CTW Interview2000

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questions composed by members of

Catch The Wind - Donovan Fan E-mail List

answered by Donovan Leitch

and edited by the CTW Moderator (Erika-2000)

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"My songs are merely dreams...."

1. "Summer Day Reflection Song" has always been one of my

favorite poetic pieces. I was curious if you could share something

about the inspiration behind it or have anything more about its creation

to enlighten us with?

A reverie on a still sunny day-lost in reflection-meditating

before I knew how.

2. I'd like to ask Donovan to tell us a little about his relationship

to the Ocean, and possibly where "Tinker and the Crab" and

"Starfish on the Toast" came from.

Wandering beaches-the beachcomber knows the empty

sands of a fresh breezy morning as the crabs rush with

the waves and look-in the distance- a lone figure comes

over the dunes. I was a vagabond living on the beaches

-all poetry comes from ..... where I wonder?

3. Donovan, one of your songs which has enchanted me over

the years is "The Entertaining of a Shy Girl" from Hurdy Gurdy Man.

As I listen to it I envision the encounter taking place in my head. Quite

pleasant I might add. If you would be so kind, I would love to hear

what or who was the inspiration behind the song. Any details would

be much appreciated.

I was living on Zuma beach in California in a beach cottage.

Sitting on the sand one day, a little girl wandered by-

strangers we were-I had my guitar and sang- making up

a song on the spot- talent well known in Celtic poetic

tradition- 'I'll sing you a song....

4. Buddhist thought seems to be a major influence in much of your

song writing. For instance, "Nirvana" is taken from the Heart Sutra.

"There is a Mountain" comes from a Zen koan, and "The Pebble and

the Man" reflects a Buddhist perspective (to me, at least). Can you

comment on this, please, and talk about the role Buddhism has played

in your life and music?

Since the first glimmerings of light which came from books

I read (The Diamond Sutra, The way Of Zen, and Jack

Kerouacs', 'On The Road) I heard the curiously brief state-

ments which professed to point to our true nature. Words

could not describe the experience of bliss consciousness,

yet Buddhist (particularly Zen Buddhist) words opened up

a door to me. Perhaps it is the brevity of the lines that

remind me of my own Celtic past, where pure experience

in nature leads one to one's true nature.

5. On your trips to the Caribbean, were you influenced musically, by

the rhythms of the islands, and if yes, how so? Did you ever visited

Puerto Rico?

Oh yes- not one songwriter I know can visit the islands

without writing an island song-so strong is the musical

influences there. When a teenager in London, I was

influenced by the Caribbean community and listened to

Blue Beat and Ska. Then I discovered Reggae thru Bob

Marley.I met Bob on several occasions. He was in Negril

in 1970 when Linda and I were there. It was unspoilt. Bob

was hanging out. I have only stopped overnight in Puerto

Rico on the way down the islands.

"To follow the path of a gypsy- o"

1. What was the very first song you ever wrote, when did you write

it and was it ever recorded? When did you realise it was your

"destiny" to create beautiful music for people to hear?

First song is hard to remember. Possibly 'The Brave

Engineer,' which I wrote based on train heroes like Casey

Jones I guess. My father read me tales of Robert Service

who was a Scot who traveled the American northwest,

Gold Rush days. Also perhaps a song called The Yukon Kid.

I do have an early songbook which my mother kept of

juvenilia, poems and songs. First real song I guess was '

Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do?", recorded when I

recorded the first tracks in 1964.

Destiny? My father said I stood up in front of a crowd in

Glasgow and sang 'There was An Old Lady Who Swallowed

A Fly' straight through. I remembered all the words. I was

about 5 years old. It is said of the very famous composers

and performers that there is no such thing as the lucky

break. We who are projected in front of millions, we

actually project ourselves. I just knew I was relating to

my generation when I sang. Then I knew it was beyond

generations. It is the archetype of the wandering minstrel

and the holy fool of the Tarot. It is the dreamshape of the

herald who calls all to self-realisation. It is the heroic path

to the land of dreams. I am the messenger of souls. And

woebetide those who seek this path. The mountain peaks

are your goals. The mighty valleys are your pain.

