Even at the age of seventy-one, Donovan Leitch is still extremely active. The Scottish singer-songwriter tours regularly, transforming his concerts into spiritual happenings. He not only plays his timeless classics. He tells numerous anecdotes about the sixties and gives the audience tips for spiritual self-discovery. He is currently on tour with his bootleg Joolz Jones.
Joolz Jones is the grandson of Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones, who died in 1969. Donovan married his ex-girlfriend Linda Lawrence in 1970 and adopted their son Julian. eclipsed caught Donovan and Jones by telephone at Donovan's country house in Ireland. The creator of pieces such as "Atlantis", "Mellow Yellow", "Jennifer Juniper" or "Sunshine Superman" tells of the upcoming concerts and above all about the magical sixties; the rather shy Jones, however, sometimes feels somewhat uncomfortable in the role of the musical heir.
eclipsed: Donovan, you and your grandson are going on tour these days. How did this intergenerational cooperation come about?
Donovan: Joolz is the son of Julian Jones, who in turn is the son of Brian Jones and my wife Linda. Linda and I got married in the early seventies and are fortunately still together. First we raised Julian together with our two children and then his son Joolz. He's officially my bootleg. And it was inevitable that he came into contact with music at home very early on. Now he has also become a great musician and songwriter who puts a lot of heart and soul into his songs and somehow continues Brians and my legacy.
Joolz Jones: I travel a lot as a musician, play gigs, record my own stuff, and on the last tour Donovan let me do the opening act. I only play guitar at the concerts, but I'm also a drummer and interested in everything that has to do with beats. My preference is primarily for everything that sounds like Rock'n'Roll, but I also love to play these acoustic gigs.
Donovan: Joolz is a brilliant musician and songwriter. He's currently working on his first album, and I'm supporting him as much as I can, of course. You can't buy anything from him yet, but that will change when the record is finished.
eclipsed: What exactly will it look like on tour? Are you playing a set together this time?
Donovan: No, not directly. First, Joolz will again play the prelude and play about forty-five minutes. If the audience wants to hear more, they should only call for it, then they will play longer. (laughs) Then I come with my set, and Joolz will come on stage and support me for at least two songs. So his songs remain autonomous from mine, that is also very important to me, and yet we celebrate a musical union.
Jones: For me it is of course a great honour, even though Donovan is my grandfather and I grew up with him. He's still a legend, though.
