''Lady of the Stars'' is the seventeenth studio album, and nineteenth album overall, by the Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the UK (RCA PL 70060) i
1983
and the US (Allegiance Records AV 437) i
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 ''Donovan's Greatest Hits'' is the first greatest hits album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the United States in January 1969 on Epic Records and in the United Kingdom in March 1969 on Pye Records. ''Donovan's Great ...

'' 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 Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English multi-instrumentalist and singer best known as the founder, rhythm/lead guitarist, and original leader of the Rolling Stones. Initially a guitarist, he went on to prov ...

) were as well recorded and released on '' Donovan'' in 1977, "Boy for Every Girl" had been recorded for his 1973 album ''

Essence to Essence ''Essence to Essence'' is the eleventh studio album, and thirteenth album overall, from British singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in both the UK (Epic SEPC 69050) and the US (Epic KE 32800) in December 1973. History By late 1973, Donov ...

''. Donovan also included five new songs and titled the album ''Lady of the Stars'' for his wife Linda. ''Lady of the Stars'' was released in Britain through

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

, and licensed in the US to Allegiance Records. 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 ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aph ...

'' twelve years later.

Personnel

Session musicians and guest appearances on this album include: *Guitar:

Pete Carr Jesse Willard "Pete" Carr (April 22, 1950 – June 27, 2020) was an American guitarist. Carr contributed to successful recordings by Joan Baez, Luther Ingram, Bob Seger, Paul Simon, Willie Nelson, Joe Cocker, Boz Scaggs, The Staple Singers, ...

Richie Zito Richie Zito (born August 21, 1952) is an American songwriter, composer and record producer from Los Angeles. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Zito has experienced success as a prolific session musician, being featured on a wide array of ...

*Keyboards:

Barry Beckett Barry Edward Beckett (February 4, 1943 – June 10, 2009) was an American keyboardist, session musician, record producer, and studio founder. He is best known for his work with David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, and Roger Hawkins, his bandmates in ...

, Bill Payne,

William "Smitty" Smith William Daniel "Smitty" Smith (August 30, 1944 – November 28, 1997) was a Canadian keyboardist and session musician. Background He had been playing together with Steve Kennedy, Eric Mercury, Eric "Mouse" Johnson, Terry Logan and Diane Brooks ...

, Jai Winding,

Bruce Robb Bruce Robb is an American musician, record producer, engineer, and music supervisor. He is most recognized for his time as a member of " The Robbs" during the 1960s, then as a founder of Cherokee Studios in the 1970s; followed by decades of pro ...

*Bass guitar:

Bob Glaub Bob Glaub (born May 10, 1952)Hageman, William (April 29, 2005)."The aces of bass: Five giants of an overshadowed instrument", Knight Ridder Tribune News Service. is an American bass player and session musician. He has played with such artists an ...

Leland Sklar Leland Bruce Sklar (born May 28, 1947) is an American bassist and session musician. Sklar rose to prominence as a member of James Taylor's backing band, which coaleced into a group in its own right, The Section. This group of musicians so frequ ...

Wilton Felder Wilton Lewis Felder (August 31, 1940 – September 27, 2015) was an American saxophone and bass player, and is best known as a founding member of the Jazz Crusaders, later known as The Crusaders. Felder played bass on the Jackson 5's hits "I Want ...

, Jim Strauss *Drums: Rayford Griffin,

James Gadson James Gadson ( James Edward Gadson; born June 17, 1939) is an American drummer and session musician. Beginning his career in the late 1960s, Gadson has since become one of the most-recorded drummers in the history of R&B. He is also a singer and ...

, Mike "Reedo" Reed, Paulinho da Costa (percussion) *Wind instruments:

Jim Horn James Ronald Horn (born November 20, 1940) is an American saxophonist, woodwind player, and session musician. Biography Horn was born in Los Angeles, and after replacing saxophonist Steve Douglas in 1959, he toured with member Duane Eddy for f ...

*Guests:

Graham Nash Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...

and

Bonnie Bramlett Bonnie Bramlett (born Bonnie Lynn O'Farrell, November 8, 1944) is an American singer and occasional actress known for performing with her husband, Delaney Bramlett, as Delaney & Bonnie. She continues to sing as a solo artist. Life and career ...

(backing vocals),

Dave Mason David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. Over the course of his career, Mason has played and recorded with many notable pop and rock mu ...

(guitar),

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonicist who founded the rock band The Lovin' Spoonful. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969Cherokee Studios Cherokee Studios is a recording studio facility in Hollywood founded in 1972 by members of 1960s pop band The Robbs. Cherokee has been the location of many notable recordings by such artists as Steely Dan, David Bowie, Journey, The Cars, Foreign ...

, Los Angeles, produced by Jerry Wexler with Dee and

, whilst tracks "Sunshine Superman" and "Season of the Witch" were produced by Dee and Bruce Robb

Track listing

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

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. Some are designed to look like

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

s (''Golden Hits'') or like a reissue of the 1966 studio album '' Sunshine Superman''. *''Till I See You Again'', released in July 1994 (Success 22534CD). *''Sunshine Superman'', released November 29, 1994 (Charly Records CDCD 1206). Shuffled track order. The album cover is from the same photo session as Donovan's 1967 album ''

Wear Your Love Like Heaven "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" is a song and US single by British singer-songwriter Donovan, released in 1967. It became the opening title of his 1967 double-disc album ''A Gift from a Flower to a Garden''. It peaked at No. 23 in the ''Billboar ...

''. *''Golden Hits'', (original track order) released February 23, 1996 (Masters Music MACD 61075-2, Holland/Intercontinental Records 1075, US). *''Sunshine Superman'', released June 3, 1997, (Remember Records). Same track order as Charly Records release. *''Forever Gold'', rel. January 18, 2000, St. Clair Records, St. Clair 5818 *''Golden Tracks'', August 22, 2000 (Cleopatra 852) ;Other *''

Wonderful Music of Donovan ''Wonderful Music of Donovan'' is a compilation album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released by Remember Records (1993) and in Portugal (WMO 90323) in 1996. History In 1993, budget label Remember Records issued a compilation ...

'' (compilation that contains tracks from ''Lady of the Stars'') (1993)

References

External links

''Lady Of The Stars'' – Donovan unofficial web site
*
''1984 Donovan – Lady Of The Stars''
at Sessiondays.com. {{Authority control Donovan albums 1984 albums RCA Records albums Albums produced by Jerry Wexler