2. You are such a remarkable guitar player. Even at the beginning

of your career, the quality of your guitar playing was way beyond

your years. Please share with us the story of how you learned to play.

When did you first start? Did you have lessons, learn on your own

or learn with the help of friends? Did you struggle like the rest of us,

or did it just come naturally to you?

I learned the 'pattern' created by Ma Carter . The Carter

Family were a folk - country group and Ma transposed a

bango picking style onto guitar and the world of guitar

pickers are forever grateful. I learned the pattern from

'Dirty Hugh.' A wandering minstrel in England, his smell

gave him his name. He was tall, beautiful and tragic. He

knew the pattern and I hung out with him drinking wine in

the graveyard. I sat and suffered the ordeal of his odour

to learn the pattern. It took two days and I had it. After I

knew it, I developed the variations I am known for. Later

I relalised I was from a minstrel Celtic tradition and saw

that I had learned other styles in other times. This is the

strange part, I know no musical studies. I learned, or shall

I say relearned, completely from playing the parts again

and again. If I knew it before how can I forget it? This

favorite reincarnation question I posed to the Tibetan

Master The Drukpa,12 times a reincarnate lama. He said

that if we remembered all previous lives we would be

overloaded with details and this life would be difficult.

So we screen what we need now. And I needed to play the

guitar and make it a third arm. To go with my third eye.

3. If your life had not taken the direction that it did (musician/poet/artist)

what would you have liked to have done for a living/career?

4. What do you see yourself doing 10 years from now?

An answer to 3 is an answer to 4.

We are what we desire previously. Therefore this famous

question cannot be answered. The Tibetans say, 'To see

what you were in previous life, look at what you are now.

To see what you will be in future life, look into your heart

now. Remember the 1960's phrase 'you are what you eat' ?

Well, it is also so true that ,'we are what we think.' There-

fore we cannot be other than what we are now unless we

desired differently before. This area is the area of the

thought forms which create all manifestations on the

material plane. Out of the subtle body emerges the gross

body. The subtle body which is formed from our thoughts.

Interesting like sci-fi to me. The Tibetan Book Of The Dead

is a thrilling book. The journey between death and rebirth.

Its all in the mind.

"There is a rapture..."

1. I love your song from Troubadour, What the Soul Desires. It seems

a perfect description of spiritual longing and of the fleeting recognition

of the Eternal within the temporal experience. Can you relate for us

an instance of such an epiphany in your life?

We stand inside the spiritual blissful heaven right now.

We do not see it though. we are bound by the illusion

called Maya. The journey to enlightenment is no journey

at all. To be enlightened is a realisation of our true nature

which we are anyway. We catch a glimpse of the reality of

this and we marvel. A painter freezes the moment of recog-

nition and we are transfixed before the work of art. The

sound of music suspends time and we know there is no time.

We fall into sexual healing for moments in climaxing waves

and we loose our physical bodies. The longing to be one

with The Lord. The Way. The Truth. The God. The Goddess,

all are yearnings for unity, a unity which we are all along.

The longing is the pain of knowing, deep down, that we are

not seperate.The pain is the knowing that we know, yet

cannot break the fixation of the illusionary forms that we

call 'real life.' And so we search for that which we have

lost and yet it is not lost. We have mislaid our true self.

We are it all along. The end of the journey is the beginning.

The circle is an apt symbol for the Mandala I call Me.

2. One view of nature is as beautiful; the colours of autumn, the fresh

growth of spring, the grace of kind beings, falling in love, the

romantic perception... Yet another way to see it is as cruel and

indifferent: how many creatures eat others, even the plant species

have to thrash it out for survival...We know from your songs that

you have often expressed the romantic perception, and also that you

have thought deeply about various philosophies...I wondered if you

have ever discovered any way of resolving or accepting the two

ways of seeing things?

