In 1965, Donovan was still a teenager when the British press saddled him with one of the most daunting comparisons a young singer-songwriter could receive: Bob Dylan.
The Scottish musician had emerged from Britain’s folk scene with “Catch the Wind,” an acoustic hit whose Dylan influence was hard to miss. Before long, journalists were calling Donovan “the new Dylan” and “England’s answer to Bob Dylan.”
Dylan himself was well aware of his supposed new rival.
In D.A. Pennebaker’s Dont Look Back, filmed during Dylan’s 1965 tour of England, former Animals keyboardist Alan Price tells Dylan that Donovan is a very good guitarist.
“He’s better than you,” Price says.
“Yeah,” Dylan replies. “Right away I hate him.”
There was little reason to think Dylan actually hated Donovan. The young singer soon became part of the circle around Dylan, even performing “To Sing for You” for him in another memorable scene from the documentary.
More importantly, Donovan wasn’t destined to remain anyone’s answer to Bob Dylan.
Donovan Found His Own Sound With ‘Sunshine Superman’
Within a couple of years, Donovan had shed much of the Dylan imitation and developed a far more eclectic identity, incorporating jazz, pop, blues, psychedelia and other influences into his music.
The “Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll” similarly points to that transformation. After Donovan began working with producer Mickie Most, his folkie restraint gave way to increasingly exotic instrumentation, including sitars, flutes, cellos and harps. The book identifies “Sunshine Superman” as his biggest hit, reaching No. 1 in 1966.
Donovan was only 19 when he recorded the song in late 1965.
As Fred Bronson recounts in “The Billboard Book of Number One Hits,” Donovan brought “Sunshine Superman” to Most, who heard its potential but envisioned a very different arrangement. Donovan later recalled that they entered the studio at 2 p.m. on a Sunday and had the record finished by 5.
In other words, the song that would help reinvent Donovan was essentially captured in three hours.
‘Sunshine Superman’ Had to Wait Months for Its Moment
Unfortunately, making the record was considerably easier than releasing it.
A contractual dispute left “Sunshine Superman” sitting on the shelf for months. Bronson writes that Britain’s Pye label removed the single from its release schedule amid the legal entanglement surrounding Donovan and Most.
By the time it finally came out in America, Donovan worried that too much time had passed.
He needn’t have worried.
“Sunshine Superman” entered the Hot 100 at No. 90 and kept climbing. The single ultimately sold 800,000 copies in six weeks and more than 1 million overall.
Sixty years ago this week, it reached No. 1, knocking the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Summer in the City” out of the top spot. The chart dated Sept. 3 also found Donovan sitting above the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine,” the Supremes’ “You Can’t Hurry Love” and the Hollies’ “Bus Stop.”
It would be Donovan’s only No. 1 hit in America.
For a singer who had entered the spotlight with the press measuring him against Bob Dylan, “Sunshine Superman” marked something much more significant than a chart triumph. Donovan had stopped sounding like the next somebody else.
At 19, he had begun finding a sound unmistakably his own.
Related: ’60s Legend, Who Wrote What Bob Dylan Called ‘The Greatest Song Ever Written,’ Turns 80
‘Sunshine Superman’ Even Caught The Beatles’ Attention
Donovan’s musical world was becoming intertwined with some of the biggest names of the era.
He became friends with Paul McCartney, even contributing the phrase “sky of blue and sea of green” to The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine.”
Decades later, Donovan recalled that his future wife, Linda Lawrence, was his muse during those heady years. The pair had met in 1965 but spent years apart before eventually reuniting and marrying.
“Record companies and music publishers love a broken-hearted songwriter,” Donovan joked in a 2017 interview with the Irish Independent.
“Sunshine Superman became the album that turned people like The Beatles on because the No.1 hits kept coming.”
His influence on The Beatles soon became more tangible.
During their famous 1968 trip to India, Donovan taught John Lennon a fingerpicking guitar technique that Lennon subsequently used on songs including “Dear Prudence,” “Julia” and “Happiness Is a Warm Gun.”
McCartney confirmed the connection in a Radio Luxembourg interview that year, explaining, “John picks the guitar because he learned off Donovan when we were in India.”
Lennon, McCartney and Donovan also spent time writing together there. McCartney recalled sitting on a roof with the two musicians when he began playing what became “Rocky Raccoon,” with the trio making up words as the song took shape.
It was quite a journey for a musician who, only a few years earlier, had been introduced to much of the public as somebody else’s answer to Bob Dylan.
“Sunshine Superman” helped change that. Sixty years after it reached No. 1, it remains a snapshot of the moment the 19-year-old folk singer stepped out of Dylan’s shadow and into the psychedelic sound that would define his own career.
Related: 1963 Bob Dylan Song, Ranked Among ‘Greatest Songs of All Time,’ Went to No. 1 For Beloved Folk Trio
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