Donovan - To Whom It May Concern (1971)

Scottish folkie Donovan recently took possession of 700 Master Analog Tapes, dating from 1970 onwards, which had been in storage for over 35 years. They were songs that he had recorded and then forgotten about, and mixed in amongst them we also other Master Tapes, such as Marianne Faithful’s original masters of her Sixties debut work, and the many bands that Andrew Oldham had recorded for his Sixties Immediate label, which Donovan duly passed on to their owners. In return, Oldham then sent him some other masters from the 'Essence To Essence' sessions that they had recorded back in 1972. The tapes were then digitally transferred and remastered, and made available on Donovan's website as two collections of recordings from Morgan Studios, one from 1970 and the other from 1971. This enormous project will span 150-250 songs total (depending on source), but these early sessions are the most eagerly anticipated, as by 1969 he had been a leading figure of a generation, a pioneer of a music genre, and sold millions of records throughout the world, so at just 24 he decided to throw all tried and tested formulas overboard and began a few chaotic years with endless amounts of recordings. The loose recording atmosphere makes for a consistently strong collection, as although all the songs are nothing but acoustic guitar and vocals, they may very well have been intended to be finished products, as the resulting recordings sound crystal clear and very well rounded individually. Add some occasional fingerpicking guitar overdubs and hazy vocals, and you've got an album worthy of being compared to the likes of 'HMS Donovan' and 'A Gift From A Flower To A Garden'. A few songs had already been released on other albums, albeit in different versions, but most of these songs are entirely new, with 'Dream' and 'Willy O' Windsboro' being particular standouts, and so I've decided to remove the previously released tracks and just leave one album's worth of unheard new recordings. 

Track listing

01 Trail Of Success
02 Days in Silence
03 To Whom It May Concern
04 Dream
05 And Clett Makes Three
06 Epistle To Scouse

07 The Crunch
08 Willy 'O Winsboro
09 Train Whistle

10 Honey Mouth
11 John Riley

12 Don't Look Now
13 If