Donovan – "Hurdy-Gurdy Man" (1968)

 

Here comes the roly-poly man

He’s singing songs of love

A hurdy-gurdy is a portable musical instrument that’s been played by itinerant musicians in Europe for centuries.  

In today’s featured song, a hurry-gurdy player “comes singing songs of love” – which is exactly what you might expect a street musician who’s hoping to get tips from passers-by to do.

There’s another character in today’s featured song – the “roly-poly man” (who’s mentioned only in passing).

“Roly-poly” is a term that’s used to describe a chubby, pudgy person.  But I don’t think Donovan is singing about some rotund guy who needs to lose weight.

A jam roly-poly

A jam roly-poly is a traditional British dessert, and I’m guessing that the “roly-poly man” in Donovan’s song is a vendor who’s walking the streets of London selling roly-polys.  He’s presumably singing songs in order to attract the attention of potential customers.

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I was surprised to learn that “Hurdy Gurdy Man” made it all the way to #5 on the Billboard “Hot 100” in the summer of 1968 . . . which means that it meets the criteria for the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME.

Donovan Leitch wrote the song when he was in India, studying transcendental meditation with the Beatles.  The four-string tambura that Donovan plays on “Hurdy Gurdy Man” was given to him by George Harrison, who also wrote this verse for the song:

When the truth gets buried deep

Beneath the thousand years asleep

Time demands a turnaround

And once again the truth is found

Donovan often sings that verse when he performs the song live, but it’s not on the studio recording of the song.  That’s because the producer told Donovan that he needed to cut either Harrison’s verse or the guitar solo to keep the record’s length reasonably close to three minutes.  

George Harrison, Donovan, and John Lennon

Donovan chose to keep the guitar solo and throw Harrison’s verse under the bus.

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Speaking of that guitar solo, Donovan had hoped that Jimi Hendrix could play guitar on “Hurdy-Gurdy Man,” but Jimi wasn’t available when the song was being recorded.  (Donovan had originally wanted to give the song to Hendrix to record, but legendary British record producer Mickie Most – who produced “House of the Rising Sun” and many other great records – insisted that Donovan record it himself.)  

Jimmy Page, who was then in the Yardbirds, has said that he played guitar on “Hurdy Gurdy Man.”  Donovan has credited both Page and Allan Holdsworth – a very idiosyncratic guitar virtuoso – but John Paul Jones (who played bass and booked the studio musicians for the “Hurdy Gurdy Man’ recording session) said that well-known session guitarist Alan Parker was the guitarist on the record.  (Jeff Beck apparently played on one take of the song, but that take wasn’t ultimately used.)

The drummer was either John Bonham, or studio musician Clem Cattini, or both.

Donovan, George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and three of the four future members of Led Zeppelin – that’s a pretty amazing list of musicians for just one record.  

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Here are a few random facts about “Hurdy Gurdy Man”:

– The Beastie Boys sampled the record on “Car Thief,” one of the tracks on their 1989 album, Paul’s Boutique.  Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz later married Donovan’s daughter, actress Ione Skye – who’s most famous role was as John Cusack’s love interest in Say Anything:

John Cusack and Ione Skye

– The soundtrack of the very creepy 2007 David Fincher mystery film, Zodiac, opens and closes with “Hurdy Gurdy Man.”  (Ione Skye had a small role in that movie.)

– The soundtrack of the very stupid 1994 “comedy” Dumb and Dumber includes a cover version of the song by the Butthole Surfers, whose frontman Gibby Haynes played college basketball at Trinity University in San Antonio at the same time my sister was playing for Trinity’s women’s team.  Click here to listen to that Butthole Surfers’ cover.

 

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Click here to listen to “Hurdy Gurdy Man.”

Click below to buy the record from Amazon: