More Donovan
More Hippie Folk Rock
- In Concert is back on the site for only the second time in over three years, here with seriously good Double Plus (A++) sound throughout this original copy – with VERY quiet vinyl for this album, too
- A shockingly well recorded live set, so real and natural, with some of Donovan’s best songs played with real feeling
- This early Epic stereo pressing is the only way to hear the midrange magic that’s missing from modern records, but rarely can that sound be found on vinyl as quiet as this
- 4 1/2 stars: “The only album that comes close to having the flow of this concert was the studio recording of Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks … One of the great live albums of the 60s.”
Rich, smooth, sweet, full of ambience, dead-on correct tonality — everything that we listen for in a great record is here. You could certainly demonstrate your stereo with a record this good, even one that’s not nearly this good, because this one is superb.
But what you would really be demonstrating is music that the listener probably hasn’t heard, and that’s the best excuse to show off your stereo.
Midrange presence and immediacy are key to the sound. Get the volume just right and Donovan himself will be standing between your speakers and putting on the performance of a lifetime.
Donovan’s no longer a recording — he’s a living, breathing person. We call that “the breath of life,” and this record has it in spades. His voice is so rich, sweet, and free of artificiality you cannot help but find yourself lost in the music, because there’s no “sound” to distract you.
The Music
There are a lot of Donovan records out there, but not a lot of them that sound like this! On top of that you get a great set of songs, including “Mellow Yellow,” “Isle Of Islay,” “Celeste,” and “First There Is A Mountain” (the song that became the main riff of the Allman Brothers’ famous Mountain Jam). Get in touch with your inner flower child and spin this Hot Stamper pressing overflowing with trippy hippie magic.
We discovered a while back just what an excellent recording this is and now we know how magical the better copies can sound. Only the very better pressings were able to convey the kind of natural, immediate sound that is the hallmark of the recording.