Answer the following question: Facts:   - caption: donovan performing in washington , dc in 2007    - birth name: donovan philips leitch    - label: pye -rrb- epic records records -lrb- uk -rrb- hickory records -lrb- us    - influences: bob woody guthrie dylan , the beatles , joan baez ,    - genre: folk rock , psychedelic folk , psychedelic rock      - birth date: 10 may 1946    - name: donovan    - background: solo_singer    - image: donovan washington 2007.jpg    - birth place: maryhill , glasgow , scotland    - occupation: musician , songwriter , record producer   Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of donovan .
Answer:
donovan -lrb- born donovan philips leitch ; 10 may 1946 -rrb- is a scottish singer , songwriter and guitarist .he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk , jazz , pop , psychedelia , and world music -lrb- notably calypso -rrb- .he has lived in scotland , london and california , and , since at least 2008 , in county cork , ireland , with his family .emerging from the british folk scene , donovan reached fame in the united kingdom in early 1965 with live performances on the pop tv series , `` ready steady go ! '' .having signed with pye records in 1965 , he recorded singles and two albums in the folk vein , but after a new contract with us cbs/epic records his popularity spread to other countries .after extricating himself from his original management contract , he began a long and successful collaboration with mickie most , a leading british independent record producer , with hits in the uk , the us and other countries .his most successful singles were the early uk hits `` catch the wind '' , `` colours '' and `` universal soldier '' in 1965 .`` sunshine superman '' topped the us `` billboard '' hot 100 chart -lrb- number two in britain -rrb- , and `` mellow yellow '' reached us number two the following year , with `` hurdy gurdy man '' in the top 5 in both countries in 1968 .he was the first artist to be signed to cbs/epic records by the new administrative vice-president , clive davis .donovan and most collaborated on hit albums and singles between 1965 and 1970 .he became a friend of pop musicians including joan baez , brian jones and the beatles .he taught john lennon a finger-picking guitar style in 1968 .donovan 's commercial fortunes waned after parting with most in 1969 , and he left the industry for a time .donovan continued to perform and record sporadically in the 1970s and 1980s .his musical style and hippie image were scorned by critics , especially after punk rock .he stopped performing and recording several times but had a revival in the 1990s with the...