Sunshine Superman is the third album from British singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the United States on August 26, 1966, but was not released in the UK because of a contractual dispute. In June 1967, a compilation of tracks from this album and the follow-up Mellow Yellow was released as Sunshine Superman in the UK. Sunshine Superman was named after Donovan's hit single released in the US in July 1966. The album was Donovan's most successful, peaking at number eleven in the US and remaining on the Billboard Top LPs chart for six months. The tracks from Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow were not mixed into stereo, with the exception of "Season of the Witch", until the 2011 2-CD deluxe edition issued by UK EMI.
WikipediaI have a very special place in my heart for Donovan. I don't know if I can quite articulate it. I get the sense he was very true to himself somehow... I guess that it comes down to the fact that I don't get the slightest trace of cynicism from him. I feel like he was one of the hippies who actually believed in the flower power and in doing so had a hard time adjusting after the summer of love came to an end. I don't know if he has an entire album that is a masterpiece per se but I love his sound, even as it changes from song to song. Always interesting arrangements and fusion of influences. Dare to be gentle. Favorite tracks: "Season of the Witch" and "Celeste." Sounds like this album could use a good remastering.
Not bad, but I wasn't 'grabbed' by a single song and I was a bit bored.
Really loved this album. I loved the sounds of the harpsichord and the sitar in some of the songs. Favorites include "Sunshine Superman", "Three King Fishers", and "Season of the Witch".
Absolutely loved this album. Favorite tracks were Bert's Blues and Season of the Witch.
This album is SO me. It reminds me of Megan Robbin. Lots of trippy 60s instruments. And I kind of like that his voice isn't perfect. I love the sitar as well.
It's a bit dated listening to this Whimsical album in the 21st century but that's part of its charm. The UK edition of the album gets the edge by virtue of having more tracks. Donovan was one of the foremost and influential exponents of the UK hippy music scene. The album has elements of pop, folk, jazz and chamber arrangements. There's lots of sitar n spice moments throughout (Three Kingfishers, Ferris Wheel, Guinevere) but there's also some groovy tracks like the title track, Season of the Witch and The Fat Angel. Most impressive is the baroque arrangements on several tracks and the hazy shimmering vibe of Celeste. Best enjoyed on a glorious summer afternoon with a couple of beers and a smoke!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymH-Zv5RLxQ If Bob Dylan doesn't like him, then I like him...
Somber pyschedelia is the shit. Standout Tracks: Legend of a Girl Child Linda, Ferris Wheel, Guinevere, The Fat Angel, Celeste
I really enjoyed this album. I was only aware of the title song before. This is definitely the first success story of this project for me, I would have never purposely sought out this album myself. When the album finished I immediately restarted it. Highlights include: Sunshine Superman Three Kingfishers Bert's Blues
I liked it. Would listen again. Didn't sound as 60's as I thought it would
Cool to see that Bobby Orr played the drums on Sunshine Superman. Who knew ole #4 knew how to hammer the tubs. Another proud moment for Parry Sound. I guess he had to give up drumming when he started with the Bruins later in 1966. When Sunshine Superman started I was wondering if I mistakenly started to play an Austin Powers movie. If I were 20 years old when this was released and a cutie with a peace symbol embroidered on her shirt said she liked the song, I would probably agree, but it doesn't sound so special anymore. The second song is lame and had me worried the rest of the album would be torture. I'm glad to say I was wrong. Some of the later songs pleasantly surprised me. There is some cool percussion and sitar on Three King Fishers and Ferris Wheel as Donovan picked up the musical trends of the day. Also, Season of the Witch is a good guitar driven tune. Donovan was picked on back in the day for copying rather than setting the trends. The sitar on this album exemplifies that since it's a year after Norwegian Wood. Many say the early bird gets the worm. While that may be true, it's also true that the second mouse gets the cheese and Donovan got a belly full of Anster.
A lot of these tracks are pretty monotonous and the medieval lyrical themes are really corny. The rockier tracks are decent enough but every musical idea gets played out like 2 minutes before the track actually ends. High 2 probably
it was different world. very 60's. Quite rubbish really but a couple of tunes. 2.
