DC Share Revival: Review: Donovan - What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid (1965)

Rating: 90/100 - Genrés: Songwriter, Folk

Donovan's debut album, What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid, released in May 1965 in the UK (and retitled Catch the Wind for its US release), stands as a remarkably revealing portrait of a young artist at the crossroads of tradition and innovation. Often viewed through the lens of his later psychedelic work, this early LP demands reassessment for its subtle complexity, hybrid aesthetics, and deft negotiation between American and British folk idioms. In this album, Donovan emerges not as a mere imitator of Bob Dylan, as was frequently alleged at the time, but as a discerning and ambitious artist with distinct stylistic intentions and a poetic voice rooted in deeper traditions.

The genesis of What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid was inseparable from the vibrant atmosphere of early 1965 London. Donovan was only 18 years old when he stepped into Peer Music Studios on Denmark Street, the heart of the UK's Tin Pan Alley. The studio's location proved more than symbolic. It was a literal convergence point for British beat groups, skiffle holdovers, jazzmen, and the burgeoning folk movement, all of whom shared rehearsal spaces, studio corridors, and pub tables. This environment—saturated with genre bleed, aesthetic argument, and the lived experience of working-class London bohemianism—fed directly into the album's sound.

Produced by Geoff Stephens and Peter Eden, two industry men with an ear for commercial folk but a respect for its purity, the album presents Donovan as both troubadour and interpreter. The ten tracks include original compositions as well as select covers that illustrate his influences. The most discussed, and misunderstood, track is undoubtedly "Catch the Wind," Donovan's first single and arguably his signature song of this early period. The album version of the song, recorded in stripped-down format with just voice, guitar, and harmonica, offers a pointed contrast to the lushly orchestrated single version released two months prior. This was not merely a logistical decision, but a deliberate aesthetic gesture—Donovan asserting his allegiance to a rawer folk ethos while being fully aware of his pop market appeal.

"Catch the Wind" was reportedly Donovan's first ever written composition, penned with Linda Lawrence in mind, who would later become his partner. Its blend of wistful romanticism and internal solitude reflects a lyrical maturity that belies the songwriter's age. The decision to record two markedly different versions—one orchestrated, one bare—demonstrates an early instance of the dualistic identity Donovan would continue to cultivate throughout his career: the folk purist and the psychedelic bard.

Much of the technical foundation for Donovan's guitar work on this album was laid by Keith "Mac" MacLeod, a lesser-known but crucial figure in the British folk revival. MacLeod taught Donovan the intricacies of clawhammer and cross-picking techniques, which appear most vividly in tracks like "Tangerine Puppet" and "Cuttin' Out." Far from rudimentary strumming, Donovan's playing on these songs exhibits a rhythmic subtlety and melodic invention that rival many of his American contemporaries. His fingerstyle technique, though often overshadowed by his vocal delivery and lyrical content, is a vital element of the album's character.

Critics and historians often cite Donovan's apparent mimicry of Bob Dylan as a limitation, but such views fail to account for the broader musical lineage that Donovan drew upon. In the documentary Don't Look Back, Bob Dylan himself downplays the comparison, noting instead that Donovan plays "like Jack," a reference to Ramblin' Jack Elliott. This distinction is essential. While Dylan synthesized Woody Guthrie with Rimbaud and rock 'n' roll urgency, Donovan's approach was more attuned to the gentle intricacies of British pastoralism, American blues, and traditional balladry. His vocal phrasing, softer and more elastic than Dylan's, complements rather than confronts his material.

The album's production further resists any singular classification. Though rooted in acoustic folk, it often gestures toward jazz (in its phrasing), blues (in its choice of covers like "Remember the Alamo"), and even proto-pop stylings (as in the slightly syncopated swing of "Josie"). The presence of session musicians like Brian Locking (bass), Skip Alan (drums), and Gypsy Dave (kazoo) lends certain tracks a buoyancy that foreshadows Donovan's later embrace of eclectic arrangements. But what keeps the album cohesive is the emotional tone—melancholy without despair, dreamy but not evasive.

One must also consider the cultural moment of its release. Britain in early 1965 was still emerging from the postwar fog, and the folk revival offered a form of aesthetic resistance to commercial pop while also providing a new vernacular for introspection. Donovan entered the scene not only as a musician but as a media figure. His appearance on Ready Steady Go!, his NME Poll-Winners Award, and his stylized public persona—a mix of bohemian innocence and Celtic mysticism—made him an ideal figure for a youth culture searching for authenticity. Yet this authenticity was not naive. As his interviews and later reflections reveal, Donovan was highly aware of the symbolic registers he was navigating, and What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid is a testament to that negotiation.

Although Donovan would soon move toward more overtly psychedelic and eclectic terrain with albums like Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow, his debut remains a unique document. It is not merely a point of origin but a self-contained artistic statement that bridges the insular world of traditional folk and the emergent horizon of 1960s experimentalism. The album's title itself, a colloquialism invoking the Yorkshire dialect, signals a certain intimacy and regional pride, a rootedness that balances the album's broader stylistic ambitions.

Sunday, July 6, 2025

Review: Donovan - What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid (1965)

Sources:

No comments:

Post a Comment