The Song of the Day is:
Donovan – “Atlantis”
From the album Barabajagal (1969)
Knowing her fate, Atlantis sent out ships to all corners of the Earth
On board were the Twelve
The poet, the physician, the farmer, the scientist
The magician and the other so-called gods of our legends
Though gods they were
And as the elders of our time choose to remain blind
Let us rejoice and let us sing and dance and ring in the new
Hail Atlantis!
Way down below the ocean
Where I wanna be, she may be
Donovan Leitch
After a few wild-card days of playing a tv theme song and a ranchera hit for Cinco de Mayo, I wanted to return to the what I’m most familiar with: rock and roll. I wanted to give a spin to an artist which I have not played yet for the kids, and aside from a cover version of “Season of the Witch” by Vanilla Fudge, we haven’t spun any Donovan. Donovan Leitch is an interesting character in rock history, having began as a Scottish avatar to Bob Dylan (“Catch the Wind” remains the high point of this era), before rapidly assuming the lifestyle of a hippie, a lifestyle to which he has continued to adhere to, well after it stopped being fashionable. With this change of mindset, he also shifted his focus from original folk music to psychedelic rock. He wrote some pillars of the genre, including “Sunshine Superman”, “Wear Your Love Like Heaven”, “Mellow Yellow” and “Hurdy Gurdy Man”. Today’s song, “Atlantis”, is an especially fun one for the children as it introduces them to the mythology of the ancient sunken continent, but it also, after a lengthy preamble, turns into an irresistible singalong. “Atlantis” has been favorably compared to the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” for utilizing this format, and Paul McCartney has always sung praises to Donovan and occasionally they worked together. In fact, as legendary as Donovan is in his own right, his music has impeccable (sometimes pre-fame) studio musicians in his recordings, including, but not limited to McCartney, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Ron Wood, Nicky Hopkins, Jeff Beck, John McLaughlin, Jack Bruce, Aynsley Dunbar and Rod Stewart. This particular song doesn’t feature any additional star power other than Donovan, but it is still a late period classic of the psychedelic era. It was also one of Donovan’s last major hits, as he more or less became a relic of the sixties. Appreciation for him never disappeared though as his music has often been featured in film and television. “Atlantis” was memorably featured in the film Goodfellas as the protagonists settle an argument about shoe-shining, and it was also parodied by Donovan himself for an episode of Futurama. Donovan rightly got inducted (by John Mellencamp) into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, and released his 26th album the following year, but has not had any high profile projects since. In his personal life, Donovan is the father of actress Ione Skye (who had a long relationship with Anthony Keidis and was married to Beastie Boy Adam Horowitz) and was stepfather to the late Brian Jones’s son.
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Hear Today, Grown Tomorrow 