Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Who Was the Hurdy Gurdy Man???




Extra brownie points in heaven, if you can name Donovan's back up band for this classic song from the 60s, especially who is that guitarist????

BW3

11 comments:

ThreeMinuteTheologian said...

The myth is that it was Led Zeppelin (at least, JPJ on bass, JB on drums and JP on guitar). In reality, as much as we can speak of realiay for early 1968, it was prob JPJ on bass and Alan Parker on guitar (and no, not the film director). However, it ought to have been Led Zep!

Ben Witherington said...

Well for the record, Mr. Donovan Leitch says it was indeed Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones.

BW3

Mike Todd said...

John Paul Jones produced it, but apparently even Jimmy Page says it was Alan Parker. Just to confuse matters further, Donovan also says he wanted Jimi Hendrix, but he wasn't available!

ThreeMinuteTheologian said...

Which all goes to show that you can't trust the people who were there! According to SongFacts.com, JP himself denies being on the released version: "I know it's rumored that I played on that, but I didn't - and the most bizarre part about this whole story I heard about this story actually when I was in USA, it was about the time we were talking about the deal with Led Zeppelin...Donovan had asked for me to do it, but of course I wasn't there. And they had a guitarist, he basically filled, you know. He went into the session - and I wouldn't say filled my shoes - but he went in the door, and his name was Alan Parker"

Which makes me think that discussing the sitz im leben of the Pastoral Epistles is a piece of cake in comparison!

Blake said...

Where does Donovan say that? According to John Paul Jones the lineup was:

Donovan Accoustic Guitar
John Paul Jones Arrangement/Musical Director and Bass Guitar
Alan Parker Lead (electric) Guitar
Clem Cattini Drums

Found here.

Ben Witherington said...

Donovan is pretty emphatic about in his recent discussions of the remastered version of his greatest hits. He even credits himself with introducing Page and Jones to a wider audience. But maybe this is just ego. Check out the liner notes on the import remastered greatest hits...

BW3

Marc Axelrod said...

Did you hear that Mitch Mitchell died last night? Now all three original Jimi Hendrix Experience members are gone. They all died way too young. Mitch Mitchell was right behind Bonham and Moon and Palmer and Baker on the great drummers list. His drumming on the first Experience LP was insane.

Marc Axelrod said...

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Neil Peart of Rush on the drummer list

OpenJoe said...

Although I once liked Donovan, I had no idea, but the whole discussion was very interesting. I will say the visual add-ons were alright.

"Red" Auerbach said...

Oh the music of my Youth!! "Are You Experienced" was my first LP! And never realized Donovan brought in the heavy hitters for this song. Great trivia!

Gandalf said...

It was Alan Parker.

Take anything Donovan says with a grain of salt - he's been caught several times in the past "embroidering" the truth to his own advantage.

Also remember the guy was a huge doper - and as we all know, you can't go by a stoner's recollections.