disappointment after 1980's excellent (and underrated) Neutronica, which I though was very much a return to form. Though I do like Half Moon Bay.
Yes! I was unsure about the title / date. Though Donovan still looks the same as he did 10 / 15 years earlier.
I didn't know of Donovan but in college in 1981 I heard Hurdy Gurdy Man and that was it. I was hooked. Went right out and bought his Greatest Hits LP and was amazed. And that gatefold came with that cool booklet of pictures too. When I heard Colours, the last line of the song made me scratch my collegiate head. Song starts off with- Yellow is the color of my true love's hair In the mornin', when we rise And at the very end he says "Hello Jack Hello Bob".
I attended a small party that He showed up to, in around ..... 92. Manchester. I do not remember if or how I broached the subject of the songs He played in concert. He said something to the effect of 'everyone wants to hear the hits though, right?. I remember actually grabbing His wrist! and saying that He 'shouldn't take that for granted ' ! He had an amazed look on His face (probably because I'd grabbed his wrist. Maybe I didnt; I don't know what I was thinking) but He wasn't offended. Later, leaving the backyard, along the side of the house, and I was not following the Guy around, I found myself walking either in front or behind Him, just us, and I said, in the pitch black of night, "your daughters are beautiful Don" (they both were there, and were both they fetching. Two of them) In the 70's He was playing His new stuff, and then those 81, 82 albums were featured live. It was fantastic to have seen 2 Sutras concerts, where He played some of those songs, but ESPECIALLY the Beat Cafe shows in nyc. With a band (Candy John on bongos ). I saw 5 or 7 of those concerts, and man they were great! Featuring His Contemporary music. With a great band.
7-Tease has a special place in my heart, it's not exactly a great album but I think it has some fine songs on it. Some I find very touching. Partly because of the songs, partly because of when I first heard them. When I met him at a post show signing a few years ago, I told him how much I liked the album. I used my one encounter with Don to mention 7-Tease. I'm sure that was novel for him. He started to chat a little bit about it but I was basically hauled off my security for talking to him for too long as the queue was building.
In this thread, my observation is that it goes to sleep for an extended period, then every so often someone posts and then there is a flurry of posts for a good while, including newcomers. So, to Donovan fans, all you have to do is post something every so often if it has been inactive. Here is one I had not seen before
Dunno if this has been posted yet... Andrew Sandoval's podcast "Come To The Sunshine" #174...broadcast on 21st September 2020. Come To The Sunshine 174 - Donovan | Free Podcasts | Podomatic"
The lyrics of "Colours" always amused me a little. For example, those two liness seem to imply that her hair is different colours at different times of the day, but in the morning it's yellow.
