The Beatles and Led Zeppelin Are Surprisingly Connected to Donovan’s ‘Sunshine Superman’
Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman” isn’t just a classic rock song — it’s a song with an incredible backstory. Donovan collided with The Beatles and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin when he recorded the tune. Page went on to help Donovan record another one of his classics.
‘Sunshine Superman’ singer Donovan, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin were at Abbey Road
During a 2016 interview with Billboard, Donovan discussed the recording of “Sunshine Superman.” “Mickie Most, my producer, asked, ‘What do you want on it.’ I said, ‘Harpsichord. I want jazz guitar.’ He said, ‘OK, I’ll bring a great guitar player, a jazz band and classical instruments.’ John Cameron arranged it. We arrived at the session at Abbey Road, and next door was The Beatles.”
Subsequently, a future member of Led Zeppelin played on the track. “We started the session, and in walks Jimmy Page,” the Hurdy Gurdy Man said. “I couldn’t believe it. Here was an extraordinary situation. Jimmy had to play a jazz style on this, and he did. That was amazing, that session, and it took one hour to record the music, and Mickie Most knew we had something special.”
“Sunshine Superman” doesn’t have the heavy guitars that would become characteristic of Led Zeppelin’s work. However, the opening riff is still impeccable. Even when he was working for other artists. Page’s talent is clear.
Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page also helped record Donovan’s ‘Sunshine Superman’
“Sunshine Superman” was not the last collaboration between Donovan and Page. During a 2008 interview with Uncut, the “Atlantis” singer said that Page also worked on his hit “Hurdy Gurdy Man.” “Hurdy Gurdy Man” has more similarities to Led Zeppelin’s songs. For one, it’s arguably a heavy metal track.
On top of that Led Zeppelin was known for exploring mysticism through music. “Hurdy Gurdy Man” is literally about a musician who sings songs of love, but it’s easy to interpret it as an allegory about a religious leader spreading love, similar to the Christian hymn “The Lord of the Dance.” Regardless, “Hurdy Gurdy Man” is the best Led Zeppelin song that is not a Led Zeppelin song.
Why Donovan compared himself to The Beatles
In addition to his storied association with Led Zeppelin, Donovan also saw himself as similar to The Beatles. During the Billboard interview, he felt a kinship with the band immediately. “The similarity between my music and The Beatles’ music is it has within it a very positive quality,” he explained. “It’s woven with humor. You see, The Beatles and I are very different songwriters from the rest of songwriting. The Beatles and I were very closely linked. When we met, we knew that we had been writing songs of a different color.”
Plenty of bands and singers have been called “Beatlesque,” but Donovan is one of the rare artists who is worthy of the term. Like The Beales, he displayed a lot of range, making children’s music, heavy metal, psychedelic rock, folk ditties, pop songs, and blues songs. Like John Lennon, he also encouraged fans to embody the highest ideals of the hippy movement. While Donovan was never more popular than The Beatles, he was arguably just as talented.
Donovan, The Beatles, and Page were all great artists and for one glorious moment, all of their paths crossed.