As I've found out over this process, my relationship with 1960s psychedelia is very hit and miss. Some of it surprises me, by being more appealing to my tastes than I would have thought. Sadly, this record is not one of those... It's a sort of cheesy pastiche of "ye olde Englishe folke" filtered into mediocre 60s pop. Moreover, it is just quite boring, with vocals and music both being unremarkable. 1.5
Najlepszy z tych które były dotychczas. Początek albumu ma taki magiczny vibe bardzo przyjemny. Legend of a child girl Linda przepiękny utwór, choć każdy z utworów bardzo mi sie podoba.
Fantastic mix of psych and folk with great lyricism. I need to cop this album.
Love Donovan. Folky with some Indian music influence. Great album. Season of the witch.
This album unexpectedly really touched me. As another reviewer said, there is not a trace of cynicism in it.
i did not realize singing about wizards was such a long and storied tradition
I have always loved this album’s title track, “Sunshine Superman.” One of the apex songs of 60’s psychedelia. And I think I have grown to love “Season of the Witch” even more. But that is the extent of my familiarity with this album. Those two songs are so good that the rest of the album would largely have to be seriously disastrous for me to not give this a great rating. Is this album unmistakably of its time? Definitely - a very good thing. I was surprised at how much of this album was psychedelic folk with rambling storytelling lyrics, sitars, harpsichords and bongo drums. I started longing to be grooving along to this music reclined in some 60’s hashish lounge. The fantasy-filled storytelling of damsels and castles and knights and jesters and kings (with a psychedelic commercial interruption from “Trans Love Airways”) took me away from the worry-filled news. I can’t help but wonder it was the events in another time of stress and upheaval that inspired the creation of this. I loved the dreamy “Ferris Wheel” featuring one of my favorite birds (seagull - which also makes another prominent appearance later). Donovan’s stuttery singing on “The Trip” won me over instantly - it’s practically a crime that I have never heard it before. “Bert’s Blues” has some great orchestra arrangements that made it stand out. The final track, “Celeste,” was a perfect finale. I had a ton of fun listening to this psychedelic masterpiece and look forward to taking more trips with Donovan.
Wowee, was this fun! I love the prominent bass and the psychedelic sound. Occasionally, it ventures into a ren-faire area (a ren-fairea, if you will) and engages in some scansion shenanigans (scansionanigans) that might make me uncomfortable if they came from another artist. But on Dononvan I find them completely endearing. ("Through the DARK, forbo-DING skies..." You're kill-ING me!) Fun fun good good fun.
I knew a couple of tracks on this album, but it was my first exposure to the album as a whole. It was excellent. Although I was less in love with the slow folkier tracks than the psychedelic-leaning ones, I thought that the album as a whole was a treasure.
I can't believe I'd heard so little of Donovan before this! This album leans heavy on psychedelic, but it does so much more, and it shows a lot of the sound that I'd thought was a Doors trademark. Donovan clearly deserves to be remembered as a first generation innovator of rock music, rather that the also-ran, hanger-on to the Beatles and Bob Dylan that I'd thought he was.
so. huge fan of psychadelia. come to find out, this was some of the OG shit. love it!
This is right up my alley. This kind of folk music just feels so genuinely unpretentious to me. From the harpsichord to the sitar to all the other instruments, I loved listening carefully to this record. An album I can get lost in.
Mí favorita es The season of the witch pero me gustaron todas las canciones. Discazo!
oh hell yeah that his has been one of my favorite albums for a while I’m glad I got it again just all-around weird and perfect 10/10
Un extravagante álbum con toques folk y rock los cuáles asemejan mucho a la edad medieval, además de sus letras las cuales nos llevan en un viaje a través de le época medieval
Absolutely sure I've heard quite a few of these songs before. But if someone had asked me what Donovan sounds like, I wouldn't have had any clue whatsoever. Turns out, I quite like his music. Not sure if I should round the 4.5 up or down - but let's err on the positive side for the obvious influence he had on a lot of later music I enjoy a lot.
Donovan is a great storyteller and calms me with his voice. True, original and genuine musician. 5 stars
Świetny album. Niewiele brakowało do tego, abym wystawił mu 5. Album na prawdę ma fajne proste brzmienie gitarowe(zwłaszcza bas) oraz miły, lekki wokal. Ciekawe jest użycie tych azjatycko brzmiących instrumentów, choć w pewnym momencie ich natłok i monotonia zaczynają męczyć i traci się zainteresowanie utworem.
