Donovan and those extraordinary guitarists of the sixties

The 79-year-old folk singer Donovan took a decisive leap back in time and, speaking with MusicRadar, recalled the Sixties and the brood of extraordinary guitarists who animated the British scene of those years. Some of these, like Jimmy Page And Jeff Beck they played on his records, others like Jimi Hendrix ed Eric Clapton he was lucky enough to admire them in concert.

This is the story of the Scottish musician from the good old days: “I loved Hendrix. My friend Gypsy Dave and I were the first to greet Jimi when Chas Chandler, the bassist of the Animals, brought him from America. Of course the Yardbirds had three super guitarists. One was called Jeff Beck, one was called Jimmy Page and one was called Eric Clapton.”

Donovan Leitch continues still riding the wave of memory: “Jimmy Page loved my music right away. Jimmy played on “Sunshine Superman” (Donovan’s 1966 hit, ed.), and once I went to visit him at his house in Windsor he showed me an EP of mine released only in France. It included a song that I had forgotten I had written. It was called “Every Man Has His Chain”. Jimmy showed me that EP and said: ‘Don, I’ve been following you since day one. I love your music, Don, and whenever you want me I’ll be there.”

When
Jimmy Page
formed i
Led Zeppelin
enlisted another former shift worker,
John Paul Jones
who he had worked with
Donovan
. Now
Donovan
recalls: “John Paul Jones knew how to put together arrangements. So Page said to him, ‘Do you want to join me and help me start a new band?’. These super session players all wanted to start their own bands, but it’s not easy. I mean, who knows what was going through Page and JPJ’s heads when they talked to each other about starting a band, but when Page asked JPJ, he begged, because he knew JPJ had more talent than any other talent known.”

About the three great guitarists mentioned above who played in the
Yardbirds, Donovan
he thinks so: “Clapton chose pure blues and hated it when the volume was turned up. He even told Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck: ‘You play too fucking loud!’ Because he’s a purist.”

Another guitarist remembered by

Donovan
during the interview is
Ritchie Blackmore
of the
Deep Purple
. “Ritchie called me and said, ‘We love your stuff. Do you mind if I record your song? The song was “Lalena,” a ballad, and when Deep Purple recorded it I was really honored.”