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Donovan Philips Leitch (born May 10, 1946), is a Scottish singer, songwriter and guitarist known for ab eclectic style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music (notably calypso). He has lived in Scotland, Hertfordshire, London, California, and most recently County Cork, Ireland, with his family[1]. Emerging from the British folk scene, Donovan reached fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with live performances on the pop TV series Ready Steady Go!. Having signed with Pye Records in 1965, Donovan recorded singles and two albums in the folk vein, after which he signed to CBS/Epic Records in the US - the first signing by the company's new vice-president Clive Davis - and became more successful internationally. He began a long and successful collaboration with leading British independent record producer Mickie Most, scoring multiple hit singles and albums in the UK, US, and other countries[2][3][4]. Donovan's most successful singles were the 1965 UK hits "Catch the Wind", "Colours" and "Universal Soldier". In 1966, "Sunshine Superman" topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week and reached No. 2 in Britain, while "Mellow Yellow" peaked at No. 2 in the US. 1968's "Hurdy Gurdy Man" charted in the Top 5 in both countries, while 1969's "Atlantis", peaked at No.7 in the US. The "Atlantis" single had different B-Sides in the US and UK; in America it was "To Susan On The West Coast Waiting", while in Britain it was "I Love My Shirt", a snippet of which was performed in Sing. Donovan became friends with notable musicians ,including Joan Baez, Brian Jones, and the members of The Beatles. He taught John Lennon a finger-picking guitar style in 1968 that Lennon employed in "Dear Prudence," "Julia," "Happiness Is a Warm Gun," and other songs. Donovan's commercial fortunes waned after the end of the 1960s, and his output diminished in the 1970s and 1980s. With the emergence of punk rock, Donovan's hippie image was derided by critics as outdated. However, the rise of Britain's rave scene in the 1990s led to a reprisal of his music, and Donovan recorded the album Sutras(1996) with producer Rick Rubin. In 2004, Donovan released the album Beat Cafe. Donovan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2014. Read more here... References
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