Sunshine Superman

01 Sunshine Superman

02 Legend Of A Girl Child Linda

03 Three Kingfishers

04 Ferris Wheel

05 Bert's Blues

06 Season Of The Witch

07 The Trip

08 Guinevere

09 The Fat Angel

10 Celeste

All songs written by Donovan.

Released in the US in August, 1966, "Sunshine Superman" was a monumental step forward for Donovan. He began recording the album in December, 1965 (with the title track and "Sunny South Kensington"), and finished up on April 6th, 1966 (with "Three Kingfishers" and "Guinevere") - the very same day The Beatles began recording "Revolver." Teaming up with producer Mickie Most and arranger John Cameron, he crafted an album that, in a better world, would be as revered by the masses as "Pet Sounds" and "Sgt. Pepper's." Part of the reason that it's not is that Pye Records refused to issue the album for a year in the UK, and, when they did, only used seven of the songs, filling up the rest of the album with selections from his subsequent album, "Mellow Yellow" (which was also originally unreleased in the UK). In any case, the Dylanesque overtones in the songs are gone and Donovan has found his own voice, initiating the psychedelic rock era with a vengeance.

As for what source you need for the album, there's no contest. In 2011 EMI issued a "stereo special edition" double CD, mixing "Sunshine Superman" into stereo for the first time, and doing such a great job that I doubt anyone would ever want to hear the mono mix again. In case you do, though, mono versions of all the songs are also included (albeit out of sequence), making this CD the definitive source for "Sunshine Superman" - in fact, the only source if you want the stereo mix.

Page 2

Sunshine Superman, Mellow Yellow

More Sunshine

01 Sunshine Superman (unfaded, long version)

02 Sunshine Superman (alternate stereo edit of short version)

03 Sunshine Superman (stereo remix of long version)

04 Sunshine Superman (alternate stereo edit of long version)

05 Season Of The Witch (stereo mix from "Donovan's Greatest Hits")

06 The Trip (45 version with harmonica overdub)

07 Breezes Of Patchouli (outtake - stereo mix)

08 Breezes Of Patchouli (outtake - mono mix)

09 Museum (early version - stereo mix)

10 Museum (early version - mono mix)

11 Superlungs (early version - stereo mix)

12 Superlungs (early version - mono mix)

13 The Land Of Doesn't Have To Be

14 Sweet Joy (performed on "Rainbow Quest")

15 Colours (with Pete Seeger) (performed on "Rainbow Quest")

16 Three Kingfishers (performed on "Rainbow Quest")

17 Guinevere (performed on "Rainbow Quest")

Even though the "stereo special edition" CD of "Sunshine Superman" contains all of the mono mixes from the original album as well as a new stereo remix, there are still some alternates to be had.

Foremost among these is the longer version of the song "Sunshine Superman" which first appeared on the "Donovan's Greatest Hits" LP in 1969 (see page 5). The version on the "Sunshine Superman" album has been edited down to 3:20 (cutting out the second verse, part of the solo and fading early). The long version on "Greatest Hits" runs 4:31. However, an even longer version was issued as a bonus track on the "stereo special edition" of "Sunshine Superman," where it runs 4:40 and you can hear the performance end (this is also on the "Breezes Of Patchouli" boxed set).

A different stereo edit of the short version of "Sunshine Superman" appears on an EP of the same name, released in the UK in 1989. This places the edit at the second time Donovan sings "'cause I've made my mind up…" (with harpsichord accompaniment) compared to the short version on the "stereo special edition," which (correctly) edits the first time he sings it (without the harpsichord). A different stereo mix of the long "Sunshine Superman" appears on the "Psychedelia At Abbey Road" compilation, first released in 1998. This features louder drums and and moves Donovan's vocal into the right channel. Finally, a unique edit of the long version, running 4:02, is on K-tel's 1981 German compilation LP "Songs + Balladen, die die Welt veränderten." This omits a portion of the guitar solo.

A stereo mix of "Season Of The Witch" also appears on the 1969 "Greatest Hits" album. This is a different from than the one on the "stereo special edition" CD of "Sunshine Superman." It's also on the US CD of "Donovan's Greatest Hits."

