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Woodstock Film Festival 2008 - "Sunshine Superman: The Journey of Donovan"


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2008 Woodstock Film Festival

October 2

Screenings with Concerts:

Sunshine Superman: The Journey of Donovan (WORLD PREMIERE), director Hannes Rossacher paints an intimate portrait of music legend Donovan, spanning four decades of peace, love and incomparable music. Narrated mostly by Donovan in a series of anecdotes and interviews, with plenty

of songs, the film follows the cultural icon from his early days in Glasgow, to his international chart-topping success in the '60s, to the present. Appearances by Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Jimmy Page, and many others.

*Donovan will be present for the Q & A, and will perform in concert, Saturday night, Oct. 4, at the Colony Café, 8pm. He is also the featured guest on the BMI Music panel.

http://www.woodstockfilmfestival.com/press...festlineup.html

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Meg

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Odd that JPJ isn't mentioned, he did the arrangements for "Sunshine Superman" and "Mellow Yellow."

Unconfirmed that he is. I haven't been able to establish the complete credits for the film. This is what I just received on the Big-O Worldwide mailing list this morning:

THE SUNSHINE SUPERMAN

Donovan - 'Sunshine Superman' (The Journey Of Donovan 2DVD) is a film by Hannes Rossacher'. "A film full of anecdotes about colleagues, musical collaborators and friends. Contains classic '60s film and TV appearances, rare archive footage and never-before-seen material as well as five previously unreleased songs and all of the hits, plus appearances by Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Mickie Most, Rick Rubin, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Franco Zeffirelli, David Lynch and many more." Disc one contains the 'Sunshine Superman' (The Journey Of Donovan) Documentary. DVD 2 includes extended scenes such as 'Catch The Wind' live on A Go Go 1965, 'Sunny Goodge Street' live on Swedish TV 1966, the 'Hurdy Gurdy Man' video and much more. Due September 29.

Meg

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Odd that JPJ isn't mentioned, he did the arrangements for "Sunshine Superman" and "Mellow Yellow."

:D My uncle used to have a large collection of Donovan's records, I loved them. Drove him crazy after I played Mellow Yellow for 150th time :mellow: Now I know why.

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Odd that JPJ isn't mentioned, he did the arrangements for "Sunshine Superman" and "Mellow Yellow."

Jones arranged "Hurdy Gurdy Man" and "Mellow Yellow" but not "Sunshine" as it turns out. Page did play on Sunshine, which Jones did not play on or arrange, but not the other two ... and Bonham never played on any of it, although legend started by Donovan himself had Jones, Bonham and Page playing on Hurdy Gurdy Man, which does sound like they all played on it and did the world need to know that they didn't?

I suppose Jones would be in the movie had he played on or arranged the title track? :blink:

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Jones arranged "Hurdy Gurdy Man" and "Mellow Yellow" but not "Sunshine" as it turns out. Page did play on Sunshine, which Jones did not play on or arrange, but not the other two ... and Bonham never played on any of it, although legend started by Donovan himself had Jones, Bonham and Page playing on Hurdy Gurdy Man, which does sound like they all played on it and did the world need to know that they didn't?

I suppose Jones would be in the movie had he played on or arranged the title track? :blink:

I love Hurdy Gurdy Man. They used it to great effect in the movie Zodiac.

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Jones arranged "Hurdy Gurdy Man" and "Mellow Yellow" but not "Sunshine" as it turns out. Page did play on Sunshine, which Jones did not play on or arrange, but not the other two ... and Bonham never played on any of it, although legend started by Donovan himself had Jones, Bonham and Page playing on Hurdy Gurdy Man, which does sound like they all played on it and did the world need to know that they didn't?

I suppose Jones would be in the movie had he played on or arranged the title track? :blink:

Jones played his '61 Fender Jazz Bass on hundreds of recording sessions from 1962 to 1968[4]. In 1964, Jones began session work with Decca Records on the recommendations of Tony Meehan. Between 1964 and 1968, he was also much in demand arranging and playing keyboards or bass guitar for artists including the Rolling Stones on Their Satanic Majesties Request (Jones' string arrangement is heard on "She's A Rainbow")[5]; Herman's Hermits; Donovan on "Sunshine Superman" and "Mellow Yellow"; Jeff Beck; Cat Stevens; Rod Stewart; Shirley Bassey; Lulu; and numerous others. As well as recording sessions with Dusty Springfield, Jones also played bass for her Talk of the Town series of performances. His arranging and playing on Donovan's "Sunshine Superman" resulted in producer Mickie Most using his services as choice arranger for many of his own projects, with Tom Jones, Nico, Wayne Fontana, the Walker Brothers, and many others. Jones also got to record with fellow friends of Tony Meehan and Jet Harris, none other than Meehan and Harris' ex-band, Cliff Richard and the Shadows.

