Sunshine Superman
by Donovan

From TheDude85 06/10/2021 20:44 | #270527

My release varies significantly from the version featured on BEA. At the time of it's original release there was a label dispute between Donovan's US label and Donovan's UK Label. Donovan's UK label, Pye Records, released the version I have on hand in 1967 and called it "Sunshine Superman", however, Pye Records combined portions of two US releases - the "Sunshine Superman" LP and the "Mellow Yellow" LP to form the track list of Pye Records (Cat#: Pye NPL 18181) (or re-released in 1990 as BGOCD68).
The Track List for Pye NPL 18181:
01) Sunshine Superman
02) Legend Of A Girl Child Linda
03) The Observation
04) Guinevere
05) Celeste
06) Writer In The Sun
07) Season Of The Witch
08) Hampstead Incident
09) Sand And Foam
10) Young Girl Blues
11) Three Kingfishers
12) Bert's Blues


The Front Cover Image is vastly different as well. The Barcode for the album I have on hand is: (5 017261 200686).

Authenticated on discogs.com

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From 2nd-Impressions 12/17/2020 22:39 | #262833

66/100

Best tracks: Sunshine Superman, Ferris Wheel
Worst tracks: Legend of a Girl Called Linda, Bert's Blues, The Trip

From llibnanoon 09/01/2020 16:26 | #257657

Not as good as I expected. Rating (69.50)

From mdbaxter 12/06/2019 18:17 | #245415

A really cool, really versatile, really great album from a Donovan. “Sunshine Superman”, “Ferris Wheel”, “The Trip” and “The Fat Angel” are fantastic psychedelic rock. “Bert’s Blues” is dynamic and groovy. “Season of the Witch” is great rock. I like the rhythm of “Celeste” and the instrumental break. Donovan’s voice, songwriting and guitar work is superb on this album. “The Legend fo Girl Child Linda” is a little silly for me.

From mdbaxter 12/06/2019 18:03 | #245414

A really cool, really versatile, really great album from a Donovan. “Sunshine Superman”, “Ferris Wheel”, “The Trip” and “The Fat Angel” are fantastic psychedelic rock. “Bert’s Blues” is dynamic and groovy. “Season of the Witch” is great rock. Donovan’s voice, songwriting and guitar work is superb on this album. The inclusion of a sitar across the album is a nice touch. “The Legend fo Girl Child Linda” is a silly for me.

A true beauty of a psychedelic album, showcasing plenty of sitar and even classical elements like on 'Legend of a Girl Called Linda'. 'Season of the Witch' is a true psychedelic classic, often referred to as one of one of the most highly regarded psychedelic classics of the sixties. I particularly like the use of sitar and tabla on tracks like '3 King Fishers' which reminds me of the Beatles 'Norwegian Wood'. A Classic album from start to finish.

From Sandrof1969 02/14/2018 17:17 | #208186

Per me Donovan è la quintessenza della musica ( e della cultura ) hippie, nel bene e nel male...

From planetneutral 01/10/2018 02:20 | #205127

More sitar than I was expecting (which is apparently one of the innovative things about this album), but an undeniable collection of songs and groovy sounds.

From Mercury 10/19/2017 20:39 | #199816

Here's a strange albums, such a quick turn around from his previous work! He went from just very straight-forward folkie songs on his first couple records to this...this psychedelic, strange, sort of kaleidoscopic album. It's considered a classic now, but I imagine it blew people's mind back in '66.

I really enjoy this, the opener is a classic and very nicely dated to those early attempts at psychedelic music. and the strange experimentation doesn't stop there. The second track "Legend of a Girl Child Linda" is another trippy, off kilter track about strange fantasy-laced images of the main protagonist, the strings come in beautifully, Donovan's vocal delivery is excellent slow and stretched and mesmerizing. The whole song is a 7 minute experimental epic, which totally re-imagines the folk sound mixing in elements of chamber-folk and pop and psychedelic aspects, etc. It's really quite awesome and unique.

Other standouts are the very cool indeed blues jam "Season of The Witch" (interesting that Donovan actually does sound cool as hell here. His persona has always been one of anti-coolness for me...probably because of Dont Look Back film...), and the cool reference to Mr. Bert Jansch "Bert's Blues". "Bert's Blues" is just a groovy low key track with its loping feel and all that cool stuff. And apparently per Donovan its about a romantic triangle he was in the middle of with his good friend Bert Jansch and Beverly Marten).

Grade: 7.9/10