Wednesday, March 30, 2011

No. 334: Donovan - "Barabajagal" (1969)

"Love is hot. Truth is moltennnnn"

Yes. Yes it is.
Donovan was the UK's answer to Dylan in the 60's - a Scottish folk mystic who dropped cosmic folk-pop singles that were embraced by the LSD generation. He was also one of the rare few individuals who can boast about having hung out with the Beatles in India and teaching John Lennon to play fingerstyle guitar. Not a bad resume actually.
This is his seventh album, and aside from his underrated acoustic guitar work it also features the Jeff Beck Group as backing musicians on most of the album (which featured Ronnie Wood and a young Rod Stewart).
The funky title track "Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)", grooves along nicely before Donovan's classic spoken word interlude, while the soft acoustic  "To Susan On The West Coast Waiting" is sung from the point of view of a soldier in Vietnam and his message to his girl back home. Very nice indeed. But be warned: "I Love My Shirt" almost kills the album dead. I have no idea why it was included. It has the highest cringe-factor of almost any song I've ever heard. Thus endeth the warning.
Thankfully the rest of the album is superb. The standout by far though is the epic "Atlantis". Everyone needs to listen to the opening monologue, memorize it, then watch that Futurama episode called "The Deep South" where Donovan guest stars and narrates the same monologue - only this time about "Atlanta" in the USA and its attempt to move offshore to boost tourism before eventually sinking to the bottom of the ocean under the weight of its own development. Pure cartoon gold.
"Hail Atlantis!"

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