Lady of the Stars

Lady of the Stars
Studio album by Donovan
Released January 1984
Recorded Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles, 1983[1]
Genre Folk
Length 38:39
Label RCA (UK)
Allegiance Records (US)
Producer Jerry Wexler, Dee Robb[1]
Donovan chronology
Love Is Only Feeling
(Germany, 1981)		 Lady of the Stars
(1984)		 Rising
(1990)
Reissue
Till I See You Again
Reissue
Sunshine Superman (1994)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]

Lady of the Stars is the seventeenth studio album, and nineteenth album overall, by the British singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the UK (RCA PL 70060) and the US (Allegiance Records AV 437) in January 1984.

History

By 1983, Donovan's albums were receiving little distribution in the UK and none in the US. His popularity had steadily decreased through the 1970s and early 1980s and mainstream record companies were not convinced that Donovan's albums could generate enough record sales to warrant release. Donovan decided that to win over the record companies and reach his American and British fans, he would record new versions of both "Sunshine Superman" and "Season of the Witch" for inclusion on his next album. Both songs were released on the Sunshine Superman album in 1966 and Donovan's Greatest Hits in 1969. The name recognition of these two songs would give the record companies marketing leverage and guarantee release.

In addition to "Sunshine Superman" and "Season of the Witch", Donovan updated three other songs from his canon. Two of these songs, "Lady of the Stars" (written for Donovan's wife Linda Lawrence) and "Local Boy Chops Wood" (written about Brian Jones) were originally released on Donovan in 1977. The other song, "Boy for Every Girl" was released on his 1973 album Essence to Essence. Donovan also included five new songs and titled the album Lady of the Stars for his wife Linda.

Although Lady of the Stars was released directly through RCA in the UK, the company did not distribute the album in the US. Allegiance Records did pick up the album, however, and it became the first Donovan album to receive a US release since Donovan in 1977.

After this, Donovan took an extended hiatus from recording, and would not release another studio album until Sutras 12 years later.

Personnel

Session musicians and guest appearances on this album include Graham Nash (backing vocals), Pete Carr (guitar), Jim Horn (wind instruments).

The album was recorded at Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles, U.S.A., produced by Jerry Wexler and Dee Robb, whilst tracks "Sunshine Superman" and "Season of the Witch" were produced by Dee and Bruce Robb[1]

Reissues

Lady of the Stars has been the focus of many CD reissues since its original release. The reissues sometimes have a different track order, and the album has rarely gone under its original title. Reissues often use the name Sunshine Superman, yet have little in common with the 1966 album Sunshine Superman.

Other

Track listing

All tracks by Donovan Leitch.

Side one
  1. "Lady of the Stars" – 4:37
  2. "I Love You Baby" – 3:28
  3. "Bye, Bye Girl" – 3:22
  4. "Every Reason" – 3:05
  5. "Season of the Witch" – 5:27
Side two
  1. "Boy for Every Girl" – 4:39
  2. "Local Boy Chops Wood" – 3:29
  3. "Sunshine Superman" – 4:06
  4. "Living for the Love Light" – 3:44
  5. "Till I See You Again" – 3:14

References

  1. 1 2 3 Allegiance Records AV 437 liner notes
  2. ↑ Allmusic review
  3. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r286273 Golden Hits
  4. ↑ allmusic.com Forever Gold
  5. ↑ allmusic.com Golden Tracks

External links

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