"Sunny South Kensington" is a song by Scottish musician Donovan, released as both the B-Side of the single "Mellow Yellow" (in the United States, at least) and as a track on the album of the same name. It was written, performed and sung by Donovan, and there is a good chance that a combination of Paul McCartney, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page played on this song (but no one really knows).
After an understated but excellent bass guitar intro (that reinforces my guess that one or two of the most famous bassists in rock history played on this song), Donovan starts a swinging, funky invitation to visit "Sunny South Kensington", apparently a fashionable neighborhood of London. Here I came across a problem: Donovan is not the clearest vocalist, and it was hard for me to hear exactly what the attractions and appeal of South Kensington is, but when he asks me to
flip out skip out trip out
I just can't say no. Even if I can't figure out what the girl with the silk Chinese blouse, the woman in Portugal with the umbrella, or Allen Ginsberg(?) are doing.
What is most interesting about the song for me is how funky it is. Donovan is best remembered as a folk singer, and his first record was the plaintive ballad "Catch the Wind", but by the time he embraced psychedelia, both his instrumentation and persona had broadened, and this is a fun song, that while it seems basic, also has a combination of instrumentation and effects that sounds like it could have come out five years later.