The Beatles, Donovan and India

Lots of Beatles fans are unaware of your terrific impact 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 many other westerners present in the Rishikesh camp also, like Mike Love in the Beach Boys.

Quite a few of the songs that would later function on the Beatles' 1968 album entitled The Beatles - also referred to as The White Album because of its white cover - emerged throughout the group's keep in India.

1 cause for this was the reality that Donovan was there. Amongst the meditation classes, he taught John, Paul and George a special finger-picking guitar style which may be traced on many in the songs on The White Album.

Take Paul McCartney's Blackbird, as an 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 very as sophisticated as that on previous Beatles recordings, possibly having a few exceptions, for example Paul's I've Just Seen [http://www.legalsoundz.com A Face from 1965]  and Lennon's Girl from 1966. The Beatles had often applied the acoustic to play rhythm guitar - which needless to say worked brilliantly - however the Donovan finger-picking style added yet one more dimension their music.

Yet another of Paul's songs, Mother Nature's Son, also took shape in India. Also right here Donovan's influence is obvious. The lyrics, meanwhile, are mentioned to have already been influenced by a lecture given by meditation guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a central figure at the camp.

Paul was needless to say not the only Beatle who was inspired by Donovan's guitar technique. Just listen towards the songs Julia and Dear Prudence, both penned by John Lennon. [http://www.legalsoundz.com  Dear Prudence]  is really about a precise incident that occurred at the Rishikesh meditation camp. The song is seriously about Prudence Farrow, sister of actress Mia Farrow, who also stayed at Rishikesh. Prudence, even so, 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 other individuals: Dear Prudence, will not you come out and play?

Other songs written or inspired by the remain in India were 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.

Attractive Sadie was originally named Maharishi right after Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the meditation guru. After getting stayed in India for a whilst, Lennon lost trust in Maharishi, apparently as a result of a rumor that the guru had produced 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 mentioned 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  [http://www.legalsoundz.com Ringo] , who returned to London in early March. McCartney soon followed, though Lennon and Harrison left in April.