Musical Muses-Linda Lawrence

"I will bring you gold apples and grapes made of rubies

That have shone in the eyes of a prince of the breeze

Bright cascading crystals, they dance in the sand dunes

On the beach of no footprints to harpsichord tunes

A throne of white ivory, a gown of white lace

Lies still in the magic of a timeless place"

The inspiration behind many classic Donovan songs, including the haunting, 'Legend of a Girl Child Linda', was his wife and muse Linda Lawrence.

Linda was born in 1947 and as a teenager developed a love for jazz music. When she was fifteen she met and fell in love with Rolling Stone, Brian Jones. They were soon living together and two years later Linda gave birth to their son, Julian. Their relationship proved tumultuous and eventually Jones left her for Anita Pallenberg. During this time Linda met Scottish singer Donovan and they began an off again on again relationship before marrying in 1970. They went on to have two daughters, Astrella and Oriole, and are happily married to this day. Donovan once said, "Linda's in all the songs, Sunshine Superman, Hampstead Incident, Young Girl Blues...Linda's the muse", she was also the inspiration behind one of his best loved songs, 'Catch the Wind'.

Here's a link to an interesting article written by Linda about her time with Brian Jones (also of note, Jones had had two children before he met Linda),
 http://www.angelfire.com/rock3/sixtiesfish/mybrian/My_Brian.htm

"A princess lay sleeping so gentle and kind

Whilst her prince took to battle with his confused mind"

Musical Muses-Sue Sheehan

You're walking round in my memory

That only gets stronger and stronger

The inspiration behind some of The Kinks classic songs, including 'Susannah's Still Alive' was Dave Davies first love, Sue Sheehan.
Dave and Susan, who attended the local girls school, were teenage sweethearts. Unfortunately when Dave was fifteen and Sue sixteen they were discovered having an amorous encounter on Hamstead Heath (an incident that later inspired The Kinks album Schoolboys in Disgrace). Dave was expelled from school and some months later Sue discovered she was pregnant. The young couple planned to marry but their parents separated them, telling Dave, Sue no longer wished to see him and vice versa. It would be thirty years before Dave saw Sue again, or met his daughter Tracey.
The tragedy had a profound effect on Dave and much of his later wild behaviour was in an attempt to deal with losing his first love.
Sue inspired several of Dave's songs, 'Susannah's Still Alive', 'Funny Face', 'Mindless Child of Motherhood' and 'Fortis Green'.

Oh how can I live without her

The doctors won't let me see her

But I can catch a glimpse through the doorway

Of the girl that I love and care for

Musical Muses-Kathy Chitty

I stand alone without beliefs

The only truth I know is you

In 1965 the first solo album of a little known folk singer, Paul Simon, appeared. Titled The Paul Simon Songbook the album cover featured Simon and a young woman, she was his girlfriend, Kathy Chitty.

Kathleen Mary Chitty met Paul in 1964 when he was living in England, touring folk clubs around the country. She was living in Brentwood, Essex, selling tickets at the door of the local folk club. It was love at first sight and they later moved to London. Kathy inspired some of Paul's most beautiful songs including, 'Kathy's Song', 'Homeward Bound' and 'America'. She is also mentioned in a verse of his song, 'The Late Great Johnny Ace'. Whilst in England Paul's song 'The Sound of Silence' became a worldwide hit and he returned to America to regroup with his singing partner, Art Garfunkel. Kathy was a shy girl and was reluctant to take part in the fame that awaited him, they broke up and didn't see each other for many years. They reconnected in the 1980s and have remained in contact, many believe Kathy was Paul's true love, and the beautiful lyrics of the songs he wrote for her certainly reflect this.

And as I watch the drops of rain

Weave their weary paths and die

I know that I am like the rain

There but for the grace of you go I

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