The Beatles, Donovan and India
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A lot of Beatles fans are unaware on the fantastic influence British folk-singer and guitarist Donovan (Donovan Philips Leitch) had on the Beatles and their music in 1968.
Donovan was a friend of the Beatles, and when the group traveled to Rishikesh in India to study Transcendental Meditation in February 1968, Donovan came along. There were a number of other westerners present in the Rishikesh camp as well, like Mike Love of your Beach Boys.
Many in the songs that would later feature on the Beatles' 1968 album entitled The Beatles - also known as The White Album due to its white cover - emerged throughout the group's stay in India.
One particular purpose for this was the truth that Donovan was there. In between the meditation classes, he taught John, Paul and George a specific finger-picking guitar style which may be traced on several on the songs on The White Album.
Take Paul McCartney's Blackbird, for example. It was written in India, and it really is a prime example of how Donovan's guitar-technique was applied by the Beatles. Listen how elegantly Paul picks the strings and how the guitar pattern supports the lead vocal brilliantly.
Acoustic guitars had arguably not sounded fairly as sophisticated as that on earlier Beatles recordings, possibly with a handful of exceptions, like Paul's I've Just Observed A Face from 1965 and Lennon's Girl from 1966. The Beatles had frequently utilized the acoustic to play rhythm guitar - which naturally worked brilliantly - but the Donovan finger-picking style added but an additional dimension their music.
A further of Paul's songs, Mother Nature's Son, also took shape in India. Also right here Donovan's influence is apparent. The lyrics, meanwhile, are stated to have been influenced by a lecture provided by meditation guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a central figure in the camp.
Paul was needless to say not the only Beatle who was inspired by Donovan's guitar technique. Just listen for the songs Julia and Dear Prudence, each penned by John Lennon. Dear Prudence is essentially about a precise incident that occurred at the Rishikesh meditation camp. The song is truly about Prudence Farrow, sister of actress Mia Farrow, who also stayed at Rishikesh. Prudence, however, preferred to meditate in solitude in her chalet. In the long run Lennon and George Harrison had to convince her to come out and join the others: Dear Prudence, will not you come out and play?
Other songs written or inspired by the stay in India had been Lennon's The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill and Sexy Sadie, plus McCartney's Why Don't We Do It In The Road and Wild Honey Pie.
Sexy Sadie was originally named Maharishi after Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the meditation guru. Immediately after obtaining stayed in India for a while, Lennon lost trust in Maharishi, apparently because of a rumor that the guru had created sexual advances to a female member with the course. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill was about college graduate named Richard Cooke III who visited the Rishikesh community simply because his mother Nancy was staying there. They did indeed go tiger hunting, just like the song suggests.
Paul McCartney later stated he got the idea to Why Don't We Do It In The Road? in India, where he had seen two monkeys copulating in the road. Wild Honey Pie was a sing along that also emerged in Rishikesh.
The initial Beatle to leave India was Ringo , who returned to London in early March. McCartney soon followed, even though Lennon and Harrison left in April.