Following on from the thoughts above (2 ) , the changing

forms of nature are not real. The pain of creation, birthing

and deathing itself is a play. All things must pass. The

identification with beauty will be balanced with identi-

fication with the not-beautiful. I celebrate the phases

which are-the growing Spring, and I am in joy. but as I

too grow, I identify with the dying Autumn and became

sad. Between the winter and the summer, I stand on the

Solstice and am still. Surely there has to be the 'immovable

spot,' as The Buddha said. Surely there is a place where

dreams no longer grow into nightmares. And yes, in mystery

books the place is found within all things. And yet I am not

an eastern seeker, I am a western hero who must identify

with the poetic year, And I will die, and life will go on.

Two ways of seeing, yes. The mind is drawn to opposites.

The cold, the hot, the hard, the soft, the high, the low.

All these categories are not true seeing. True seeing is

experiencing all change and not identifying with the rise

and fall of worlds. Who is this that stands gazing at the

sunset, and the moonrise. Who is she, who is he. It verily

is a sigh between two mysteries.

3. Over the years I have played all the different music that you have

created, and each song seems to have its own unique feeling. Do you

intentionally create these different moods, and do they relate to your

own lifestyle?

I range through subjects that I read and see and hear and

feel and be.

4. Could you list for us your favorite:

a. poet/poem - William Butler Yeats/Lake Isle Of Innesfree

b. artist/painting -

c. author/book - Homer/The Illiad

d. movie/director - Fellini/Juliet of the Spirits

e. spiritual teacher - Alan Watts

f. musician/song- George Harrison/All things Must Pass

"Don't let appearances fool you"

1. I was wondering if any of these artist have ever appeared on your

records as guest/session musicians. We have heard rumours of Marc

Bolan, John Sebastian, Stephen Stills, Alice Cooper, George Harrison

as going uncredited or under alias on your albums. If so, what songs

did these artists record on, and are there any other "secret" musicians

you would like to reveal now?

Bolan and I recorded laleya in Munich shortley before

he died. The tape is lost. Please try to find through German

Studio Magazines. The studio was in the basement of an

apartment block. (Who wants this mission?)

Sebastian and I played on stage never studio yet. He is a

good friend. Stills and I, I think did a track, or was it

Nils Logfrin. Alice and I recorded 'Billion Dollar Babies'

together. I am the high voice. Harrison and I never recorded

but we sure sang alot together. I recorded with Jeff Beck,

Jimmy Page, Ronnie Wood, Jim Keltner Dave Mason,

Peter Frampton, Carol King, Nigel Kennedy, Danny

Thompson, Lulu, Graham Nash, Paul McCartney, and lots

more I cant think of right now.

2. I have seen your name mentioned in a few places in relation to the

film and CD of Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band starring

the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton. I have never seen the film or

heard the CD and would like to know if you were actually involved

in some way with this production and, if so, in what way?

A limo picked me up and I sang chorus on All You Need

Is Love. I think. The Beatles were not part of this film but

I was at the original sessions in Abbey Road back when.

3. I understand that during your travels you had attended Andy Warhol's

silver factory (if this is correct), was the experience an enlightening

one, what interesting characters did you meet and did it affect your

view of art?

I will tell this later I think. (2001?)

4. Several years ago you made a film about Edgar Casey the healer

they called "The Sleeping Profit." I understand that the film was

shelved but are there any indications that it may be released in the

future? Also how much research did you do (if any) on Edgar

Casey and what are your views on his remarkable gift?

I know as much as most about Casey. I would like to see

the film again. (Who wants this mission to track it down?)

5. Is there any chance of you doing any performances in the next

year or so that you would like to let us know about?

I will play The Tabernacle ,(Mt. Tabor) New Jersey,

November 4 2000.

"Facts, figures & logic"

1. I'd like to know why you do not publish your lyrics in your CDs

as many other bands do. I think this would benefit some of your

non-English speaking fans who struggle to understand your words.

Will you consider publishing a song book of lyrics and sheet music

to all your songs?

Song Lyric books coming soon on website.

Site under construction at last!

2. So glad to see that Open Road is FINALLY coming out on CD. Are

there any more re-releases coming out anytime soon? (i.e., Live In

Japan, 7-Tease, Slow Down World, Neutronica, Love Is Only Feeling,

One Night In Time...). Also have you thought of releasing a more

complete box set than your Troubadour set, perhaps with rare tracks

included?

All coming soon I hope!

3. Don, Could you please explain your current relationship to Pat

Hehir and the group Donovan's Friends, and do you have product

out on the Abbey Records label?

Pat is an old friend. He ran a fan mag for me. I don't know

of the Abbey Records label. Do tell me all about it.

4. In our last interview you mentioned an autobiography, a website,

and maybe new releases coming out in the year 2000. Have any of

these ideas progressed and how soon can we expect to see this happen.

(waiting and hoping)

Website under construction. The book will follow. New

releases will be on Donovan Discs, an Internet label

which will mail-order.

"Lore, Legends & Magic"

1. Could you tell us please, about this event, which has become

something of a Donovan legend. At your first concert at the

Hollywood Bowl when you told the audience to clap their hands

and it would make the rain stop, which it did, what was happening

here? Some ancient Celtic magic perhaps?

The Hollywood Bowl was a ceremony performed before

the concert. Then 20,000 concentrated souls responded

to my suggestion and the clouds were held in check until

after the end. It is like 'rainmakers' in reverse. The sound

of focussed attention is powerful. No wonder the animals

are scared of us.

2. I would like to know what is your favorite Celtic myth and how

has this influenced your music and life.

The major myth is one that sees the hero set off in search

of his female counterpart, the goddess. The treasure he

seeks he already owns. The journey through the trials

are his own battles with himself. The Goddess to be

released is within the castle of his own soul. The heroine

is usually a sorceress because the human female knows at

puberty that she is the blood red maiden, mother and crone.

She casts the spell over the male principal. True love

happens when the hero meets the heroine yet seldom a

child is born. Tragedy happens when the hero meets the

heroine and no union is possible. Only in death are the

lovers united. This is a large subject with many paths.

One must find out ones own myth, what part of the

journey to self-discovery are you at. Read and feel and

breathe the mantras into your inner world. The archetypes

and myths and legends influence all creative arts. One is

relating to one or other of the basic myths when one is

moved to create a piece of work. For the interested ones,

read Joseph Campbell's 'Hero With A Thousand faces' .

3. In 1997-98 you had presented a few workshops at several "new age"

centers across the US and in Europe. Some of us on the list were

fortunate enough to attend one of your "Music and Myth" and/or

"Living a Mythic Life" presentations. Could you explain to us briefly

what gave you the incentive to do these workshops and if you will be

doing anything like this again in the future.

I was asked. I asked myself what would I teach. I looked

at my large library. The books on Mythology and Poetry

were 'double-parked ' on the bookshelves. So I know it

had to be Music and The Myth.

4. Some years back I heard you were working on an animated film

called "Tangled Details" or "Tangled Adventures." What ever

happened to this project and will it ever become available to the

public? Also is this the same as a film called "Old Fashioned

Picture Book"?

More later (2001?)

(( Last but not least.... ) No question, but I hope Erika

will be kind enough to forward this on to you anyway. I am sure

I speak for all of us on the Catch theWind list when I say I wish

to thank you for all the music you have shared with us over the

years and especially thank you for taking the time to answer our

questions. Through your music you have touched each of our lives

in very special ways, and although the ways may be different for

each of us, the bond we share is a common one. You have a sincere

fan base here with this group and Erika does a great job keeping us

focused. Would love it if you can keep her informed of any perform-

ances so she can pass them on to the entire group. Thanks again!

I am so pleased you say this to me. I have always been

personal to my fans. I want to build a link with you all

through my 'soon to be' website. Thank you all, new

and seasoned friends.

signing off for now...

yours musically,

Donovan Leitch