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British Invasion - Who's Number Four?

Donovan was very influential in the San Francisco music scene of the 60's the guy really has some cool tunes if you start digging through what he has put out. He was at the forefront of the psychedelic movement.
 
I'm going to have to nominate Peter and Gordon's opening act as a 'British Invader' since Jimi had to go to England to even get noticed here. That said, I'll put Hendrix at #2 behind only the Beatles, followed by the Stones, Who and round out my top 5 with the Kinks.
 
On your list probably the Yardbirds.

Early John Mayall, early Fleetwood Mac, should be considered also?
 
this still makes me wonder who "Mystic" was referring to, over in the Guess Who vs. The Who thread. Isn't he (or she?) the one that mentioned Big 4, or however that was phrased? Would just be curious to know what the original thought was!
:)
 
spartanmanor said:
Donovan was very influential in the San Francisco music scene of the 60's the guy really has some cool tunes if you start digging through what he has put out.
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Agreed. He often gets jammed in the dated, hippie novelty act category for "Mellow Yellow" (song, not LP) when he has some tremendous output beyond his catchy hits. He also got tagged as an English Bob Dylan which is far from true.

His English folks and blues playing (Bert Jansch-like) is great and I'd say "Universal Soldier" is perhaps one of the best anti-war songs out there with its sense of inevitability rather than naivete. "Colours" is a beautiful love song.

If you only have one album, make it "Hurdy Gurdy Man."

Ken
 
KeninDC said:
Agreed. He often gets jammed in the dated, hippie novelty act category for "Mellow Yellow" (song, not LP) when he has some tremendous output beyond his catchy hits. He also got tagged as an English Bob Dylan which is far from true.

His English folks and blues playing (Bert Jansch-like) is great and I'd say "Universal Soldier" is perhaps one of the best anti-war songs out there with its sense of inevitability rather than naivete. "Colours" is a beautiful love song.

If you only have one album, make it "Hurdy Gurdy Man."

Ken
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Jeff Beck on some of the electric guitar on that album, I believe! I first learned of Bert Jansch through Donovan. When led to learning about so much more music. I love how it's all intertwined. (well, much of it)
D's music has been very important to me. Some of it is pretty silly, but some is drop-dead gorgeous, imho.
 
or maybe the Sunshine Superman album is the one with Jeff Beck...still, rippin' good guitar on Hurdy Gurdy Man....
 
oh no! now I have a Sunshine Superman "earworm"!!!!!!!!!!!!
lol!!!!!!! could be worse... I could have, say a "Seasons in the Sun" earworm. that would be worse.
 
maybe Barabajagal was the one with Jeff Beck!
Coo-coo!
:)
I even like a couple tracks on Cosmic Wheels.
 
Universal Soldier was written by Buffy Sainte-Marie, Donovan does indeed do a great version, just wanting to set the record straight.
 
Aunty Em said:
or maybe the Sunshine Superman album is the one with Jeff Beck...still, rippin' good guitar on Hurdy Gurdy Man....
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I'm pretty sure you're thinking of Jimmy Page on Hurdy Gurdy and Sunshine Superman??? I know Jeff Beck did Barabajagal and who knows what else. John Paul Jones did some arranging for Donovan as well. I really liked Donovan's hits back in the day and have only recently been getting into his LP's. Really great stuff along with a few dated "Hippie" tracks.
 
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spideyjack said:
Universal Soldier was written by Buffy Sainte-Marie, Donovan does indeed do a great version, just wanting to set the record straight.
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Thanks. She does some great work on the soundtrack to "Performance."

As for JPJ and/or Jimmy Page on the song "Hurdy Gurdy Man," my research indicates that it was not these cats, but some other session man.

For Donovan, the Sundazed mono reissues are quite good. Thick, heavy soundstage mono. I stumbled upon some sealed original US Epic LPs (Mellow Yellow in mono and Hurdy in stereo) and these are also quite good. His early UK Pye output also sounds stunning.

To keep this from becoming a Donovan thread, I will note that the UK EMI 2 CD set "The Very Best of Hermans Hermits" sound great. On LP, I'm fond of the original mono MGM "Best" single LP in a gatefold cover. Really strong "Mrs. Brown" attack on that one.

Ken
 
The Rhino "British Invasion" series of LPs is great fun and has most of the hits if you want to avoid exploring the Swinging Medallions' entire back catalog.
 
I think the question has to be clearly defined. If you mean who was considered biggest back then, then The Dave Clark Five has to be way up there, and even above the Kinks... but if you ask people today which they remember NOW, or prefer now, you'd find the Kinks mentioned much more often than the DC5.

Also, it's hard to measure some groups against others. The Kinks' biggest hit was probably You Really Got Me. It reached No. 1 in the UK charts, but only No. 7 in the US. The Animal's biggest hit was, no doubt, House of the Rising Sun. It reached the No. 1 spot in both countries (as well as in Canada and Sweden, according to Wikipedia). By that measure, the Animals were more successful, but if you plot out some of their other top hits, the picture isn't one of either group having clear superiority, as the Kinks got up in the charts just as much as the Animals overall, and they are probably more often mentioned by later artists as having been an influence.

Most of what people will choose as an answer to this question will probably be influenced by what they still like and listen to, today.

I can remember when the question of who was a bigger star, Ricky Nelson or Elvis Presley(?) was a very serious topic of debate, without such an easy answer. Today, almost everyone would say Elvis, not based on how these artists were actually viewed back then, so much as how they are viewed with hindsight some years later. I suspect the same kind of hindsight affects the answers you get today, to this question.

That said, people have clearly identified the right "short list" for who were the major players in the "British Invasion", whatever order they should be ranked in. :yes:
 
Arkay said:
I think the question has to be clearly defined.
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Someone asked earlier, "pop or rock"? It does not matter.

I purposefully left the definition wide open so people could make any argument they wanted about No. 4.

All we really have to go on is Mystic's cryptic "Holy 4" of the British Invasion reference that he sparked in the Who/Guess Who thread.

If Mystic would come down from his Mt. and let us know who the 4th in the "Holy 4" is, we could all stop humming "Needles and Pins.":smoke:

Ken
 
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