Devendra Banhart – Carmensita

Yes, that’s the extremely cute Natalie Portman, Devendra Banhart’s girlfriend.  Is that Jon Lovitz in there as well?

This video comes at a strange time for me.  You see, in the past couple of days I’ve watched The Darjeeling Limited and El Topo.  It’s kind of freaky how these two movies fit right into the “Carmensita” video.

First off, Natalie Portman had a minor, but very nude, role in Hotel Chevalier which is the opening sequence to The Darjeeling Limited.  Also, it’s set in India.

Devendra Banhart looks as though he walked right out of El Topo.  Like El Topo, Devendra is in some sort of epic religious battle taking place in a surreal dream world.

Whoa, synchronicity, brother.  Right on.

If you haven’t seen El Topo or The Holy Mountain, I highly recommend both.  Due to an ongoing fight between director Alejandro Jodorowsky and Beatles/Rolling Stones/Led Zeppelin manager Allen Klein, the films have only been available as bootlegs for the past 30+ years.  They are finally available on DVD, so go Netflix those puppies.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_55FmpWLLM]

TOUR DATES

THU AUG 21 – w/Beck – Grand Sierra Theatre – Reno, Nevada
SAT AUG 23 – Outside Lands Festival – Golden Gate Park – San Francisco, California

]]> http://utahpolis.com/2008/07/23/devendra-banhart-carmensita/feed/ 0 http://utahpolis.com/2008/02/27/the-autobiography-of-donovan-the-hurdy-gurdy-man-2005/ http://utahpolis.com/2008/02/27/the-autobiography-of-donovan-the-hurdy-gurdy-man-2005/#comments Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:53:20 +0000 utahpolis http://utahpolis.com/2008/02/27/the-autobiography-of-donovan-the-hurdy-gurdy-man-2005/

Donovan – Hurdy Gurdy Man

As most of you who know me are aware, I’m a huge Donovan fan. Naturally, I was pleased, then, to find a copy of Donovan’s recently published autobiography at a used book store a couple of months ago.

Donovan remains a bit of a mystery to most people, including myself. While he was hugely popular in the 60’s, his fame has dwindled over the years. I’d imagine this is due either to the fact that his flower-power music (he claims to have been the inspiration for the term) hasn’t aged well, or that he made some awful albums in the 70’s and 80’s and was deservedly ignored. Whatever the reason, his peers have countless books written about them, yet Donovan’s autobiography is the first I’ve come across relating to him.

In the book, Donovan focuses almost entirely on the 60’s. If you believe what he says, he basically retired from music in 1970. This is quite odd, since he continued to record steadily up to the early 80’s, not including his more recent come-back albums. Just because those awful records are out of print doesn’t mean they don’t exist, Donovan! You can’t fool us all!

Now that I think about it, though, I’m kind of glad that he left out the bad times and focused on the good. It would have been somewhat depressing to read about why and how he went from his former greatness to new-age fluff.

For me, the book flew by. Donovan is a great story-teller and has plenty of tales to choose from. Somewhat surprisingly, he comes off as a bit of a hedonist. Throughout the book, Donovan discusses with great detail his various exploits with the ladies. This caught me off guard. I’ve always thought of him as this super-polite harmless fellow, and phrases like “I would have to creep up on her body delicately and have my fingers in her panties before she knew it” certainly throw a new light on our old buddy.

Donovan – Wear Your Love Like Heaven

Other points of hedonism? Well, there’s the expected drug use, but it isn’t really a major part of his life. One thing that struck me, though, was Donovan’s desire to escape society. After leaving home at a young age he became a beat, living on beaches and enjoying the proto-hippie lifestyle. Once he became famous, it seems like he spent as much time trying to stay out of the business as he did staying in. The book is sprinkled with extended stays in Greece, India, Ireland, Mexico and an aborted trip to sail around the world.

Donovan – Sunny Goodge Street

If you’re interested in reading about the music side of things, that’s all there to. He talks about meeting Dylan, a brief romance with Joan Baez, hanging out with The Beatles, the demise of Brian Jones, getting busted for drugs, etc. It was most fascinating to read Donovan explain how his albums were made. Some of his arrangements were so out-there and I always wondered what possessed him to do this or that in a certain song. Thankfully, Donovan gives us great insight into the making of his albums.

It’s also refreshing to see Donovan stand up for himself, to a degree. Most people don’t know it, but he was an influential figure and helped to shape a lot of the music that came out of the sixties. In the book, he’s quick to point out where he didn’t get credit for creating flower-power or being the first to embrace sitars or adding jazz to pop music. He does seem a little bitter at times, but he has a right to be.

If you have the slightest bit of interest in Donovan, I definitely recommend picking up this book at some point. It’s a quick read and stays engaging all the way through.

Cover Lay Down has a nice article on the modern-day perception of Donovan, along with some recent covers of his music.

Sadly, I can’t find any tour dates to announce. If you get a chance to see a rare Donovan concert, don’t pass it up! I had to suffer through a John Mellencamp show a couple of years ago in order to see Donovan do a thirty minute set and it was totally worth it. The best part was when Donovan came out with John Mellencamp and Stephen King (!!!) to do “Little Pink Houses”. Biggest WTF moment of my concert-going career. Ain’t that America, indeed.

…

The Beatles – Someone gave me a mix tape of Beatles songs. I remember learning all the words and running around singing the tunes and telling everyone that I sounded just like The Beatles. Guess some things never change.

…

The Carpenters – We used to have one of those huge 70’s console stereos with a tuner, record player, and of course, 8-track player. I kind of wish I still had that thing….

…

…

I’m not sure why, but the only record I ever played on it was The Carpenters’ Greatest Hits. Great jams for a three year old.

…

The Stray Cats – Even though we didn’t have a lot of money, my family did splurge on cable which enabled me to spend most of the 80’s glued to MTV and Nickelodeon. The first video I have any recollection of was Stray Cat Strut. Singing along to this is probably one of my earliest and strongest memories.

…

…

Wow. I probably haven’t seen that video in 25 years. Watching it just now, it occurred to me that as a toddler I seemed to take the lyrics literally and thought that the Stray Cats were actual cats……Beyond Stray Cat Strut and Rock This Town, I’m really not too familiar with the rest of The Stray Cats’ material. When Lee Rocker, bass player for The Stray Cats, came through The Dame last night I was excited to see my childhood favorite video brought back to life before my eyes, but didn’t know what to expect beyond that.

…

Crown Electric, the opening act from right here in Lexington, blew away Lee Rocker. Mike Tevis performed with 300% more energy, digging into the songs like a man possessed with the spirit of 1956. When Lee came on, therefore, it was striking how subdued everything was. It was a good show, don’t get me wrong, but the contrast really made me realize what a treasure Lexington has in Crown Electric.

…

Lee had a couple of stories to tell, the kind that you imagine they repeat night after night. One was about how The Stray Cats first album was recorded and came out in Britain in 1980 but didn’t get released in the U.S. until a year or two later. When it did, they shot up to number two and stayed there for 26 weeks, right behind Michael Jackson. “After thinking about this for many many years, I realized that I’d rather be behind Michael Jackson then in front of him.” It took you years to come up with that? Jeez.

…

Stray Cats – Stray Cat Strut

Click here to purchase Stray Cats – Greatest Hits

…

Remainder of Lee Rocker’s tour dates…

…

Feb 8 2008 8:00P Cal Expo Sacramento, California
Feb 9 2008 8:00P Fishlips Bakersfield, California
Mar 19 2008 8:00P Schüür Lucerne
Mar 20 2008 8:00P Chez Paulette Nancy
Mar 21 2008 8:00P 013 Tilburg, Holland
Mar 22 2008 8:00P Druckerei Bad Oeyenhausen
Mar 23 2008 8:00P Tattoo Convention After-Show Party Hamburg
Mar 24 2008 8:00P Tattoo Convention Hamburg
Mar 24 2008 9:00P Stengade 30 Copenhagen
Mar 25 2008 8:00P FZW Dortmund
Mar 26 2008 8:00P Zwölfzehn Stuttgart
Mar 27 2008 8:00P Birdland Vienna
Mar 28 2008 8:00P Café Libella Munich
Mar 29 2008 8:00P Gabbia Club San Georgio in Bosco
May 17 2008 8:00P Texas Rockabilly Revival at Stubb’s Outdoor Amphitheater Austin, Texas
Oct 3 2008 8:00P Ørland Bluesfestival Ørland