Music writer Greg Prato recently caught up with music icon Donovan to discuss a host of subjects, including working with shock rock legend Alice Cooper.

Prato: "Undoubtedly, one of the trailblazers of the "psychedelic pop" genre was the Scottish singer/guitarist/songwriter, Donovan. Beginning as a more folk-based artist, upon the arrival of his landmark 1966 album, Sunshine Superman, the man who was born Donovan Philips Leitch offered up a heady spin on pop music of the day, especially heard on the album's chart-topping title track and on such subsequent ditties as 'Mellow Yellow' and 'Season Of The Witch', plus the harder rocking 'Hurdy Gurdy Man' and 'Barabajagal'."

Q: How did you get involved in the recording of the Alice Cooper song, "Billion Dollar Babies"?

Donovan: " I'm not shy of trying any genre. That particular session, I was at Morgan Studios in London, and I just happened to be there when Alice was downstairs. He came up to say hello, and then he invited me to listen to what he was doing. He was particularly doing this song called 'Billion Dollar Babies', and he said, 'What do you think?' I listened.

Now, back in the '60s, I made some powerful rock songs myself, 'Hurdy Gurdy Man' and 'Barabajagal', working with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. I was no stranger to power rock. But the power rock he was doing was very interesting, because I loved the gothic/Edgar Allan Poe kind of Hammer Horror movies myself. I'm quite a fan of gothic literature. 

So here was this guy that I just met, he played me the song, and said, 'Would you like to put a vocal on?' I said, 'OK. Give me the chorus'. I listened to the chorus, and his guitar player was playing like Keith Richards - something very powerful that he'd learned from Keith or from Brian Jones in the Stones. And when I listened to the chorus, I said, 'OK. I'll give it a go.' 

But I learned something: I had to sing in falsetto. Power bands in Britain had already learned that to have a singer in a power rock outfit, you need a singer who can go into falsetto. That's why you've got Robert Plant in Zeppelin, Jon Anderson with Yes. They have to raise their voices into the high range.

Chris Squire of Yes, who was a friend at the time, I said, 'Why is it?' And he said, 'Well, it's very easy. If you want your voice to be heard, you've got to climb above the guitars in the mid-range, or else you won't even hear the vocal.' And it's true. 

So, I immediately said, 'Hey Alice, what do you think of (sings the song's title in falsetto)?' So I did the falsetto, Alice loved it, and then I forgot about it, and never even thought about it, until someone told me later, it went to #1. And I was half the vocal! So Alice and I, when we meet, we have a chuckle and a laugh about it. It was a great pleasure. And the best thing about it was nobody knew it was me for so long!"

Go to this location for the complete interview.