Growing up as a teenager in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and loving contemporary pop music, I saw the release of a great number of songs that have not lost their popularity up to this day. One of these songs is Catch The Wind by Donovan Leitch.
Donovan (Donovan Phillips Leitch, born 10 May 1946, in Maryhill, Glasgow), is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music. Donovan came to fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965, and his popularity spread to the USA and other countries. He scored a string of hits in the UK, the USA, Australia and other countries, including several British and American #1 hits and million-selling records.
He became a friend of leading pop musicians including Joan Baez, Brian Jones, Bruce Springsteen, and The Beatles. He influenced both John Lennon and Paul McCartney when he taught them his finger-picking guitar style in 1968. Some of his most popular songs are Catch The Wind, Sunshine Superman, Colours, Universal Soldier, and many more.
His first hit song Catch The Wind was used just lately as background music for a car commercial, which is remarkable, because the original version they used in the commercial was from 1965. This original version is very basic, just Donovan, his guitar, and his harmonica. Later the producers added some strings. That is the reason why most Donovan compilations contain two versions of the same song.
There is, however, a forgotten third version, which was released a few years later. It is a more romantic version, and it is quite longer than the original. For many years I have been trying to get my hands on this version, but it seems it got lost in history. The only version I did find and which comes closest to the last release is on Donovan's record Donovan: Best of Live. So, the search will continue.
The CD also contains a live version of Hurdy Gurdy Man, one of his more psychedelic songs, and this is where we come to Donovan, Four Beatles, One Beach Boy, and Mia Farrow. During the song Donovan explains how George Harrison suggested a verse for Hurdy Gurdy Man, but he never recorded it. His exact description, with his strong Scottish accent, is as follows:
"When I wrote this song I was in India with four Beatles, one Beach Boy, and Mia Farrow. We were gathered together one day in Maharishi's bungalow, these four Beatles, one Beach Boy, and Mia Farrow. There was an embarrassed silence in the room. Maharishi, he sat cross-legged on the floor. And John Lennon, the wit and the humorist, he decided to break the silence. So, he walked up to Maharishi as he sat on the floor, and he patted him on the head and he said, 'There's a good guru!' We all laughed! And Maharishi laughed the loudest. Later that night, as we were gathered together on the roofs of our bungalows under the tropical Indian stars, we brought out the guitars, and I started to write this song. And George Harrison, he turned to me, and he said, 'I could write a verse for this song, Don.' And he did. But I didn't record it."
And here is the long lost verse of George Harrison:
When the truth gets buried deep
Beneath a thousand years of sleep
Time demands a turnaround
And once again the truth is found
Hurdy Gurdy Man
by Donovan Leitch
Thrown like a star in my vast sleep
I open my eyes to take a peep
To find that I was by the sea
Gazing with tranquillity.
'Twas then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Came singing songs of love,
Then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Came singing songs of love.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.
Histories of ages past
Unenlightened shadows cast
Down through all eternity
The crying of humanity.
'Tis then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Comes singing songs of love,
Then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Comes singing songs of love.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.
Here comes the roly poly man and he's singing songs of love,
Roly poly, roly poly, roly poly, poly he sang.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang,
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang
