He became fascinated with the American beat movement and tried to imitate the freeform writing he found there.

“My son always had that little pencil in his hand and that little paper, ” his mother commented in Look.ĭonovan continued writing throughout his adolescence, running the gamut from ghost stories to poems hinting at sexual frustrations. In school Donovan discovered a talent for painting and writing. ” The family relocated to Hertfordshire, in the country outside of London. We moved to England where it was green and grassy.

“We left Glasgow when I was ten, ” Donovan recalled in Look magazine, elaborating, “We were in the slums there. Although his star burned brightly only for a few years, Donovan ’s songs have become classics and remain classic-radio staples.īorn Donovan Leitch in Glasgow, Scotland, the singer grew up in the working-class Gorbals section of Glasgow. The 1980s saw him involved primarily in political causes and protest marches. He went into semi-seclusion during the following decade, lending his talents to film scores.

The second half of the 1960s found him at the height of his popularity, evidenced by international tours and sell-out crowds. Blossoming into a mystical, flower-power singer -idol to hippies the world over -Donovan soon found a broad following for his folksy, psychedelic music. While that brought him some notoriety, he didn ’t fully come into his own until he shed the protest singer image. A pale, diminutive Scottish lad, Donovan launched his career imitating American folk-rock hero Bob Dylan.

Donovan singer