Donovan - 2000s

2000s

In November 2003, Donovan was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Hertfordshire. He was nominated by Sara Loveridge (who was a student at the University and had interviewed and reviewed Donovan for the University paper in 2001–2002), Andrew Morris, Sara's partner and Donovan researcher/writer and co-nominated by Mac MacLeod.

In 2000, Hurdy Gurdy Man was featured prominently on the soundtrack of Michael Cuesta's controversial movie L.I.E, which starred Brian Cox.

A new album, Beat Café, was released on Appleseed Records in 2004. It marked a return to the jazzy sound of some of his 1960s recordings and featured bassist Danny Thompson and drummer Jim Keltner, with production by John Chelew (Blind Boys Of Alabama). At a subsequent series of Beat Café performances in New York, Richard Barone (The Bongos) joined Donovan on stage to sing and read passages from Allen Ginsberg's Howl.

In May 2004, Donovan played "Sunshine Superman" at the pre-wedding concert for the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark.

Donovan has released his early demo tapes, Sixty Four, and a re-recording of the Brother Sun, Sister Moon soundtrack on iTunes.

A set of his Mickie Most albums was released on May, 9th 2005. This EMI set has dozens of extra tracks including another song recorded with the Jeff Beck Group.

In 2005, his autobiography The Hurdy Gurdy Man was published.

In May/June 2005, Donovan toured the UK (Beat Cafe Tour) and Europe with Tom Mansi on double bass, former Damned drummer Rat Scabies and Flipron keyboard player, Joe Atkinson.

In spring/summer 2006, Donovan played a series of British festivals and two dates at Camden's Jazz Café, London.

In January 2007, Donovan played concerts at the Kennedy Center, in Washington, DC, at Alice Tully Hall, in New York City, and at the Kodak Theatre, in Los Angeles, California, in conjunction with a presentation by film maker David Lynch supporting the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace. The concert at the Kodak Theatre was filmed by Palm Springs production company Raven Productions and is currently broadcast on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Public television as a pledge drive special. Donovan's partnership with the David Lynch Foundation saw him performing additional concerts through October 2007, as well as giving presentations about the benefits of Transcendental Meditation. He appeared at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa in May 2007, as well as touring the UK with David Lynch in October 2007.

In March 2007, Donovan played two shows at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas.

Donovan had planned a spring 2007 release of a new album, along with a UK tour. However, he subsequently announced on his website that the tour had been cancelled and the album release delayed. He indicated that he is in good health but gave no reason for the cancellation.

In April 2007, Donovan presented a three-part series on Ravi Shankar for BBC Radio 2.

In October 2007 Donovan announced plans for the "Invincible Donovan University" focusing on Transcendental Meditation. It will be near either Glasgow or Edinburgh.

In October 2007 the DVD, The Donovan Concert-Live in LA. Filmed at the Kodak Theatre Los Angeles earlier in the year was released in the UK.

On 6 October 2009, Donovan was honoured as a BMI Icon at the 2009 annual BMI London Awards. The Icon designation is given to BMI songwriters who have bestowed “a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” Donovan joins an elite list of past honorees that includes Peter Gabriel, Ray Davies, Van Morrison, the Bee Gees, Isaac Hayes, Dolly Parton, James Brown, Paul Simon and more.

In October 2010, Donovan's newest recording, a double CD set entitled "Ritual Groove" was made available exclusively through his official website. Prior to the album's release, he had described "Ritual Groove" as a multi-media album that was waiting for videos to be applied to it. He called the album a soundtrack to a movie not yet made and claimed that many directors had expressed interest in doing scenes.

Donovan's song "Jennifer Juniper" was featured on The Simpsons episode "Flaming Moe" which aired on 16 January 2011. Two other Donovan songs have been played on other episodes of The Simpsons, "Season Of The Witch" in "Rednecks and Broomsticks" and "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" in "Weekend at Burnsie's"

In 14 April 2012 Donovan was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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