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Jones played his '61 Fender Jazz Bass on hundreds of recording sessions from 1962 to 1968[4]. In 1964, Jones began session work with Decca Records on the recommendations of Tony Meehan. Between 1964 and 1968, he was also much in demand arranging and playing keyboards or bass guitar for artists including the Rolling Stones on Their Satanic Majesties Request (Jones' string arrangement is heard on "She's A Rainbow")[5]; Herman's Hermits; Donovan on "Sunshine Superman" and "Mellow Yellow"; Jeff Beck; Cat Stevens; Rod Stewart; Shirley Bassey; Lulu; and numerous others. As well as recording sessions with Dusty Springfield, Jones also played bass for her Talk of the Town series of performances. His arranging and playing on Donovan's "Sunshine Superman" resulted in producer Mickie Most using his services as choice arranger for many of his own projects, with Tom Jones, Nico, Wayne Fontana, the Walker Brothers, and many others. Jones also got to record with fellow friends of Tony Meehan and Jet Harris, none other than Meehan and Harris' ex-band, Cliff Richard and the Shadows.

Source? Some of the legend about who played on what, and some of the liner notes later on, etc. etc. turned out to be wrong. Page and Jones denies Page actually played on Hurdy GUrdy Man (though he was around) for example, though liner notes and other sources, including Donovan, claimed he did. Now we all know Jones did a lot of session work and arranging (Lulu and Herman's Hermits in particular) but this Wikipedia resume sounds like its got some misinformation in it - and isn't the mention of Beck a bit gratuitous? as Jones played on Beck's Bolero with Page but that's the only track on Truth they helped out on. I'm not diminishing what he did but clearly we've stumbled on an instance where wikipedia gives conflicting info and probably needs some cleanup work.

In England, Donovan's Sunshine Superman was delayed because of record label business, and it was so late that tracks from the albums Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow were combined into a single album named Sunshine Superman. In his autobiography, Donovan introduces Jones during the chapter about the Mellow Yellow recording session and writes that together they "would go on to make more good music."

Here's a good link - Pg. 167 from the book:

http://books.google.com/books?id=q6FOY3CMO...9&ct=result

And yeah, isn't Hurdy Gurdy Man great? Though Page denies it, I wouldn't be surprised if he did play the solo. It just sounds so much like him. According to Page, Jeff Beck was brought in to play the solo and Mickie Most wiped it out and replaced it with the one on the record, something Page wouldn't want any part of so ... plausible deniability would certainly be good policy there.

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And yeah, isn't Hurdy Gurdy Man great?

It sure is! The maintenance guys here at work call the lift they use a hurdy gurdy, I guess because it has a crank to raise it. But it's really a music box, like the guy with a monkey usually has? Great thread!

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You're probably right Mercurious, looks like I got on the wrong ramp of the information highway. The thing is,all these years I thought he played on it . I dunno, I thought I had read it in one of the mags I used to buy.

I agree with you about Page. I wish either him or JPJ would write a honest bio of everything they played on. I think that would be interesting.

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You're probably right Mercurious, looks like I got on the wrong ramp of the information highway. The thing is,all these years I thought he played on it . I dunno, I thought I had read it in one of the mags I used to buy.

I agree with you about Page. I wish either him or JPJ would write a honest bio of everything they played on. I think that would be interesting.

That would be to extensive. I read that Page didn't even know all recordings he played on. Maybe the record company has an list with all records that featuared him.

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You're probably right Mercurious, looks like I got on the wrong ramp of the information highway. The thing is,all these years I thought he played on it . I dunno, I thought I had read it in one of the mags I used to buy.

I agree with you about Page. I wish either him or JPJ would write a honest bio of everything they played on. I think that would be interesting.

W/ Page it gets sort of politick, you know? I've read he would be hired for Kinks or Who sessions, things where they needed a blistering solo, like "You Really Got Me", "All the Day and All of the Night" or "I Can't Explain". The legend is that the Kinks didn't think Dave Davies could play those solos but having Page lurking around the studio really pissed him off so bad that he played those solos himself and Page would later confirm it and say something like "Oh yeah, Dave played that but they did use my fuzz box" or something like that. I seem to remember reading Townsend saying "Jimmy Page never played on a Who record" but did Pete Townsend ever play anything that sounded like to solo on "I Can't Explain"? No, but Page isn't going to argue.

Now if Mickey Most, musical director John Paul Jones and Donovan erased a Beck solo and brought Page in, no way Page would own up to having anything to do with it, though they were all sort of around twiddling knobs working on Truth, Hurdy Gurdy things and new Yardbirds and cracking jokes about Lead Zeppelins.

I'd love to get to the bottom of it, and this is a job for us! I bet Jones' memory about Donovan would be clear, as their work together was so great -- "Mellow Yellow" and "Hurdy Gurdy Man" is still so impressive even without "Sunshine Superman" on the list. Maybe we/I/anyone who can find a good email for JPJ could email him and ask him?

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You're probably right Mercurious, looks like I got on the wrong ramp of the information highway. The thing is,all these years I thought he played on it . I dunno, I thought I had read it in one of the mags I used to buy.

