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Donovan Philip Leitch
b. 10 May 46, Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland |
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| In Donovan's career,
we can see many of the changes that the British folk movement underwent
during the sixties. Glasgow and Edinburgh were centers of British
and more specifically Scottish folk music from whence a number of
skilled musicians descended upon London. Donovan started singing
traditional ballads, gradually moved into singing Dylan's songs,
and, eventually, his own songs, although critics long complained
that he was a poor imitation of Dylan. However, he did develop his
own unique persona. Schaffner (212) observes, "As Dylan hammered
home his hard-bitten, elliptic tracts from Desolation Row, Donovan
turned East and went medieval, sprouting magic mushrooms, flower
power, and sitars, harpsichords, and celestial strings galore." |
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| 1956 (age 9-10): |
| The family moves to
London (Hatfield). |
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| 1961 (age 14-15): |
| Donvan finishes secondary
school and enrolls briefly in Welwyn Garden City College. |
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| 1964 (age 17-18) |
| After leaving school,
Donovan resided in St. Albans, playing for friends and learning
repertoire. He and his friend, Gypsy Dave agreed to perform during
the intermission of a show by a local band, Cops and Robbers when
they traveled to Southend-on-the-Sea. The managers for Cops and
Robbers, Geoff Stephens and Peter Eden convinced Donovan to come
to London both to write songs and to perform. |
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