Donovan Phillips Leitch, known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965, and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles and albums during the late 1960s. His work became emblematic of the flower power era with its blend of folk, pop, psychedelica, and jazz stylings.
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Baby".
Island of Circles is a tribute album to singer-songwriter Donovan that was released on June 26, 1992, by Nettwerk. The title song "Island of Circles" is provided by Donovan himself. Along with Donovan's contemporaneous box set collection Troubadour: The Definitive Collection 1964–1976, the album contributed to a resurgence of interest in Donovan's music in the early 1990s, after he had been deemed unfashionable and out of step with changing musical tastes in the 1970s.
A Gift From a Flower to a Garden is the fifth album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan, released in December 1967 through Pye Records in the UK and Epic Records in the US. It marks the first double-disc album of Donovan's career and one of the first box sets in music. In the US, Epic also released the two discs separately as the stand-alone albums Wear Your Love Like Heaven and For Little Ones.
Mellow Yellow is the fourth album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the US in February 1967 (Epic Records LN 24239 / BN 26239, but not released in the UK because of a continuing contractual dispute that also prevented Sunshine Superman from a UK release. In June 1967, a cross-section of both albums was released as Sunshine Superman in the UK. "Mellow Yellow" was the name of Donovan's hit single released the previous November.
"Love Me Two Times" is a song by the American rock band the Doors. First appearing on their second studio album Strange Days, it was later edited to a 2:37 length and released as the second single from that album. The single reached number 25 on the charts in the United States.
"White Rabbit" is a song written by Grace Slick and recorded by the American rock band Jefferson Airplane for their 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow. It draws on imagery from Lewis Carroll's 1865 book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass.
"Love You till Tuesday" is a song written and performed by David Bowie. The first version of the song, recorded in February 1967, was included on Bowie's debut album. A second version, released as a single, was recorded on 3 June 1967 and released on 14 July 1967. The single garnered good notices from the music press but, like his earlier singles, failed to break into the British charts. It was his final new release for Deram Records.
"Catch the Wind" is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. Pye Records released "Catch the Wind" backed with "Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do?" as Donovan's debut release in the United Kingdom on 28 February 1965. The single reached No. 4 in the United Kingdom singles chart. Hickory Records released the single in the United States in April 1965, where it reached No. 23 in the United States Billboard Hot 100.
"Josie" is a song written and recorded by British singer-songwriter Donovan.
"Santa Baby" is a song performed by American singer Eartha Kitt with Henri René and His Orchestra and originally released in 1953. The song was written by Joan Javits and Philip Springer, who also used the pseudonym Tony Springer in an attempt to speed up the song's publishing process. Lyrically, the song is a tongue-in-cheek look at a Christmas list addressed to Santa Claus by a woman who wants extravagant gifts such as sables, yachts, and decorations from Tiffany.
"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for the 1933 musical comedy Roberta. The song was sung in the Broadway show by Tamara Drasin. It was first recorded by Gertrude Niesen, with orchestral direction from Ray Sinatra, Frank Sinatra's second cousin, on October 13, 1933. Niesen's recording of the song was released by Victor, with in the B-side "Jealousy", a song featuring Isham Jones and his Orchestra. The line "When your heart's on fire, smoke gets in your eyes" apparently comes from a Russian proverb.
"(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" is an R&B song written by Gary Jackson, Raynard Miner, and Carl Smith. It was recorded by Jackie Wilson for his album Higher and Higher (1967), produced by Carl Davis, and became a Top 10 pop and number one R&B hit.
"Hurdy Gurdy Man" is a song by the Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was recorded in April 1968 and released the following month as a single. The song gave its name to the album The Hurdy Gurdy Man, which was released in October of that year in the United States. The single reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and number 4 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Jennifer Juniper" is a song and single by the Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan, released in 1968. It peaked at number 5 in the UK Singles Chart, and at number 26 in the Billboard Hot 100. AllMusic journalist Matthew Greenwald noted that "capturing all of the innocence of the era perfectly, it's one of his finest singles".
Epistle to Dippy is a song and single by Donovan, released in 1967 outside the United Kingdom only.
"Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)" is a song written by the premier Motown songwriting/production team of the 1960s Holland–Dozier–Holland. The first hit recording was sung by Kim Weston in 1965. It was most popular in 1975 when it was recorded by the Doobie Brothers.
"Laléna" is the title of a composition by Donovan. Billboard described the single as a "beautiful and intriguing original ballad." Cash Box said that "sweet strings accent a hauntingly beautiful folk-flavored ballad which gets stronger with each listen." Record World said that Donovan "uses his reedy voice exquisitely."
"Commotion" is a song by Creedence Clearwater Revival from the album Green River, and was also the B-side of the single release of the album's title track. In 1980, "Tombstone Shadow" b/w "Commotion'" was released as a single in the United States. While released as a B-side, "Commotion" reached #30 in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 and #16 in Germany. It was written by John Fogerty and recorded at Wally Heider's Studios in San Francisco in June 1969. The 45rpm was the debut session of the band at Wally Heider's and the first collaboration with engineer Russ Gary.
Timothy Tyler Childers is an American country singer and songwriter. His music has been described as a mix of neotraditional country, bluegrass, and folk. His breakthrough studio album, Purgatory (2017), was considered one of the best albums of the year by several publications, and earned Childers an Americana Music Award. He subsequently received Grammy Award nominations for his albums Long Violent History (2020) and Rustin' in the Rain (2023) and the singles "All Your'n" (2019) and "In Your Love" (2023), the latter of which was his first top 10 hit on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.
