FOR most ­performers starting out in the music business, having a ­legendary name join in an impromptu jam session on the street would be dream enough.

But teenager Murdo Mitchell has now followed up busking with sixties icon Donovan - best known for hits such as Mellow Yellow, including the lyric "I'm just mad about Saffron" - with performing with the singer on stage.

Mitchell, 17, from Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire, was performing one of Donovan's songs at a regular spot on Glasgow's Buchanan Street last year when the Glasgow-born singer himself strolled up and began jamming on guitar with him.

After keeping in touch with ­Donovan - who began his career as a teenage busker - they were reunited on stage at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall this month at an event to celebrate achievements of Duke of Edinburgh's Award holders.

This time they met up beforehand to practice, with Donovan passing on some handy hints to Mitchell - including a guitar-playing technique he once taught John Lennon.

Mitchell said: "I met up with Donovan the day before and we spent an hour having a wee jam before he had to go.

"On the day backstage, we were having a practice and he was teaching me a finger-picking guitar technique he taught John Lennon on a trip to India with him.

"I was always interested in how it actually goes, so I thought, who better to learn from than the best? But it is a lot harder than I thought."

Mitchell got in touch with ­Donovan after the idea was suggested to the organisers of the event. Luckily, the date coincided with the musician, who lives in Ireland, visiting the city where he was born.

The performance opened with Donovan playing a song written by Mitchell before they launched into his 1965 hit Colours.

"It was going so well that the audience wanted more," Mitchell said. "So we also did Donovan's song Sunshine Superman totally unrehearsed.

"It was not the one I have listened to - the version from the 60s - but I managed to keep up. It was good fun, like having a jam on stage."

Most would be daunted at performing in front of such a large crowd with such an icon, but ­Mitchell, who started busking at 11 to raise money for his gran's Christmas present, was unfazed.

He said: "It is playing the first song that is normally the worse as I think if they don't like me, they are going to switch off right at the start. So I try to make a good impression.

"But it went well, and as soon as you get the crowd on your side it is a lot easier to do - you get more relaxed into it.

"It was fantastic playing with Donovan on the stage this time as it was so much more rehearsed and professional. It gives you a buzz."

He added: "He is a mentor if I have any questions, and he tells me how to stand on the stage and get the best from my performance.

"I am going to send him over a few songs of my songs for a listen."

Donovan will celebrate his 50th year in the music business next year with an anniversary tour, the details of which have yet to be announced.

The 68-year-old, born Donovan Philips Leitch in Maryhill, was a key figure in sixties music.

He helped initiate the "psychedelic revolution" and was one of the few artists to collaborate with The Beatles, joining them on their famous trip to India in 1968.

Donovan said: "It is my pleasure to encourage young Murdo - he has what I had at his age, the hunger to communicate."