I agree with you about Page. I wish either him or JPJ would write a honest bio of everything they played on. I think that would be interesting.

Well, in lieu uthof emailing Jonesy, address of which I couldn't find at his official website, I did find the next best thing ... Jonesy's official bio and resume at his site:

http://www.johnpauljones.com/bio.html

No Sunshine Superman, but Mellow Yellow and Hurdy Gurdy Man absolutely! And apparently, when Beck left the Yardbirds he went to work with Jones. He may not have done much work on Truth b. ut he arranged/produced "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and other things that preceded it.

A friend of mine has the butthole surfers record that Jones produced in 1992 (it came out in '93). That record is killer. Imagine great punk rock from Austin TX with Led Zeppelin production on the drums ... I think it's one of the best records of the '90s.

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W/ Page it gets sort of politick, you know? I've read he would be hired for Kinks or Who sessions, things where they needed a blistering solo, like "You Really Got Me", "All the Day and All of the Night" or "I Can't Explain". The legend is that the Kinks didn't think Dave Davies could play those solos but having Page lurking around the studio really pissed him off so bad that he played those solos himself and Page would later confirm it and say something like "Oh yeah, Dave played that but they did use my fuzz box" or something like that. I seem to remember reading Townsend saying "Jimmy Page never played on a Who record" but did Pete Townsend ever play anything that sounded like to solo on "I Can't Explain"? No, but Page isn't going to argue.

Now if Mickey Most, musical director John Paul Jones and Donovan erased a Beck solo and brought Page in, no way Page would own up to having anything to do with it, though they were all sort of around twiddling knobs working on Truth, Hurdy Gurdy things and new Yardbirds and cracking jokes about Lead Zeppelins.

I'd love to get to the bottom of it, and this is a job for us! I bet Jones' memory about Donovan would be clear, as their work together was so great -- "Mellow Yellow" and "Hurdy Gurdy Man" is still so impressive even without "Sunshine Superman" on the list. Maybe we/I/anyone who can find a good email for JPJ could email him and ask him?

I'm one of those who thinks Jimmy knows exactly what he played on. He's always been rather coy about it. He'll say one thing in an interview, and something completely different in another. I saw an interview with him years ago on VH1 and the little grin when the reporter asked him about it spoke volumes.

Ray and Dave, that's a wild bunch. I bet Dave was pissed, he was fist fighting his brother on a regular basis anyway. And who is Pete trying to kid, himself? That one is actually credited at All Music.

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Well, in lieu uthof emailing Jonesy, address of which I couldn't find at his official website, I did find the next best thing ... Jonesy's official bio and resume at his site:

http://www.johnpauljones.com/bio.html

No Sunshine Superman, but Mellow Yellow and Hurdy Gurdy Man absolutely! And apparently, when Beck left the Yardbirds he went to work with Jones. He may not have done much work on Truth b. ut he arranged/produced "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and other things that preceded it.

A friend of mine has the butthole surfers record that Jones produced in 1992 (it came out in '93). That record is killer. Imagine great punk rock from Austin TX with Led Zeppelin production on the drums ... I think it's one of the best records of the '90s.

Thanks very much for the link. They missed one tho, have a taste of this-

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Jimmy does answer The Edge's question about his involvement on The Kink's work in the recently screened It Might Get Loud.

The Edge -- " Ah Jimmy , so what about that story of you and The Kink's, did you play on some of those songs.

JP -- kind of coyly replies " yeah , but it was like one of things where you do and before you know it you've played on everything " .

Something to that effect. It doesn't answer questions about specifics which is what everyone wants to know, but makes for fun.

Cheers

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  • 2 weeks later...

A fellow named Alan White (not the Yes drummer of the same name!) played the amazing guitar solo in "Hurdy Gurdy Man". For years, I thought it was Jimmy - it's that good.

I think JPJ had this bit of info on his web site - he may still, I haven't been there recently.

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  • 2 weeks later...
A fellow named Alan White (not the Yes drummer of the same name!) played the amazing guitar solo in "Hurdy Gurdy Man". For years, I thought it was Jimmy - it's that good.

I think JPJ had this bit of info on his web site - he may still, I haven't been there recently.

Yeah, Jones has the sessions HE played on listed in his bio on his website but no mention of Page.

I think this is one where Wikipedia has this right - and it looks like someone's been there recently to get the record straight. I too had always thought it was Page, but now Jones, Page and the drummer, Clem Catini, name a guy named Alan Parker as the guitar player.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hurdy_Gurdy_Man

Another site references Page and Allan Holdsworth as the guitar player, so there have been conflicting stories about that session all along -- at one point in the 1970's some Donovan liner notes identified Page and Bonham as playing on it with Jones but this turns out not to be true (a ploy by Donovan's record company to sell records at the height of Led Zep?).

Anyway, has anyone seen Sunshine Superman yet? I'd love to hear what Jones, Page, Donovan and the drummer, Clem Catini have to say about Hurdy Gurdy Man.

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