· A must seen performance of Donovan's 7-Tease era. He performs several tunes from the aforementioned album: Rock And Roll Souljer, Salvation Stomp, How Silly (Donovan makes a superb acoustic version of this set of songs, which are played with a big band on the album), and the autobiographical The Ordinary Family.
· Donovan is joined on stage by John Sebastian and David Bromberg to play Travelling Light, a magnificent performance.
04. I Shall Be Released (with the rest of musicians)
Description:
· The Secret Policeman's Other Ball was the fourth of the benefit shows staged by the British Section of Amnesty International to raise funds for its research and campaign work in the human rights field.
· It was the second of many shows to bear the celebrated Secret Policeman's title that became the iconic series known informally as The Secret Policeman's Balls.
· The show took place in London in September 1981. It was a successor to the 1979 show The Secret Policeman's Ball.
· Other musicians who performed at the show besides Donovan include Rowan Atkinson, Jeff Beck, Alan Bennett, John Bird, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Jasper Carrott, Graham Chapman, Eric Clapton, John Cleese, Phil Collins, Billy Connolly, John Fortune, Bob Geldof, Barry Humphries, Neil Innes, Chris Langham, Griff Rhys Jones, Alexei Sayle, Pamela Stephenson, Sting, Pete Townshend, John Wells and Victoria Wood.
· When Donovan first appeared on the stage, one audience member yelled at him «I thought you were dead!» to which Donovan responded «Not yet!».
· The concert was released on video and audio in 1982 with the name The Secret Policeman's Other Ball. Although you can also find a version of the Audio CD with the title The Secret Policeman's Concert.
All songs by Donovan P. Leitch, except track 07 by Buffy Sainte-Marie and track 09 by Astrella Celeste.
Musicians:
· Donovan: guitar, vocals
· Astrella Celeste: vocals on Dream, background vocals on The Illusion and Mellow Yellow
· Tom Mansi: concert bass
· Stewart Lawrence: percussion
· Mike Love: background vocals on Mellow Yellow
Description:
· David Lynch introduces the concert.
· Donovan performs some of the songs sitting cross-legged upon a platform over the stage.
· Mike Love makes a surprise appearance to sing Mellow Yellow.
Trivia:
· The concert was held to benefit the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace. Through the Foundation, David Lynch, Donovan and Donovan's wife Linda are introducing the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation technique to students worldwide.
· On the back cover of the DVD: To Try For The Sun is listed as Try For The Sun, Jennifer Juniper is listed as Jenifer Juniper, Lalena is listed as Lalena and Sand And Foam is listed as Sand And Foam (Mexico).
· This concert was episode #1 in a series of charity-based shows called Sounds Of Our Times. This series was inspired and co-created by Donovan.
· It was recorded live on the 31st of January 2008 at The Cutting Room in New York.
· Donovan was joined by a large list of musicians: Richard Barone, Will Lee, Jimmy Vivino, Jerry Vivino, Jack Petruzzelli, Steve Holley, Julia Kent and Donovan's longtime percussionist John 'Candy' Carr. Garth Hudson of The Band is prominently featured from a few minutes during Season Of The Witch.
· The guest of the show, in this case, Donovan, chooses a charity, adhering to the guidelines established by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Donovan chose Drukpa Trust to raise money for the building of a school for the children of the Himalayas.
· The programs were hosted by Donovan's daughter, Astrella Celeste, and radio personality Reverend Greg.