The 45 version of "The Trip" has a harmonica overdub on the instrumental break that's not present on the album version. This single version was released on "The Essential Donovan" double CD in 2012.

This brings us to the handful of outtakes and demos recorded during the "Sunshine Superman" sessions that have been released. All four songs discussed below are included on the "stereo special edition" of "Sunshine Superman" as bonus tracks as well as other sources detailed below.

Breezes Of Patchouli - This song was originally titled "The Darkness Of My Night." An earlier recording under that title can be found on the "Sixty Four" album, which I reviewed on page 1. A stereo mix is on the "stereo special edition" CD for "Sunshine Superman," but the song is in mono on the "Troubadour" and "Breezes of Patchouli" boxed sets, as well as the 2005 "Sunshine Superman" CD.

Museum (early version) - "Museum" would be re-recorded for Donovan's next album, "Mellow Yellow." It would be covered by Herman's Hermits in July, 1967 in an arrangement closer to this early recording than the "Mellow Yellow" arrangement. Again, this is in stereo on the 2 CD "Sunshine Superman" set, but is in mono on "Troubadour," "Breezes of Patchouli" and the 2005 "Sunshine Superman" CD.

Superlungs - This song would simmer for a few years, and ultimately be re-recorded (as "Superlungs My Supergirl") for "Barabajagal" in 1969. There are no less than three early versions of this song available. The first of these, running 3:16, appears in mono on the 1992 "Troubadour" boxed set and the 2005 "Sunshine Superman" CD. A similar performance, running 4:14, is in stereo on the "stereo special edition" of "Sunshine Superman," while the third version would be recorded later, during the "Mellow Yellow" sessions. The 4:14 version repeats the first verse and comes to an end. This version also rocks way more than any of the later recordings.

The Land Of Doesn't Have To Be - This is a completely different number than the song with the same title that Donovan would later record for "A Gift From A Flower To A Garden." It's in stereo on the "stereo special edition" CD, as well as the 2005 "Sunshine Superman" CD and "Breezes of Patchouli" box.

Finally, Donovan performed four songs on Pete Seeger's UHF television program, "Rainbow Quest," recorded on April 16th, 1966 in Newark, New Jersey. This program was briefly available on VHS tape in 1987 (which is why it's listed here), but it unlike some of the other episodes from "Rainbow Quest," it has not been released on DVD.

In some ways, it seems like "Mellow Yellow" should have been the follow-up to "Fairytale," since it's a much more of an acoustic album than "Sunshine Superman." It's not as if Donovan has returned to his roots here, however, instead, he's continued to investigate jazz and unusual settings for the songs. "Mellow Yellow" is a good album, but it's not as groundbreaking as "Sunshine Superman." Instead of an artist exploding with creativity, here we have an artist who's found that creativity and is seeing where he can take it. That said, I can't say there's a bad song on the album.

There's also one major downside to "Mellow Yellow" - it's in mono, and always will be since it seems that most of the multi-tracks are lost (the exceptions are "Sunny South Kensington," "Writer In The Sun" and "Hampstead Incident"). Unfortunately, this includes the title track, which is one of Donovan's most well-known songs.

Like "Sunshine Superman," this album was not originally released in the UK, although some of the songs were used on the later UK release of "Sunshine Superman." Consequently, Donovan found himself producing major albums that were not being released in the UK, while also being restrained from promoting these albums in the United States, where they were released. For reasons I honestly can't fathom, Pye did issue "Mellow Yellow" as a single in February, 1967, just as they felt comfortable issuing "Sunshine Superman" on 45 a few months earlier, while refusing to put out the album.

As for sources, like "Sunshine Superman," original "stereo" copies should be avoided, since they've been "electronically re-processed." The best overall source is probably the 2005 CD reissue, though all of the tracks (in the same sound quality) are also on the "Breezes of Patchouli" set. Both of these fade the title track a little early, though (omitting the last "so mellow"). This can be heard on the original vinyl and "Try For The Sun" box. The true stereo mixes of the three aforementioned songs are on the "special stereo edition" of "Sunshine Superman" (not the "Mellow Yellow" CD), although "Sunny South Kensington" is missing some of the overdubs near the end.

