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Music like Hurdy Gurdy

Hurdy Gurdy

Hurdy Gurdy

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Hurdy Gurdy emerged from the Danish group Peter Belli and the Boom Boom Brothers (aka The B.B. Brothers) in June 1967, when three members of the B.B. Brothers, guitarist Claus Bøhling, drummer Jens Otzen and British vocalist and bassist Mac MacLeod formed the power trio. Inspired by Cream but with more psychedelic leanings, they split from Peter Belli and MacLeod named the band 'Hurdy Gurdy'. They had considerable success in Scandinavia, breaking many attendance records for their live shows. The band moved to England in early 1968, after MacLeod had been deported from Denmark.

From Denmark, MacLeod wrote to Donovan's manager Ashley Kozak on 19 December 1967 to ask if he could help the band in any way. Donovan wrote his song "Hurdy Gurdy Man" for them as a gift for MacLeod. MacLeod came back to the U.K. in the new year to see Donovan and, a few weeks later, the rest of the band followed. After hearing Donovan's demo tape, the band set up outside his Little Berkhamsted cottage and played their version of the song. Donovan did not like the heavy take on the track they played as he wanted a softer, acoustic arrangement. Soon after, he released his own version of the song which became a hit, his version in the end had a similar arrangement to the Hurdy Gurdy version. Donovan told Keith Altham of the NME (and Hit Parader) in December 1968:

Picture of a musician: Hurdy Gurdy

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