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| "Colours" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dutch (Pye / Negram) sleeve | ||||
| Single by Donovan | ||||
| from the album Fairytale | ||||
| B-side |
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| Released | 28 May 1965 (UK) June 1965 (United States) | |||
| Recorded | 1965 | |||
| Genre | Folk[1] | |||
| Length | 2:44 (Side A) 2:46 ("To Sing For You") 3:29 ("Josie") | |||
| Label | Pye 7N15866 (UK) Hickory 45-1324 (United States) | |||
| Songwriter | Donovan Leitch | |||
| Producers | Terry Kennedy, Peter Eden, Geoff Stephens | |||
| Donovan UK singles chronology | ||||
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| Donovan USA singles chronology | ||||
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"Colours" is a song written and recorded by British singer-songwriter Donovan for his second album, Fairytale.[2] "Colours" was released as a single in the United Kingdom on 28 May 1965 through Pye Records (Pye 7N 15866) and a few months later in the United States through Hickory Records (Hickory 45-1324). The single was backed with "To Sing for You" on the UK release and "Josie" on the US release. Both B-side selections came from Donovan's first album, What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid (1965).
Donovan followed up the success of "Catch the Wind" with "Colours", which featured a similar folk style. The single matched the success of "Catch the Wind" in the United Kingdom, reaching No. 4 on the charts.[3] In the United States, "Colours" reached No.61,[4] and marked a decline in the artist's popularity relative to "Catch the Wind". A different mix of the song (without harmonica) was released on his second album Fairytale. Billboard praised the "intriguing lyric and melody."[5] Cash Box described it as a "tender, slow-moving, rhythmic pledge of romantic devotion sold by the songster in his distinctive Bob Dylan-ish style."[6]
For the 1969 Epic Records release Donovan's Greatest Hits, Donovan re-recorded "Catch the Wind" and "Colours" in the studio with Big Jim Sullivan playing guitar, John Paul Jones on bass and keyboards and Clem Cattini on drums, produced by Mickie Most.
The song proved to be quite accessible for more mainstream artists, with covers by Claudine Longet, Percy Faith, Van Dyke Parks, actress Patty Duke, Murray Head, and The Kingston Trio.
