Open Road

Open Road
Studio album by Donovan
Released	1970
Recorded	October 1969 – 1970
Genre	celtic rock
Length	42:19
Label	Epic
Producer	Donovan Leitch
Professional reviews
Allmusic link
Donovan chronology
Barabajagal (1968) Open Road (1970) HMS Donovan (1971)

Open Road is the eighth studio album, and ninth album overall, from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It is also considered the debut album from the band Open Road. Open Road was released in the US sometime before July 25, 1970 (Epic Records E 30125 (stereo)), and in the UK sometime before September 12, 1970 (Dawn Records DNLS 3009).

History

After splitting with Mickie Most during the Barabajagal sessions, Donovan decided to move back to the UK against the wishes of his management, who most likely objected due to the heavy taxation in the country and the distance from the American market. There he began recording and producing the tracks that would form his next studio album. Donovan's production was much rougher and more organic than Mickie Most's cleanly polished production on Donovan's hits of the 1960s.

During these sessions, Donovan assembled the band Open Road with drummer John Carr, keyboardist Mike O'Neil, and bass and guitar player Mike Thomson. The band played a style that was dubbed celtic rock by Donovan. Many of the songs on Open Road ponder the negative side of industrialization and the lost peacefulness of a previous time. While some of this had been touched on in Donovan's previous work, this is the first album where the topic is expounded at length.

After the release of this album, Donovan left Open Road to focus on his family and finish recording his next album, H.M.S. Donovan. After losing Donovan and subsequently Mike O'Neil, Mike Thompson and John Carr reformed Open Road with Barry Husband on guitar and vocals and Simon Lanzon on keyboards. They recorded and released one more album in 1971 (Windy Daze) before disbanding. Open Road subsequently became part of Donovan's canon, and the band Open Road was largely forgotten.

Reissues

• On August 22, 2000, Repertoire Records reissued Open Road (RR 4880) on CD in Germany. This marks the first CD release of the album.

Track listing

All tracks by Donovan Leitch.

Original album

Side one

1. "Changes" – 2:56
2. "Song for John" – 2:43
3. "Curry Land" – 4:38
4. "Joe Bean's Theme" – 2:52
5. "People Used To" – 4:09
6. "Celtic Rock" – 3:37

Side two

1. "Riki Tiki Tavi" – 2:55
2. "Clara Clairvoyant" – 2:57
3. "Roots of Oak" – 4:53
4. "Season of Farewell" – 3:25
5. "Poke at the Pope" – 2:47
6. "New Year's Resovolution" – 4:45

Personnel

• Donovan Leitch - guitar, harp, vocals
• Mike Thomson - bass, guitar, vocals
• Mike O'Neill - piano, vocals
• John Carr - drums, vocals