From the S&S archives: Flower power: Donovan at Würzburg, Germany

THE DONOVAN TOUR IN GERMANY WAS PRETTY far out of the mainstream. Strolling onstage barefoot with his guitar in Würzburg, he stepped out of the dreamworld he helped build in the late 60s, did his thing for a couple of hours, and vanished again.

Tunes on the program included old favorites of Donovan fans like "Catch the Wind," "Mellow Yellow," "Atlantis," "Colours," "Universal Soldier." There were also more recent tunes like "Black Widow" that had the usual Donovan mix of crisp sounds and ethereal lyrics.

HIS WÜRZBURG PERFORMANCE was mesmerizing; with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica he put on the kind of quietly electrifying set that some of the "big names" can't quite accomplish with an entourage of 70 or 80 backup musicians and roadies and hangers-on.

Reports from other stops on the tour indicate that the gigs didn't all go so smoothly. In Wiesbaden's Rhein-Main Hall a few days later he had technical problems and nearly lost it in places.

THE TOUR ALMOST DIDN'T happen, said Stewart Lawrence, Donovan's manager, in a backstage interview. He said they called it quits with Columbia Records just before the tour and lost much of the on-the-road support, including a backup band, that had originally been expected.

Lawrence had harsh words for Columbia and its development into an impersonal monopoly. "They just didn't give us any help in the end. Clive Davis was Don's main fan. When he left he was replaced by new, younger people that didn't give us any help at all — at least not in America."

The star wasn't speaking to the press this time around: "Until he's got a new label he has nothing to say."

Lawrence said the negotiations are well underway and Donovan is now working on a new album for whoever he signs with. "We had canceled this tour to make the album but we were forced to come out because people would lose a lot of money if we didn't."

Donovan is also hoping to have another hit single. Although he's not exactly in the poorhouse now, he could use the money. "Don doesn't have that much money. They've been changing the British tax laws, you know."

He no longer makes his home on that highly-taxed island. "He lives in Joshua Tree, California, in the desert, with his wife and children-two girls and a boy."