"Josie" is a song written and recorded by British singer-songwriter

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...

Background

The "Josie" single was backed with a cover of "The Little Tin Soldier" by Shawn Phillips and released in the United Kingdom on 18 February 1966 through

Pye Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...

(Pye 7N 17067). Like Hickory Records in the United States, it was clear by early 1966 that

retained the rights to the tracks Donovan recorded while recording at Pye. Unlike Hickory Records, however, Pye retained the right to release future Donovan albums and singles as stipulated by Donovan's original contract. Meanwhile, any new recordings from Donovan were legally barred from release. As Hickory Records did with "

You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond "You'll Need Somebody on Your Bond" (later titled "You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond") is a Gospel music, gospel song that is attributed to both tradition and to gospel blues musician Blind Willie Johnson. Johnson first recorded the song in ...

" and "

To Try for the Sun "To Try for the Sun" is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. The "To Try for the Sun" single was backed with "Turquoise" and released in the United States in January 1966 through Hickory Records (Hickory 45–1402) ...

" in the United States, Pye Records took an album track and released it as a single without Donovan's consent. "Josie" was originally released on Donovan's debut album '' What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid'' and was viewed as a single that could possibly sell well. Pye chose the '' Fairytale'' album track "The Little Tin Soldier" for the b-side. The "Josie" single became the first Donovan release to fail to chart in the United Kingdom, just as the "You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond" and "To Try for the Sun" singles failed to chart in the United States. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described it as a "pretty, sentimental ballad in a tradition-oriented folk vein."

U.S. release

In the US, "Josie", was released as the B-side to

Colours Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorpt ...

References

External links

Josie – Donovan Unofficial Site
Donovan songs 1966 singles Pye Records singles Songs written by Donovan 1965 songs 1960s ballads Folk ballads {{1960s-single-stub