Electrical Bananas

01 Good Trip (solo demo)

02 House Of Jansch (solo demo)

03 Museum (solo demo)

04 Sidewalk (The Observation) (solo demo)

05 Writer In The Sun (solo demo)

06 Hampstead Incident (solo demo)

07 Good Time

08 Superlungs (second version)

09 Epistle To Dippy (stereo outtake)

10 Epistle To Dippy (stereo)

11 Epistle To Dippy (mono)

12 Preachin' Love

13 There Is A Mountain (stereo)

14 There Is A Mountain (mono)

All songs written by Donovan.

This time, we'll take a look at the demos, outtakes and non-LP numbers released on 45's that were recorded around the time of Donovan's "Mellow Yellow" album.

The liner notes for the 2005 remaster of "Mellow Yellow" date the series of solo demos (#1-6, above) as October, 1966, and the studio outtakes "Good Time" and "Superlungs" as November. Most of "Mellow Yellow" was also recorded that month, although some of the other songs on that album had been recorded as early as January, 1966.

The solo demos are all enjoyable. "Good Trip" (later re-recorded as "Good Time" - which was also left unreleased) is a jazzy tune that would have fit perfectly on the "Mellow Yellow" album. The other demos are early versions of songs from that album. These performances are just as good as the released ones, and hearing the solo demos without the additional instrumentation makes them worth listening to. "Museum" also runs almost a minute longer than the released version, with additional lyrics referencing "Alice In Wonderland" (which Donovan would later return to in a big way on "HMS Donovan"). All of the October demos are only available in mono. The demos for "Good Trip" and "House of Jansch" can be found on the 2005 CD remaster of "Sunshine Superman," while the other four are on the 2005 CD of "Yellow Mellow."

"Good Time" is a re-titled remake of "Good Trip," with a jazz band arrangement. I prefer the acoustic "Good Trip" demo, though I have to admit that "Good Time" would have provided "Mellow Yellow" with another up-tempo number, had Donovan chosen to include it. This second arrangement of "Superlungs" is not as good as the version Donovan would later record for "Barabajagal," and certainly not as good as the earlier recording done during the "Sunshine Superman" sessions. Unlike the others, this one has horn accompaniment. These two songs are only available in stereo, on the 2005 "Mellow Yellow" CD as well as the "Breezes of Patchouli" boxed set.

"Epistle To Dippy" was released as a single in January, 1967, backed with "Preachin' Love," a month before the "Mellow Yellow" album came out. Neither side of the 45 is on the album. An earlier, faster arrangement of "Epistle To Dippy" was issued as a bonus track on the 2005 "Sunshine Superman" CD (in stereo), although, to me, it sounds too rushed. This also appears on the "Breezes of Patchouli" boxed set. A stereo mix of the 45 version of the song was released on the 1969 "Donovan's Greatest Hits" LP, and is on the CD version of that album (as well as the UK "Greatest Hits… And More" CD and the "Try For The Sun" and "Breezes of Patchouli" boxed sets). The original mono mix appears on "Troubadour." The b-side, "Preachin' Love" is only available in mono. This, too, appears on the "Greatest Hits… And More" CD as well as the "Try For The Sun" and "Breezes of Patchouli" boxed sets.

The final number listed here, "There Is A Mountain," is another non-LP track which was not released until July, 1967 (backed with "Sand And Foam," which was on the album). This appeared in stereo on the US CD of "Donovan's Greatest Hits" (as well as the original vinyl, of course). It's also in stereo on "Try For The Sun," "Breezes of Patchouli," and the UK "Greatest Hits… And More" CD. The original mono mix is, once again, on the "Troubadour" boxed set, though the US 45 runs just a bit longer. By the way, when Donovan sings "Oh Juanita, I call your name" he seems to be referencing Chuck Willis' 1956 song "Juanita."