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| Sixty Four | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 2004 | |||
| Recorded | 1964 | |||
| Genre | Folk | |||
| Label | Donovan Discs | |||
| Donovan chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Sixty Four is the 21st studio album and 26th album overall from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It is composed of demo tracks recorded by Donovan in 1964. Sixty Four was released in the United States in February 2004 by Donovan Discs, his own record label.
In the summer of 1964, Donovan negotiated his first record contract with Pye Records and recorded several demo songs. At the time, these demos were intended to circulate within the record company and were not intended for public release. The tapes were subsequently archived and their existence was relatively unknown to the public.
When Donovan was assisting with the compilation of his first compact disc boxed set Troubadour: The Definitive Collection 1964–1976 in the early 1990s, he gained possession of the original demos. Two of the songs were released on the boxed set; covers of Tim Hardin's "London Town" and Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Co'dine". The remainder of the tapes remained unreleased.
After the release of Sutras in 1996, Donovan focused on reorganizing his business around his own website and launching his own independent music label, Donovan Discs. Donovan Discs issued the set of demos as Sixty Four exclusively through Donovan's new website. A limited number of copies were signed by Donovan and also sold from the website.
The demo tapes feature an 18-year-old Donovan playing guitar and mouth harp. His style is remarkably close to that of both Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, but the songs also feature a distinct style that further developed on Donovan's first two albums, What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid and Fairytale .
All tracks composed by Donovan Leitch; except where indicated
Donovan Phillips Leitch, known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world music. He has lived in Scotland, Hertfordshire (England), London, California, and—since at least 2008—in County Cork, Ireland, with his family. Emerging from the British folk scene, Donovan reached fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with live performances on the pop TV series Ready Steady Go!.
Buffy Sainte-Marie, is an Indigenous Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these areas, her work has focused on issues facing Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire also includes subjects of love, war, religion, and mysticism. She has won recognition, awards and honours for her music as well as her work in education and social activism. Among her most popular songs are "Universal Soldier", "Cod'ine", "Until It's Time for You to Go", "Take My Hand for a While", "Now That the Buffalo's Gone", and her versions of Mickey Newbury's "Mister Can't You See" and Joni Mitchell's "The Circle Game". Her songs have been recorded by many artists including Donovan, Joe Cocker, Jennifer Warnes, Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, and Glen Campbell.
What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid is the debut album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the UK four days after his nineteenth birthday on 14 May 1965, through Pye Records. Terry Kennedy, Peter Eden, and Geoff Stephens produced the album. The album was released in the US as Catch the Wind on Hickory Records in June 1965. Hickory Records changed the title to match that of Donovan's debut single.
Fairytale is the second album from British singer-songwriter Donovan. It was first released in the UK on 22 October 1965 through Pye Records. The US version of Fairytale was released by Hickory Records in November 1965 with a slightly different set of songs. Peter Eden, Geoff Stephens and Terry Kennedy produced the original album.
Live in Japan – Spring Tour 1973 is the twelfth album from British singer-songwriter Donovan. It was only released in Japan in 1973. The album has never been released in either the United States or the United Kingdom.
7-Tease is an album by the British singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the US in November 1974 and in the UK in January 1975.
Neutronica is the fifteenth studio album by British singer/songwriter Donovan. It was released in West Germany in August 1980 and France in 1980.
Rising Again is an expanded version of the 1990 live album Rising from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the UK on 22 May 2001.
Greatest Hits Live – Vancouver 1986 is the fifth live album, and 24th album overall, from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the on October 2, 2001 on CD.
"Universal Soldier" is a song written and composed by Canadian singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. The first released recording was a single by The Highwaymen, released in September 1963. The song was also released on Sainte-Marie's debut album It's My Way!, released in April 1964. "Universal Soldier" was not an immediate popular hit at the time of its release, but it did garner attention within the contemporary folk music community. It became a hit a year later when Donovan covered it, as did Glen Campbell. Sainte-Marie said of the song: "I wrote 'Universal Soldier' in the basement of The Purple Onion coffee house in Toronto in the early sixties. It's about individual responsibility for war and how the old feudal thinking kills us all." The idea was based on that politicians, with power over the military, in democratic states are elected by the people.
"You'll Need Somebody on Your Bond" is a gospel song that is attributed to both tradition and to gospel blues musician Blind Willie Johnson. Johnson first recorded the song in December 1930, although Delta blues musician Charley Patton recorded a similar "You're Gonna Need Somebody When You Die" in October 1929. Over the years, several other musicians have recorded renditions of the song.
A Touch of Music a Touch of Donovan is a compilation album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in West Germany in 1969.
Catch the Wind is a compilation album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the United Kingdom in 1971 and did not chart. This 1971 release bears little resemblance to the 1965 version of What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid released as Catch the Wind in the United States.
Colours is a compilation album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the United States in 1991.
Summer Day Reflection Songs is a compilation album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released on 25 April 2000.
Try for the Sun: The Journey of Donovan is the second CD boxed set from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released on 13 September 2005.
Hickory Records is an American record label founded in 1954 by Acuff-Rose Music, which operated the label up to 1979. Sony Music Publishing revived the label in 2007. Originally based in Nashville, and functioning as an independent label throughout its history, it has had several distributors.
Appleseed Recordings is an American folk music record label founded by Jim Musselman in 1997.
If I Were a Carpenter is an album by American singer Bobby Darin, released in 1966. It was a significant change in direction for Darin considering his previous album was a collection of show tunes.
"Cod'ine" is a contemporary folk song by singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. Considered one of the earliest anti-drug songs, Sainte-Marie wrote the piece after becoming addicted to codeine which she had been given for a bronchial infection. She recorded it for her debut album, It's My Way! (1964).
