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What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid

What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid
Donovan-What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid.jpg
Studio album by Donovan
Released 14 May 1965 (1965-05-14) (UK)
June 1965 (1965-06) (US)
Recorded February – March 1965
Studio Peer Music, Denmark Street, London
Genre Folk
Length 31:50
Label Pye (UK)
Hickory (US)
Producer
  • Terry Kennedy
  • Peter Eden
  • Geoff Stephens
Donovan chronology
What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid
(1965)
Fairytale
(1965)
Singles from What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid
  1. "Catch the Wind" b/w "Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do?"
    Released: March 1965
  2. "Josie" b/w "Little Tin Soldier"
    Released: February 1966
  3. "Remember the Alamo" b/w "The Ballad of a Crystal Man"
    Released: April 1966, withdrawn
  4. "You'll Need Somebody on Your Bond" b/w "The Little Tin Soldier"
    Released: November 1965 (US)
2002 reissue
Sanctuary Records (slipcover)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3.5/5 stars Original album
Allmusic 3.5/5 stars 2002 reissue

What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid is the debut album from British singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the UK four days after his nineteenth birthday on 14 May 1965, through Pye Records (catalog number NPL 18117). Terry Kennedy, Peter Eden, and Geoff Stephens produced the album. The album was released in the US as Catch the Wind on Hickory Records in June 1965. Hickory Records changed the title to match that of Donovan's debut single.

In late 1964, Peter Eden and Geoff Stephens offered Donovan a recording contract with Pye Records in the UK. Donovan had performed around Britain and had become well known in British folk circles before his record contract. His 1964 demo tapes (released as Sixty Four in 2004) show a great resemblance to both Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, which probably prompted the "British answer to Bob Dylan" press line that was subsequently released. What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid is notable because it captures Donovan at a point where his style and vision were starting to diverge significantly from those of Guthrie and Dylan.

The music primarily consists of Donovan singing and playing mouth harp and acoustic guitar, much like his live performances of the time. He still had some vestiges of Woody Guthrie's style, and here covers Guthrie's "Riding in My Car (Car Song)" — retitled as "Car Car". What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid also includes British folk ("Tangerine Puppet") and even some jazz ("Cuttin' Out").

Donovan rerecorded "Catch the Wind" for the album, which was initially released as his debut single in the UK on 12 March 1965.

Other musicians featured on the album are Brian Locking on bass, Skip Alan (who joined the Pretty Things later the same year) on drums, and Gypsy Dave on kazoo.


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