Since I missed doing this when I did “D”, this is my chance to celebrate Donovan getting into the R&R Hall of Fame.
I don’t remember all of his songs from my childhood — mostly “Hurdy Gurdy Man”, “Wear Your Love Like Heaven”, “Sunshine Superman”, “Catch the Wind”, “Jennifer Juniper” and of course “Mellow Yellow”. Actually, that’s quite a few of his songs, come to think on it. I liked him a lot — being a kid and not much into politics (of music or otherwise), I didn’t know about his fuss with Dylan (who I also liked). I just knew his songs appealed to me.
Stephen King liked him so much that he used “Atlantis” as the basis for his book “Hearts in Atlantis”.
“Sunshine Superman” in particular has an actual day tied to it as a memory. My mom, a child of the Great Depression, tended to be a bit frugal. I came to understand why and if I told you what her childhood was like, you would too. However, she had a thing about stuff that was different — unusual tourist sites, strange food, different stores (some time, I’ll tell you about the realio-trulio general store we went to) and off-beat beverages. On the day in question, we had driven to Canton to buy Kickapoo Joy Juice (a kind of off-brand Mountain Dew). We also (my sister and I) talked her into buying us Batman and Robin t-shirts. So in honor of that cherished memory, here’s Donovan and “Sunshine Superman”. (I know — it should be “Mellow Yellow”, but I like this one better.)
Way off the grid 