Donovan
's second album found the Scottish folkie in possession of his own voice, a style of earnest, occasionally mystical musings indebted neither to
Woody Guthrie
nor
Bob Dylan
. True,
Fairytale
's highlights --
"Sunny Goodge Street,"
"Jersey Thursday,"
and
"The Summer Day Reflection Song"
-- use a sense of impressionism pioneered by
Dylan
, but
flipped
's weariness on its head. His persona is the wistful hippie poet, continually moving on down the road, but never bitter about the past. The folkie
"Colours,"
already a hit before the album's release, is also here (though without
's harmonica). A few of his songs are inconsequential and tossed-off (
"Oh Deed I Do,"
"Circus of Sour"
), but a few of these (
"Candy Man"
especially) succeed too, thanks to
's effervescent delivery. ~ John Bush