The Hurdy Gurdy Man [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster] (CD - 1968)

Audio Mixer: Peter Mew.

Audio Remasterer: Peter Mew.

Liner Note Author: Lorne Murdoch.

Photographer: Barry Plummer.

If ever there was an album that should be packaged with a syringe full of insulin, it's HURDY GURDY MAN. However, therein lies the album's considerable charm.

Possibly the most refined examples of Donovan's special brand of imp-like psychedelic pop, these songs, including the hit title track and the superlative "Jennifer Juniper," are as wide-eyed and giggly as Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, minus all the creepiness. Which of course in some ways makes them that much creepier. The lesser-known tracks, like "Get Thy Bearings" and "Entertaining of a Shy Girl," are if anything even more entertainingly wispy and spacey. Good stuff, especially for fans of British psychedelia.

Hurdy Gurdy Man, released in the U.S. in October 1968, was the first really good sounding Donovan album to come out through Epic Records in America, as well as being the most advanced and sophisticated of the artist's albums he'd made up until then. A product of several contacts between Donovan and Eastern culture, principally growing out of his discovery of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the album also reflected the product of several infatuations and a highly experimental mindset, and all of it flows forth here in ravishing detail -- the chants, ragas, and drones heard in between the more folk-oriented ballads -- all in high-resolution digital audio, which now makes this album sound like one of the most delightfully spacey and intoxicating releases of its era, and there was no shortage of records shooting for those effects; but heard here the way they were meant to be, these songs now strike a careful balance between substantive, defined ballads, and bolder "effect" pieces that work more directly on the psyche. It's all not unlike the effect of drugs, and makes this one of the truest products of its era in terms of its effect on the listener -- and those are just the tracks from the original LP. The bonus tracks include the contemporary single sides ("Lalena"), the movie-related tracks ("Poor Cow"), the B-side ("Teen Angel"), and contemporary re-recordings of "Colours" and "Catch the Wind" (intended for use on a greatest-hits package). The annotation is thorough and revealing, and the disc is nothing less than essential for fans of the artist or the period represented by the music. ~ Bruce Eder minimize