''Slow Down World'' is the thirteenth studio album (fifteenth overall) by

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

singer/songwriter

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...

, released in the United States (

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

PE 33945) in May 1976 and the United Kingdom (Epic SEPC 86011) on 4 June 1976.

Background

Over his past few album releases, Donovan had hired a succession of popular record producers in hopes of chart success:

Mickie Most Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Chocolate, Arrows, Racey and t ...

for '' Cosmic Wheels'',

Andrew Loog Oldham Andrew Loog Oldham (born 29 January 1944) is an English record producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 to 1967, and was noted for his flamboyant style. Early life Oldham's f ...

for '' Essence to Essence'' and Norbert Putnam for '' 7-Tease''. The success of these albums was mild at best, and indicated a shift in Donovan's popularity away from the superstardom of the 1960s and towards a distinctly smaller fan base. For his next album, Donovan decided to embrace this fan base by taking on the producer duties himself and writing a set of songs that were directly at odds with the popular sounds of the time. While ''Slow Down World'' does contain some upbeat numbers, many of the songs feature tired and resigned lyrics. Two of the songs on ''Slow Down World'' were written by Donovan's longtime friend

Derroll Adams Derroll Adams (November 27, 1925 – February 6, 2000) was an American folk musician. Biography He was born Derroll Lewis Thompson in Portland, Oregon, United States. At 16, he served in the Army, but was discharged when his true age of 16 was ...

. Adams was the influence behind "Epistle to Derroll" from Donovan's 1968 album ''

A Gift from a Flower to a Garden ''A Gift From a Flower to a Garden'' is the fifth studio album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan, released in December 1967 through Pye Records in the UK and Epic Records in the US. It marks the first double-disc album of Donovan's career ...

''. Donovan's hit " There is a Mountain" has similar lyrics to "The Mountain", one of the Derroll Adams songs covered here. ''Slow Down World'' reached #174 on the US charts, matching the success of ''Essence to Essence'' but not reaching the success of Donovan's last album, ''7-Tease''. More importantly, ''Slow Down World'' marked the last album of his Epic Records contract. Without access to the label's promotion mechanisms, he never again achieved chart success or the same level of record sales.

Reissues

*On 19 April 2004, Diablo Records released ''7-Tease/Slow Down World'' (DIAB8052) in the UK on CD. This compilation includes all of ''7-Tease'' and all of ''Slow Down World'' on one disc, and marks the first time all of ''Slow Down World'' was released on CD.

Track listing

All tracks by Donovan Leitch, except where noted.

Original album

Side one

#"Dark-Eyed Blue Jean Angel" – 3:50 #"Cryin' Shame" – 4:29 #"The Mountain" (

) – 3:32 #"Children of the World" – 3:22 #"My Love Is True (Love Song)" (Adams) – 3:41

Side two

#"A Well Known Has-Been" – 7:25 #"Black Widow" – 5:44 #"Slow Down World" – 4:22 #"Liberation Rag" – 2:56

Personnel

*Donovan – vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica * Philip Donnelly – guitar *

David Hungate David Hungate (born August 5, 1948) is an American retired bass guitarist noted as a member of the Los Angeles pop-rock band Toto from 1976 to 1982 and again from 2014 to 2015, and the son of judge William L. Hungate. Along with most of his ...

Klaus Voormann Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German graphic artist, artist, musician, and record producer. Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, includ ...

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

, Wilton Felder – bass guitar *

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian record producer, composer, arranger, and musician. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His career began as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark in the early 1970s befor ...

– keyboards *

Jay Graydon Jay Joseph Graydon (born October 8, 1949, Burbank, California) is an American songwriter, recording artist, guitarist, singer, keyboardist, producer, arranger, and recording engineer. He is the winner of two Grammy Awards (in the R&B category) ...

– synthesizer, programming *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Do ...

– drums *

Bobbye Hall Bobbye Jean Hall is an American percussionist who has recorded with a variety of rock, soul, blues and jazz artists, and has appeared on 20 songs that reached the top ten in the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Early career, work for ...

Emil Richards Emil Richards (born Emilio Joseph Radocchia; September 2, 1932 – December 13, 2019) was an American vibraphonist and percussionist. Biography Musician Richards began playing the xylophone aged six. In High School, he performed with the ...

– percussion * Tom Scott – saxophone *

Chuck Findley Charles B. Findley (born December 13, 1947, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania) is an American trumpet player known for his diverse work as a session musician. He also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone. His technical ab ...

– trumpet, flugelhorn * Lew McCreary – trombone *Douglas Davis – cello *Al DeLory, B.J. Cook, Donny Gerrard, Ed Whitting, Jeanette Clinger, Jennifer Hicklin, John Merlino, Julia Waters, Maxine Waters, Ron Hicklin, Stacy Jo Clinger, Susie Ives – background vocals

References

External links

''Slow Down World'' - Donovan Unofficial Site''1976 Donovan – Slow Down World''
at Sessiondays.com. {{Authority control Donovan albums 1976 albums Epic Records albums