by Bruce Eder
Donovan's Sunshine Superman appeared in two different versions, one in America and another -- slightly later owing to the need of the artist to disentangle himself from his contract with Pye Records -- in England. Beat Goes On has reissued the U.K. version, complete with its extra tracks. The latter include the breezy jazz-flavored folk number &The Observation,& the elegantly languid &Writer in the Sun& (which ended up on Mellow Yellow in America), the brooding, ornately arranged psychedelic mood piece &Hampstead Incident,& and &Sand and Foam& (also pushed onto Mellow Yellow in America), the latter a beautifully stripped-down acoustic number with about as high a haunt-count as any melody ever generated from Donovan's pen. Missing from this edition of the album are &Ferris Wheel,& &The Trip,& and &The Fat Angel,& which dated from the spring 1966 American recording sessions that went into the U.S. version of the LP.