The Hurdy Gurdy Man (song) | The Hurdy Gurdy Man | Hurdy Gurdy Man |
The band incorporates various instruments such as the dulcimer, fiddle, hurdy gurdy, bagpipes, flutes, guitar and bass, and performs traditional music from the Iberian peninsula, mostly from the Spanish regions of Castile, Zamora, Leon, Extremadura and La Mancha.
MacLeod was an early influence on Donovan, and was the bassist for the original line up of Hurdy Gurdy which also inspired the Donovan song, "The Hurdy Gurdy Man".
Grossman has presented hurdy gurdy workshops and lessons with Valentin Clastrier, Matthias Loibner, Maxou Heintzan and Simon Wascher.
The rest of The Hurdy Gurdy Man was recorded in April 1968, after he visited Rishikesh, India to study under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; John Lennon, Cynthia Lennon, George Harrison, Pattie Boyd, Paul McCartney, Jane Asher, Mia Farrow, Prudence Farrow, and Mike Love were there as well.
French musician Valentin Clastrier (born 1947) is one of the few performers in the world specializing in contemporary music for the hurdy-gurdy; before Clastrier, the instrument was used primarily in the performance of European Medieval and folk musics.
Many of the current hurdy gurdy players use his instruments, including Valentin Clastrier, Gilles Chabenat, Germán Diaz, Tobie Miller, Matthias Loibner, Ben Grossman, Marc Egea and Hållbus Totte Mattson.