Donovan - BBC Sessions, Volume 6: In Concert, Paris Theatre, London, Britain, 11-14-1981

Here is the sixth volume of Donovan performing for the BBC. This is a 1981 concert, with some solo acoustic, and some with a band.

Boy, did I get lucky with this recording! I had been aware of this recording for years. But when I posted the first five volumes of Donovan at the BBC, I avoided posting this one due to sound quality issues. There was a lot of hiss on it, and I wasn't sure how to get rid of it. (One can use noise reduction for that, but it degrades the music too, so I almost always avoid that.) So I decided to deal with this problem later. Recently, here in early 2025, I'm trying to finish off all the series of BBC albums for musical acts where I've posted some already, so I can get to new ones. I was just about to tackle this, when I noticed that someone posted a brand new version of this concert just two days ago, because the BBC recently re-broadcast it. This version had excellent sound quality, saving me the trouble of dealing with the earlier version. God bless the BBC!

In the late 1970s, Donovan's musical style fell out of favor, thanks to new musical trends like disco, punk, and new wave. He generally kept a low profile, living in the desert in California raising his family for a few years and not releasing much new music. This, apparently, was part of his first tour of Britain in six years. Thankfully, rather than trying to ape new trends, like going new wave with synths all over his music, he kept to his old style. This sounds like it could be from 1971 as easily as 1981. That may not have been the popular move to make at the time, but it looks smart in retrospect.

I believe this is entirely unreleased. 

This album is 56 minutes long.

01 talk (Donovan)
02 Sunshine Superman (Donovan)
03 talk (Donovan)
04 Jennifer Juniper (Donovan)
05 talk (Donovan)
06 Lelena (Donovan)
07 talk (Donovan)
08 Universal Soldier (Donovan)
09 Catch the Wind (Donovan)
10 talk (Donovan)
11 Love Is Only Feeling (Donovan with Astrella Leitch)
12 Lady of the Flowers (Donovan)
13 talk (Donovan)
14 Johnny Tuff (Donovan)
15 talk (Donovan)
16 Neutron (Donovan)
17 Hurdy Gurdy Man (Donovan)
18 Colours (Donovan)
19 Season the Witch (Donovan)
20 Mellow Yellow (Donovan)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/XhNmAvDN

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/6mQtzeHHOiLWtlu/file

The cover photo is from 1981, probably from a TV appearance. But I don't know the details.