BluesKing777 Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I have my version of 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' in another thread and found some interesting things about it, some will know, others not...... There is an article in Guitarist UK magazine, but not on the internet as yet. Links: http://www.thewhitealbumproject.com/articles/donovan-recalls-how-he-helped-to-influence-the-beatles-white-album/ http://www.thewhitealbumproject.com/articles/the-beatles-donovan-and-india/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donovan BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Interesting article. I'd heard he was involved to some degree with the album (might have been what Harrison said), but had no idea in regards to him showing Lennon different guitar techniques or that The Beatles and he were close. Donovan is a really talented guy. Saw him in the late 80's at an outdoor concert in Kansas City. Interesting guy, and he came out on stage barefoot (like he used to appear on TV). Then, after everyone had a chance to see he was barefoot he started laughing and sat on a stool and put on socks and shoes. It was one of those shows I tend to remember. I'd like some of his music, but had never been a big fan until that night. I still am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splake Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I have my version of 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' in another thread and found some interesting things about it, some will know, others not...... There is an article in Guitarist UK magazine, but not on the internet as yet. Links: http://www.thewhitealbumproject.com/articles/donovan-recalls-how-he-helped-to-influence-the-beatles-white-album/ http://www.thewhitealbumproject.com/articles/the-beatles-donovan-and-india/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donovan BluesKing777. I read the article this weekend. Harrison says "Donovan was all over the White album". the article goes on and Donovan talks about his "claw" technique, that he taught Lennon and the rest of the boys. Would be nice if someone could shed some light on what Donovans "Claw" technique was. I have no clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I have my version of 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' in another thread and found some interesting things about it, some will know, others not...... There is an article in Guitarist UK magazine, but not on the internet as yet.... [After Sgt. Pepper,] "Donovan accompanied the band on their six-week trip to India to meet the Maharishi and practise transcendental meditation away from the relentless glare and expectation at home." I didn't know that! I really dug Donovan's 2nd album, tried to get his fingerpicking style. It always impressed me that he started out by busking. Very interesting that parts of the subsequent White Album were "inspired by" stuff Donovan showed them on the guitar during that trip to India. Cool that Donovan later on said "I didn't own these techniques, I just passed them on." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Here's something on it. Donovan's not a hot picker. He's a folk musician who knows how to make the most of what he does. What he does, he does well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vacamartin Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Speaking of Donovan..............I started playing my finger/strum style version of "Season of the Witch" to a harp player at a jam. His response was...."what key...that's a blues progression"B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Here's something on it..... Great! Yeah, it struck me in BluesKing's first linked article that Donovan was giving 12 "lectures." Not concerts. As you say, his fingerstyle was pretty simple (as was Lennon's). I guess that's why I liked it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie King Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Interesting term, "Clawhammer guitar". Clawhammer is a banjo style. It seems they are referring to what is often called the "Carter Scratch", Mother Maybelle's style of guitar picking. Otherwise an interesting article that confirms other stories about this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Interesting term, "Clawhammer guitar". Clawhammer is a banjo style. I thought that was weird too. That fingerstyle is only very vaguely similar to clawhammer banjo (if at all). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Nice to see this thread and learn some things I wasn't aware of. Kind of helps bring some things "full circle" for me with my guitar playing. Even The Beatles kept it simple when they were not experimenting. For years I've wanted to play complex solos, but I always revert-back to my own techniques and find a simpler way to play the solo. A way that works for me. Literally everything about Donovan is pretty simple. He does what he does with minimal instrumentation. Quite often it's just him and his guitar. And it works so damn well, because he does it well. There's naturally quite-a-bit of him on YouTube. I really like the video here of him with Crystal Gayle. All she has to do is sit there and look like Crystal Gayle, but she's also got that great voice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYt9LJOrLak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Donovan always had a handful of techniques (so to speak) - and he spread them out wisely over the various tunes, , , so secure and with such a natural flow. Call him simple - perhaps compared to Taylor and Browne, but his guitar-style is right on and represents a whole wave of folkies such as McTell and fx early Simon. And btw try Poor Cow - and fine summer-tune, but simple, , , not really 1967 ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmH1a4IZBsk Apropos simplicity he gives a away a fairly simple key to good playing in one of the clips above : Eeeehh, just do it constantly. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 So Donovan shows Lennon some simple Travis picking and claims that 75% of the White Album was due to his influence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 So Donovan shows Lennon some simple Travis picking and claims that 75% of the White Album was due to his influence? Sounds just like something he would say ! