MUSICAL poet and folk singer Donovan appears at Stratford's Civic Hall on Monday as part of his 40th anniversary tour.

Donovan first came to prominence at the age of just 18 in 1965 with his debut single Catch the Wind. The song won the Ivor Novello award for the best contemporary folk song of the year.

He followed this success with other hits like Universal Soldier, Mellow Yellow, Hurdy Gurdy Man and Jennifer Juniper and his distinctive style came to represent the psychedelic era of the sixties, capturing the "peace-and-love idealism" of the time.

Donovan spent most of the seventies and eighties living quietly and his revival began when the Happy Mondays titled a song in his honour on their Pills 'n' Thrills & Bellyaches album. He later toured with the group and in 1996 released his comeback album Sutras and he has recently released Beat Cafe an album of 12 new recordings.

In support of the anniversary tour a double CD anthology entitled Donovan's Summer Day Reflection Songs has been recently released as well as four digitally re-mastered Donovan albums.

The show will include many of Donovan's hits, together with the first live performances of the new album. Tickets for the concert, which begins at 7.30pm, are priced £20-22.50 from the box office on 01789 207100 or online at www.civichall.co.uk