Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Donovan (2014)

By 1966, Donovan had shed the Dylan/Guthrie influences and become one of the first British pop musicians to adopt flower power, immersing himself in jazz, blues, Eastern music, and the new generation of counterculture-era US West Coast bands such as Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead. He was entering his most creative phase as a songwriter and recording artist, working with Mickie Most and with arranger, musician, and jazz fan John Cameron, and their collaboration on Sunshine Superman was one of the first psychedelic pop records. Donovan's rise stalled in December 1965 when Billboard broke news of the impending production deal between Klein, Most, and Donovan, and then reported that Donovan was to sign with Epic Records in the US. Despite Kozak's denials, Pye Records dropped the single and a contract dispute ensued, because Pye had a US licensing arrangement with Warner Bros. Records. As a result, the UK release of the Sunshine Superman album was delayed for months, robbing it of the impact it would have had off the back of the hit single. Another outcome was that the UK and US versions of this and later albums differed, with three of his Epic LPs not being released in the UK, while 'Sunshine Superman' was issued in a different form in each country. By spring 1966 the American contract problems had been resolved, with Donovan signing a $100,000 deal with Epic Records, and he and Most went to CBS Studios in Los Angeles, where they recorded tracks for an album, much of which was composed during the preceding year. 

Although folk elements were prominent, the songs showed increasing influence of jazz, American west coast psychedelia and folk rock, especially from The Byrds. 'Sunshine Superman' was released in the US as a single in June, and reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart, and later number 2 in the UK. The US version of the album features instruments including acoustic bass, sitar, saxophone, tablas and congas, harpsichord, strings and oboe, and highlights include the swinging 'The Fat Angel', written for Cass Elliot of the Mamas & the Papas, 'Bert's Blues' (a tribute to Bert Jansch), 'Guinevere', and 'Legend Of A Girl Child Linda'. The driving, jazzy 'The Trip' was named after a Los Angeles club, and chronicled an LSD trip during his time in L.A., and is loaded with references to his sojourn on the West Coast. Because of the earlier contractual problems, the UK version of 'Sunshine Superman' was not released for another nine months, and as Donovan had released another record in the US by this time, the UK version was a compilation of tracks from the US 'Sunshine Superman', and its follow-up 'Mellow Yellow'. I think most of the better tracks on the UK version come from the US 'Sunshine Superman' album, so for this post I've used that as a basis, and every track has received a superlative cover version, all of which are included on this reimagining of arguably Donovan's best album. 

Track listing

01 Sunshine Superman (Mike Vickers 1967)
02 Legend Of A Girl Child Linda (Joan Baez, Judy Collins & Mimi Farina 1967)
03 Three King Fishers (Gabor Szabo 1968)
04 Ferris Wheel (Rick Wooley 1980)
05 Bert's Blues (Burnt Branch 2014)
06 Season Of The Witch (Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll & The Trinity 1967)
07 The Trip (Ryan Green 2013)
08 Guinevere (Paul Roland 1992)
09 The Fat Angel (Jefferson Airplane 1969)
10 Celeste (Scott McKenzie 1967)

Gary Boyle - ...and on guitar (1973)

Gary Boyle is best known for his work with the outstanding jazz-rock band Isotope, but like so many musicians before him, he'd paid his dues in a number of lesser-known bands and with session work before he was recognised for the superb guitarist that he is. Gary Winston Boyle was born in 1941 in Patna, India, moving to the UK when he was eight, and attended the Leeds College of Music in the early 1960's. By 1965 he was backing acts such as Millie Small (of 'My Boy Lollipop' fame), and Lulu and The Luvvers, before joining The Echoes in 1966. Later that year he left The Echoes to join a new incarnation of Steampacket, the famed 'supergroup', whose line-up included Long John Baldrey, Rod Stewart, Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger, and Mickey Waller. When Steampacket folded shortly afterwards, Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll formed The Trinity with guitarist Vic Briggs, who was replaced in 1967 by Boyle, where he stayed until November, when he left to go to music college. On leaving college in 1969 he joined folk-rock band Eclection, but left in June to re-join Brian Auger in the re-named Brian Auger Trinity. By 1971 he was playing with bands like Caparius and Cirrus, and backing The Eddie Harris Group for a season at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, before joining The Mike Westbrook Band, and playing on the classic 'Metropolis' album in 1971. 
After assembling a progressive rock band for Paul Jones, including Roy Babbington, Dave McRae, Pip Pyle, and Dave Wintour, he formed Isotope in 1972, which was to take up most of his time for the next four years, before he disbanded them to form The Gary Boyle Band with the same members. In 1973, while still with Isotope, he guested on recording sessions for a dazzling variety of artists, including jazz-fusion pioneer Stomu Yamash'ta, pop singers B.J. Arnau and Lynsey De Paul, comic trio The Goodies, and folkies Bert Jansch and Doggerel Bank. In 1972 he was added to Australian band Python Lee Jackson's line-up to record some more songs which could be added to the three that had been taped with Rod Stewart as vocalist in 1969, and the 'In A Broken Dream' album was released that year to some success, following the re-release of the title track as a single, which earned the band a top 3 UK chart placing. The same year he guested on jazz singer Norma Winstone's 'Edge Of Time' album, adding his guitar to 'Erebus (Son Of Chaos)', although I've omitted that from this album, along with his appearance on Mike Westbrook's 'Metropolis' (where his only solo is very short and hardly audible) as they are both examples of extreme free jazz, and didn't really fit in with the rest of the tracks. However, I have included them as a bonus in the file in case you want to check them out yourself.    

Track listing
  
01 Isola Natale (from 'Open' by Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity 1967)
02 Black Horse (from 'Dedicated To You, But You Weren't Listening' by Keith Tippett 1971) 
03 Sweet Consolation (from 'In A Broken Dream' by Python Lee Jackson 1972)
04 Swing Song (from 'A Little Taste' by Ann Odell 1973)
05 Taking You Back (from 'Sing Songs From The Goodies' by The Goodies 1973)
06 Mama Do (from 'Surprise' by Lynsey De Paul 1973)
07 Jubilation (from 'B.J. Arnau' by B.J. Arnau 1973)
08 Rolling Nuns (from 'Freedom Is Frightening' by Stomu Yamash'ta's East Wind 1973)
09 Lullabye (from 'Silver Faces' by Doggerel Bank 1973)
10 Oh My Father (from 'Moonshine' by Bert Jansch 1973)