Australian singles charts:
Hurdy Gurdy Man entered the Kent charts on 22 June 1968 and peaked at #5. The song was #59 on the Top 100 of 1968.
Album:
The song gave its name to the album The Hurdy Gurdy Man, which was released in October 1968 in the United States.
Songwriter:
Donovan
Producer:
Mickie Most
Record label of Australian release:
Epic
Songfacts:
A hurdy-gurdy is an odd instrument resembling an organ grinder. It is played by turning a crank and pressing buttons to play notes.
In the song, Donovan finds a shimmer of enlightenment when he awakes from a sleep to see a hurdy-gurdy man singing songs of love.
Donovan wrote the song for his old guitar mentor Mac MacLeod, who had formed a power trio he called “Hurdy Gurdy.” Donovan wanted MacLeod’s band to record it but they played it in a heavy rock style and Donovan wanted it light and acoustic, so he kept it for himself.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/donovan/hurdy-gurdy-man
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 60s
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