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I figure much of whatever influence he had was simply because he was there. I'm sure the fingerpicking was something fairly common to folk pickers and The Beatles played more of a rock & roll style. So, the technique Dononvan showed them was something that led them to more folksy sounding tunes. I don't think it was a big thing. The pattern I heard was pretty basic.. Just a change of direction The Beatles may or may not have chosen later on. I liked The Beatles, but my music world didn't revolve around them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 How about Bob Dylan's influence on Donovan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatbaroque Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Sounds just like something he would say ! :) I heard Don was having dinner with the Beatles one night and said "Hey Paul can you pass the pepper please?".............and that was actually the genesis of the "St Pepper's" album! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 How about Bob Dylan's influence on Donovan? Do you mean on the British Dylan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I figure much of whatever influence he had was simply because he was there. I'm sure the fingerpicking was something fairly common to folk pickers and The Beatles played more of a rock & roll style. It was just a bit of Travis picking which every first year folkie digested. Bottom line though "Dear Prudence" is one of my all-time favorite songs so I do gotta thank Donovan for showing Lennon what he did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splake Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 The way I see it. The article says it took Lennon 2 days to learn the Clawhammer technique. So that means it should take me about 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 The way I see it. The article says it took Lennon 2 days to learn the Clawhammer technique. So that means it should take me about 2 years. So far it has taken me 50 years! BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Folk Music 101. Clawhammer describes a way of playing the banjo sometimes called frailing. What Donovan apparently showed Lennon was his take on Travis picking. While Travis picking is sometimes misapplied to the clawhammer technique, the two are totally different styles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I think Leitch earned his right to put a little feather in the hat from teaching Lennon/McCartney the travis-style. It came with good timing and clearly sat a mark on the White Album. Don isn't bragging - he just tells the anecdote with a certain pride - who wouldn't. . Besides he knows history didn't place him up there with The Fabs, Stones and Dylan. Still in the 60's he belonged there. The guy was a part of the beat scene and by exploring soft'n'sensitive territory, 1 of the expanders of modern music. Most people would agree. Let's not walk in small shoes - after all he was invited to join the India-trip. Guess that speaks for itself, , , , , and Zomb, , don't forget to check the song-list on your Super Session LP ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 Anything from that era was mimed on the tv shows here - the performers did a promo tour and played whatever they could get their hands on. 1967 and Mellow Yellow was a tricky one for miming and also for the backup dancers, but they went ahead, leaving a few scratching their heads - it was also unneccesary for the actual artiste to appear sometimes....weird. But at the time, we wouldnt have known the difference between Donovan playing a guitar or playing a ukelele. What IS that MYellow about? It is probably one of the first 'nonsense' 60s tunes? You know, it could have been Bed Red, or Blue You, or Gray Hay or.......but Mellow Yellow and sticky bananas and Saffron and......phew! BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Okay - let's play. I'll give it as the defensor : 1 year before Mellow Yellow came out, Donovan as we know, had a break with the naivistic song Colours. The tune started with the line "yellow is the colour of my true love's hair" and continued in that vein through all 5 verses. It wasn't a rocker - but neither a sharp folk-song. What was it then ? - An innocent childish rhyme, yet with an aura of something poetical and consciously clean about it. We can imagine Don gettin' a dose of flak for being too whimsy and sweet in the wake of such a rainbow, can't we. And in that light see Mellow Yellow as some sort of answer. In the M.Y. song he sings about the exotic spice saffron, which might be a pretty hip thing to introduce in 1966 - but he also confesses a weak spot for very young girls (who really loved him back by the way). There we have a pair of extra factors pointing toward the softy some might have seen him as. Mellow, looking for tiny teens - sure, , , and yellow (like the cowardly chicken), even sticking his nose into spices in the kitchen as he apparently does. . Yet Don just couldn't care less - he continues to rise above any scepticism in the third "born forever high to fly" verse, simply knowing his call is beyond such conventional banalities. He is out on a higher mission introducing a whole new type of male character - which as we remember, established and found place everywhere in society during the decade to come. The non-macho male identity - the counter point to the 1950's granite John Wayne. Still, , , the M.Y. goes further. In verse 4 - staying in the yellow theme - it takes a chance dreaming up a new vibrant trend : The highly loaded electical banana, , , whoooooa, nothing short of a sexual toy. Quite an object to smuggle inside a tralala bluesy-pop-song. And definitely never heard/dared before. A lifted veil - a turned (taboo)stone. Donovan does it here and there in his own discrete ways - just have to be aware of where to look. So there we go - that is what the hit-single is carrying. Nothing less - my 10 Yen. It seems like lots of youngsters back then had antennas to take the program down too. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 What the flip are you talking about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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