Donovan, Kinks' Ray Davies lead Songwriters Hall inductees

[February 12, 2014]  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) —   Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan and English rocker Ray Davies headline this year's inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the organization said on Tuesday.

Folk singer Donovan, 67, wrote 1960s hits "Sunshine Superman," "Mellow Yellow" and "Hurdy Gurdy Man" becoming an international star and an emblem of the era's hippie culture.

Glasgow-born Donovan, whose real name is Donovan Leitch, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

Davies, 69, was the lead singer and main songwriter for the British Invasion rock band the Kinks, which he founded with his brother Dave Davies.

The singer-songwriter behind 1960s hits "You Really Got Me," "All Day and All Night" and "Waterloo Sunset" is credited with setting the stage for hard rock music of the 1970s and adding sardonic commentary on middle-class British life.

Davies was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 as a member of the Kinks.

English rock songwriter Graham Gouldman, whose songs were recorded by the Yardbirds, the Hollies and others, will also be inducted. The other inductees are "Always on My Mind" songwriter Mark James, and country and R&B songwriter Jim Weatherly, who penned the 1973 No. 1 hit "Midnight Train to Georgia."

Gouldman, 67, wrote the Yardbirds' hit "For Your Love," as well as "Look Through Any Window" and "Bus Stop" for the Hollies and "No Milk Today" for Herman's Hermits. He played in the 1970s art rock band 10cc.

Texas-born James wrote the song "Hooked on a Feeling," which was turned into a hit by Blue Swede in 1974 and his song "Suspicious Minds" is credited with helping resurrect the career of Elvis Presley, who had a No. 1 hit with it.

The inductees will be honored at a ceremony on June 12 in New York. According to its website, the Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond and holds an annual awards gala to honor inductees. It has an online museum at www.songhall.org and in 2010, the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles gave it gallery space for its first physical home.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; editing by Patricia Reaney)

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