Songs and recording
"Superlungs (My Supergirl)","Where Is She" and "Happiness Runs" were recorded in May 1968 at Olympic Studios in London,while "I Love My Shirt","The Love Song","To Susan on the West Coast Waiting","Atlantis" and "Pamela Jo" were recorded at American Recording Company in Los Angeles that November. [3] The Los Angeles sessions were produced by Donovan and Gabriel Mekler,although the eventual album only credits Mickie Most. All of these songs except "Atlantis","I Love My Shirt" and "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting" were shelved while Donovan's Greatest Hits was still high in the charts. "Atlantis" / "I Love My Shirt" was released as a single in November 1968 in the UK,where it charted at number 23. In the US,"To Susan on the West Coast Waiting" / "Atlantis" was released in January 1969. "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting" was an anti-Vietnam War number,the first protest song Donovan had written since his folkie period in 1965. [1] It peaked at number 35 although "Atlantis" ended up charting higher,peaking at number 7 and eventually being recognized as the A-side.
In May 1969,Mickie Most produced at least one session with Donovan fronting the Jeff Beck Group. "Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)" (also known as "Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)" and simply "Barabajagal") and "Trudi" (originally "Bed with Me",based on the same melody as "Lay of the Last Tinker" from the For Little Ones disc) resulted from these sessions. [3] "Barabajagal" featured Madeleine Bell and Lesley Duncan on backing vocals. "Stromberg Twins" and "Snakeskin" were also recorded by Donovan and the Jeff Beck Group,but they remained unreleased until they appeared as bonus tracks on the 2005 UK reissue of the album. [1] Rod Stewart was in the band at this time,but he does not sing lead on any of the songs that were released. It is during these sessions that Donovan's musical vision and work ethic began to diverge from that of producer Most,and the two eventually stopped working together,effectively ending Donovan's chart success. [1]
"Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)" / "Trudi" was released as a single in June 1969 in the UK and in August 1969 in the United States. Following the pattern of Donovan's previous releases,his next album was named after the hit single of the time. The inclusion of "Atlantis",the title track and "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting" helped make Barabajagal a strong seller in the United States,where it peaked at number 23.
"Happiness Runs" is a round sung by Donovan,Graham Nash,Michael McCartney,and Lesley Duncan and was originally released without the round as "Pebble and the Man" on 1968's Donovan in Concert . The singer noted that it had been a favorite song of the Maharishi when he played it for the guru during his stay at the Rishikesh ashram in February 1968. [4] "Superlungs (My Supergirl)" was originally recorded during both the Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow sessions,but was not used for either album. The Sunshine Superman recording in an early acid-rock style was released on Troubadour:The Definitive Collection 1964–1976 ,while the jazzier Mellow Yellow outtake appeared as a bonus track on the 2005 CD reissue. Donovan re-recorded the song for Barabajagal,changing the lyrics to de-emphasize the song's original references to marijuana use. The silly,comedic "I Love My Shirt" had been performed with Tom and Dick Smothers during a November 1968 appearance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour . [4]
Release and reception
Barabajagal was released in the US (Epic Records BN 26481) on August 11,1969. It peaked at number 23,although it became Donovan's first album to miss the top 20 of the Billboard chart since Fairytale in 1965. The album reached number 22 in Canada [9] and the title single reached number 20. [10] A UK release was not forthcoming,as it was the artist's fourth album (after Sunshine Superman,Mellow Yellow and The Hurdy Gurdy Man) not to see release in that country,although a compilation of tracks from Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow had been released under the title Sunshine Superman in June 1967.
Reception to the album was mixed. Billboard predicted "he's sure to prove no surprise when he rides to the top of the LP chart",singling out "Where is She" and "I Love My Shirt" for praise. [11] Conversely,Robert Christgau of The Village Voice sarcastically stated "praise him for putting the worst cuts on one side and recommend this to all the gentle people,while they die of the droops." [6] Retrospectively,Bruce Eder of AllMusic gave four stars and enthused "With Barabajagal,Donovan intermingled soft,lyrical,spaced-out folk,hard psychedelia,children's songs,anthems to free love,and even antiwar sentiments ("To Susan on the West Coast Waiting"). The result was the most challenging album then issued by Donovan,but also one of his most successful." [5]
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