Nils Lofgren looked back on a string of sessions he recorded in 1969 with folk icon, Donovan. Donovan has discovered a track, “Still Waters,” from their '69 sessions and is featured on his vault release, Lunarian. During a chat with The Phoenix News Times, Lofgren revealed producer David Briggs wrangled him into subbing for the guitarist for Three Dog Night, whose backing band was booked to record with Donovan.
Donovan recalled the future E Street Band guitarist, saying, “When we met, I realized Nils was like me: a one-off guitar player, with his piece of fabric nailed to his Telecaster — a road gypsy boy.”
Lofgren is still amazed at the chance he got as a relative unknown: “I don’t know how the hell David pulled it off but they let me fill in on guitar.” Lofgren, who was playing with Neil Young and his own band Grin around that time called it as a “stunning revelation” and admitted, “All of a sudden, I was heading into Hollywood with David to record with Donovan and Three Dog Night.”
He went on to remember: “Donovan was in the booth alone — where he sang and played acoustic guitar — so our sound wouldn’t bleed into his parts. We could see him clearly, and he could see us. He played us these new songs he had written, and we learned them. We made our little chord charts and started recording. It was sensational music. It felt great. Having my best friend, David, there was amazing — and he was the only reason I was there. Everyone got along well, and we had a great time.”
Lofgren added: “David came up with the brilliant call to let Grin take over after we lost the Three Dog Night guys, and we carried on and kept making great music with Donovan. It is a great chapter in my life and I’m so glad that some of the music is being shared again.”
Over 50 years since going professional, Nils Lofgren maintains that being a journeyman musician made him the player he is today: “I’ve never had the luxury of this kind of commercial success, to have one band around all the time for years, and I’ve been forced to play with a lot of different people. You miss a consistency. But, I have to say, most of the time, you learn something different from other players — and it’s a good thing. Playing with seven musicians your entire career is not natural, it’s not even healthy.”
Donovan's Lunarian collection can be ordered exclusively through his official website, donovan.ie.