Open Road (band)

Open Road was a short-lived band originally assembled by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan for his 1970 album of the same name, with original members Mike Thomson on guitar, bass and vocals and John Carr on drums and vocals. Having previously played solo then with a shifting cast of session musicians, Open Road was Donovan's effort toward writing and recording music as a member of a band.

The band toured with Donovan until the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, then continued to tour without Donovan, recruiting guitarist Barry Husband and keyboardist Simon Lanzon. With this lineup they recorded the 1971 album Windy Daze and the single "Swamp Fever", before the newer members left in 1971 to form the duo Lanzon and Husband. The remaining duo of Thomson and Carr recorded one more album, which was not released until 2021.

History

Formation and Open Road

After working with producer Mickie Most on the string of successful albums, Donovan parted ways with Most upon completion of the Barabajagal sessions. He moved back to the UK against the wishes of his management, who objected due to Britain's heavy taxation and its distance from the American market.

For the first two months of 1970, Donovan booked time at London's newly renovated Morgan Studios and began recording and producing the tracks that would form his next album. He made demos of around 20 new songs with just vocals and acoustic guitar, including solo versions of "Changes" and "People Used To", before assembling his new band. Dubbed "Open Road", the band was Donovan's frequent collaborator "Candy" John Carr on drums, and bassist/guitarist Mike Thomson, who'd been a bandmate of Carr's in a group called Dada Lives and briefly in an early version of the band Amber.