The song gave its name to the album The Hurdy Gurdy Man, which was released in October of that year in the United States.

[6] Donovan wrote "Hurdy Gurdy Man" while in Rishikesh in India, where he was studying Transcendental Meditation with the Beatles.

[7] The recording features a harder rock sound than Donovan's usual material, supplying a range of distorted guitars and aggressive drums.

[17] In his autobiography, Donovan recalls that he began writing "Hurdy Gurdy Man" on the tambura after Harrison discussed the sitar scales he had learned from Ravi Shankar.

[19] On his 1990 live album The Classics Live and in his autobiography, Donovan has said that there is also an additional verse that had been written by George Harrison that was not included on the radio single:[7] When the truth gets buried deep Beneath the thousand years asleep Time demands a turnaround And once again the truth is found When performing the song in concert, Donovan often relates to his audience the story of how this final verse came about.

"[21] Record World said that "Donovan's reedy voice is absolutely hypnotic on 'Hurdy Gurdy Man', a eerie, magic-like side.

"[22] In the Beastie Boys song "Car Thief", the first drum break is sampled following the lyrics "Space cake cookies I discover who I am / I'm a dusted old bummy Hurdy Gurdy man".

[23] "Hurdy Gurdy Man" has been used as a framing device or otherwise appeared on the soundtrack or trailer of various films and television shows, including: