Donovan and Macleod perform again Mac MacLeod was a mentor to Donovan and taught him how to fingerpick in the early days when they hung out at places like the Cock pub in St Albans. Now 40 years later, Donovan has recognised his old friend's help as he introduced Mac onto the stage at his recent gig at Oxford Town Hall on June 9th. Donovan cited Mac as one of the original influences on him and the best blues picker from those St Albans days.
Seeing those two up on stage, together for the first time in 40 years, was a moment to behold. The first time they performed together was at the NME Pollwinners concert of 1965 when Mac accompanied Don on bass; the last time was the tour that followed it. They met up again at Donovan's Honorary Award ceremony in St Albans cathedral in November 2003, an accolade that Mac helped him receive. More recently they met at Donovan's 59th Birthday party in May where Mac was a special guest and contributed to a This Is Your Life type presentation. It was there that Donovan expressed his interest in working with Mac again.
In Oxford Town Hall, I sat on the edge of my seat witnessing the golden moment as Donovan introduced the first song they were to perform together as Refuge (Of Love). Don is on vocals and guitar, supported by Mac who provides some exquisite finger picking. Things really fall into place when Mac sings and plays a stunning rendition of It Hurts Me Too, accompanied by Donovan on harmonica, just like in the early days when the two friends would busk on Torquay seafront to earn some extra dough. It is without a doubt the best version I have ever heard. And it seems I am not alone in that opinion for in the interval, many members of the audience, who were previously unaware that the original Hurdy Gurdy Man even existed, told me they were blown away by Mac's performance.
One massive fan of blues legend John Mayall said that without a doubt he thought Mac's version of It Hurts Me Too was better - the best he had ever heard. Mac's musical ability also attracted the attention of the local press and the BBC, none of whom knew what an influence Mac had been on Donovan!
Mac has received some much deserved and overdue attention of late. Recently he was interviewed by Andrew Morris for major American radio station KFOK, where Mac performed some wonderful finger picking, including Jesse Fuller's San Francisco Bay Blues and Candy Man. It looks like we will be hearing more from Mr MacLeod from now on!
Sara Loveridge
See Mac's website: www.macmacleod.co.uk.
[1 Jan 04] [from our archives - more than 1 year old] |
