Jennifer Juniper

Song

The track was written about Jenny Boyd, sister of Pattie Boyd, shortly before she went with The Beatles and Donovan to Rishikesh. She married Mick Fleetwood and was, at one time, the sister-in-law of George Harrison and, later, Eric Clapton.

The song was arranged by John Cameron and features a wind section with Cor anglais, flute, French horn and bassoon, plus shaker and harp. The last stanza of the song is sung in French.

Cash Box called it a "gentle voiced ballad" with "glittering arrangement with hushed drumming, soft flute trills and a delightful small combo orchestration" and "pretty lyrics of innocence and naturalist imagery," and also praised the "exquisite artistry." Record World called it a "charming love song" that Donovan "chants in English and French."

Donovan also performed on a novelty cover of the single released in Britain in 1990, by comedy duo Trevor and Simon, as "The Singing Corner Meets Donovan". It spent one week at number 68 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1990.{{cite book

B-side

The B-side "Poor Cow" is a song produced for the film Poor Cow by Ken Loach. The original title of the song was "Poor Love". The title was changed when the song appeared in the film. It retained that title when released as the B-side to "Jennifer Juniper" in February 1968. "Poor Cow" is introduced by Donovan as "Poor Love" on his live album Donovan in Concert (1968).

Cash Box called "Poor Cow" a "folk theme with jazz touch from the current movie score".

In popular culture

The song features in The Simpsons episode "Flaming Moe", along with a character called Calliope Juniper.

Theodore Bikel covered the song on his album A New Day (1970).

Natalie Portman's character plays this song on the piano in Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

The song was featured in the 1999 film Election.

17. 12. In 1968, Czech singer Václav Neckář recorded a cover version of this song with Czech lyrics by Zdeněk Rytíř. The song is called "Čaroděj Dobroděj".

Joel Grey recorded the song for his 1969 jazz/pop album Black Sheep Boy

In 1970, an instrumental version was recorded by Dean Christopher and his Orchestra for the album Images.

References

References

1. ''The Hurdy Gurdy Man'' 2005 re-release liner notes
2. ["Show 48 – The British are Coming! The British are Coming!: With an emphasis on Donovan, the Bee Gees and the Who. Part 5] : UNT Digital Library".
3. (1 May 1946). "Donovan | Awards". [[AllMusic]].
4. Matthew Greenwald. "Jennifer Juniper – Donovan | Song Info". [[AllMusic]].
5. (March 2, 1968). "CashBox Record Reviews".
6. (March 2, 1968). "Single Picks of the Week".
7. (1990). "The Singing Corner – The Singing Corner Meet Donovan at Discogs".
8. (1969). "Theo Bikel* – A New Day (Vinyl, LP)".
9. "Golden Kids – Micro Magic Circus (Vinyl, LP)".