Editing Donovan (section)

=== 1970s: Changes ===
In late 1969, the relationship with Most ended after an argument over an unidentified recording session in Los Angeles. In the 1995 BBC Radio 2 ''The Donovan Story'', Most recounted:

{{blockquote|The only time we ever fell out was in Los Angeles when there was all these, I suppose, big stars of their day, the Stephen Stillses and the Mama Casses, all at the session and nothing was actually being played. Somebody brought some dope into the session and I stopped the session and slung them out. You know you need someone to say, "it's my session, I'm paying for it." We fell out over that.<ref name="Lorne Murdoch 2005">Lorne Murdoch, liner notes to ''Barabajagal'' expanded CD reissue (EMI, 2005)</ref>}}

==== Open Road band ====
Donovan said he wanted to record with someone else, and he and Most did not work together again until ''[[Cosmic Wheels]]'' (1973). After the rift, Donovan spent two months writing and recording the album ''[[Open Road (Donovan album)|Open Road]]'' as a member of the rock trio [[Open Road (band)|Open Road]]. Stripping the sound of Most's heavy studio productions down to stuff that could be played by a live band, Donovan dubbed the sound "[[Celtic Rock]]". The album peaked at No. 16 in the U.S., the third-highest of any of his full-length releases to date, but as his concert appearances became less frequent and new artists and styles of popular music began to emerge, his commercial success began to decline. Donovan said:

{{blockquote|I was exhausted and looking for roots and new directions. I checked into Morgan Studios in London and stayed a long while creating Open Road and the ''HMS Donovan'' sessions. Downstairs was McCartney, doing his solo album. I had left Mickie after great years together. The new decade dawned and I had accomplished everything any young singer-songwriter could achieve. What else was there to do but to experiment beyond the fame and into the new life, regardless of the result?<ref name="Lorne Murdoch 2005"/>}}

Donovan's plan for ''Open Road'' was to tour the world for a year, beginning with a boat voyage around the [[Aegean Sea]], documented in the 1970 film ''[[There is an Ocean]]''. This was partially on the advice from his management to go into [[tax exile]], during which he was not to set foot in the UK until April 1971, but after touring to France, Italy, Russia and Japan, he cut the tour short:

{{blockquote|I travelled to Japan and was set to stay out of the UK for a year and earn the largest fees yet for a solo performer, and all tax-free. At the time the UK tax for us was 98%. During that Japanese tour I had a gentle breakdown, which made me decide to break the tax exile. Millions were at stake. My father, my agent, they pleaded for me not to step onto the [[BOAC]] jet bound for London. I did and went back to my little cottage in the woods. Two days later a young woman came seeking a cottage to rent. It was Linda.<ref name="Lorne Murdoch 2005"/>}}

The band would continue without Donovan, adding new members, touring and releasing the album ''Windy Daze'' in 1971 before disbanding in 1972.<ref name="BIIR, 1971">{{cite news|title=The Post-Donovan High|agency=Beat Instrumental & International Recording|date=1971}}</ref><ref name=Dazenotes>{{cite AV media |people= |date=2021 |title=Windy Daze |type=CD Liner |publisher=Cherry Red Records Ltd.}}</ref>

==== Reunions with Linda Lawrence and Mickie Most ====
After this reunion, Donovan and Linda married on 2 October 1970 at Windsor register office and honeymooned in the Caribbean. Donovan dropped out of the round of tour promotion and concentrated on writing, recording and his family. The largely self-produced children's album ''HMS Donovan'' in 1971, went unreleased in the US and did not gain a wide audience. During an 18-month tax exile in Ireland (1971–72), he wrote for the 1972 film ''[[The Pied Piper (1972 film)|The Pied Piper]]'', in the title role, and for ''[[Brother Sun, Sister Moon]]'' (1972). The title song from the Zeffirelli film provided Donovan with a publishing windfall in 1974 when it was covered as the B-side of the million-selling US top 5 hit "[[The Lord's Prayer (Sister Janet Mead song)|The Lord's Prayer]]", by Australia's singing nun, [[Sister Janet Mead]].

After a new deal with Epic, Donovan reunited with Mickie Most in early 1973, resulting in the LP ''Cosmic Wheels'', which featured arrangements by [[Chris Spedding]].<ref name="Lorne Murdoch 2005"/> It was his last chart success, reaching the top 40 in America and Britain. Late in the year, he released ''Essence To Essence'', produced by [[Andrew Loog Oldham]], and a live album recorded and released only in Japan, which featured an extended version of "Hurdy Gurdy Man", including an additional verse written by [[George Harrison]] in [[Rishikesh]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Beatles As Musicians:Revolver through the Anthology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1CAvwZPKTkoC&pg=PA158 |access-date=19 February 2013|isbn = 9780199880935|last1 = Everett|first1 = Walter|date = 31 March 1999| publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref> While recording the album, [[Alice Cooper]] invited Donovan to share lead vocals on his song "[[Billion Dollar Babies (Alice Cooper song)|Billion Dollar Babies]]".{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}

''Cosmic Wheels'' was followed up by two albums that same year: his second concert album, ''[[Live in Japan: Spring Tour 1973]]'' and the more introspective ''[[Essence to Essence]]''. His last two albums for Epic Records were ''[[7-Tease]]'' (1974) and ''[[Slow Down World]]'' (1976). In 1977, he opened for [[Yes (band)|Yes]] on their six-month tour of North America and Europe following the release of ''[[Going for the One]]'' (1977). The 1978 LP, ''[[Donovan (album)|Donovan]]'' was on Most's [[RAK Records]] in the UK and on Clive Davis' new [[Arista Records]] in the US; it reunited him for the last time with Most and Cameron, but was not well received at the height of the [[New wave music|new wave]] and did not chart.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}