Donovan in Concert

This concert was recorded prior to Donovan's release of A Gift from a Flower to a Garden, and included several songs that would not have been widely known to a US audience, including some which were UK single b-sides. "Poor Cow" is introduced by Donovan as "Poor Love", its original title, which was changed when the song appeared in the film Poor Cow. It retained that title when released as the b-side to "Jennifer Juniper" in February 1968. Another new song introduced on the album as "Pebble and the Man" would be recorded as "Happiness Runs" and appear on 1969's Barabajagal. On the live version of the song, Donovan asks the audience to sing along with the chorus. This album would also mark the only appearance of the song "Rules and Regulations". The music at the concert was much more subdued than Donovan's singles of the time. The singer was backed by the core group of musicians who had recorded with him on his previous albums including flautist Harold McNair and percussionist Tony Carr. They play many genres of music, from folk to jazz, occasionally joined by The Flower Quartet on strings. Several songs which featured only acoustic guitar on record, such as "Young Girl Blues", were given a full jazz backing while others like "Guinevere" which featured electric violin and sitar in the studio were conversely stripped down only to acoustic guitar. The concert was introduced by KRLA radio personality Rhett Walker, who then hands the proceedings to Donovan's father (and manager) Donald Leitch. When reviewing Donovan's show at San Francisco's Winterland a week after the Anaheim concert, journalist Ralph J. Gleason remarked: Donovan, of course, both in his lyrics and his music and, too, in the way in which he sings, is supremely lyrical. "My songs exist in the essence of silence" he told the Winterland audience as he waited for them to become quiet. And they became quiet, almost holding their breath in reverent attention as he sang. He is an extraordinary performer. The pageantry, the flowers (he throws them to the audience at the end, after a joyous "Mellow Yellow"), the incense, the long robes, are all effective but the musicianship is underneath and solid as a rock. He knows exactly what he is doing, he is show-wise to the nth degree. The songs themselves are artfully constructed with echoes of familiarity, “songs of the realm” in the Tolkian expression and articulating the "beginning of a new world." ==Album cover art==