Interesting mix of melodic influences and textures. The mesasges weren't connecting with me all the time, but seemed genuine.
very beatle-y, and I don't like the beatles. but certain songs are very melancholy and pleasant. I like bert's blues (reminds me of the black keys). season of the witch is funky as well.
Very enjoyable, varied and interesting, especially for 1966! I'd heard some tracks off this album, but never listened through it. Very fun.
This feels like listening to the Oldies station with my mom on car drives. :) Another pleasant listen, with the folk sound that I like.
I love this record. It's like going back in time for a nice warm cup of tea.
Pretty good. I apparently knew more Donovan songs than I thought. Very folky and mellow.
Pues se le adelantó por un pelo a los Pink Floyd. Aunque acá hay unas percusiones más chiditas que el debut de los otros, yo digo. Disco chill, como que eso que es medio psicodélico no cansa y pues bueno, tiene ese hitazo que me gusta: "Season of the Witch". Me gustaron también "Sunshine Superman" y "The Fat Angel". ¿Es un disco que seguiría escuchando? Probablemente no, sólo en vagas ocasiones. 8/10
This was a very surprising album. The art cover is awesome and the album itself was an amazing experience. For sure, I'll search other Donavan's albums to discover a little bit more about these songs. The Wikipedia article is also a good waste of time.
Absorbing psychedelic record with medieval arrangements and beautiful melodies. It is child of an era and although it was probably made to enjoy in the mid 60s, listening to it now kind of takes you back then
A pleasant cross-section of 1960s sounds and influences: psychedelic lyrics, folk instrumentation, light roadhouse asides, muted Dylanesque freakouts, British invasion flavors, brief tinkering with sitars and Indian melodies. All added sparingly and tastefully to enhance the songs that are well conceived. It feels like pastiche but somehow it works.
Pues sí hay ratos padres. Me gustó sobre todo la vribra de Season of the Witch y en general la instrumentación de Bert's Blues. Mood: de viaje en una van de hippies junkies.
Ah I liked this! Excellent vibes even if the lyrics were a bit silly. Nice and chill but still interesting. Season of the Witch is groovy.
Production: 11/20 Songwriting: 16/20 Innovation: 16/20 Bangers: 10/20 Emotional response: 15/20 =68 This is really nice but they should have included especially for you, at least as a bonus track #neighbourslolz
Toffe nummers, maar geen echte uitschieters. Toch een extra ster voor season of the witch.
3.5/5 Delicate and oriental music, it could be a nice relaxing album sometimes interesting, others not so much
Great trippy 60s stuff, I recognized "Sunshine Superman" and "Season of the Witch".
Really enjoyed this! Proper surprised me, Donovan is someone I’ve never even gone near! But I enjoyed this and will be buying it! Don’t think it would be for everyone though, and hard to call it a classic. However, I’m gonna roll hard and drop a 4!
I wasn't expecting to like this but it was good. Folky and trippy, with some good tunes in there.
has some great songs by Donovan. I love listening to the lyrics of this folk singer.
Now we're getting somewhere. This takes me back....10 years old spinning my dads records, I have no idea who they are but my child ears loved all the different sounds. This was a favorite, I didn't get it but I loved it.
Nice psychedelic listen. Favorite tracks are Sunshine Superman and Season of the Witch
Listened to the original US tracklisting. Good slice of 60s psychedelia
Donovan is one of those 60s pop rock acts that had a cool dark edge to him that I always liked. And then when his Hurdy Gurdy man was used in Zodiac, I was like "exactly". I love all this stuff.
Pretty nice grooves, stands out as something I could dig in an era full of unique musical innovation, a few iconic songs and decent grooves, 4 stars because it could be more exciting
Pitched as an English Dylan when he emerged on the scene. There is a great scene in Don't Look Back where Dylan sings love minus zero and Donovan looks on wistfully. This album is pretty rad on its own merit though
Donovan's style had also assimilated elements of jazz and raga. The effect was to transform his medieval odes into small "baroque" chamber pieces, rich in colors, nuances and deviations. We would call it hippy (7/10) FT: Sunshine Superman, Seasons of the Witch
Quintessential hippy sound, beautiful album. Primarily folk and psychedelic the tracks can feel like they're from another or a different realm.
There are some great songs like "Season of the Witch" and "Sunshine Superman" but I'm not as into the more medieval-sounding tracks. Donovan is quite talented and I prefer him to some of the other psychedelic pop stars of his era.