Sutras (album)

Last updated

Sutras
Donovan-Sutras.jpg
Studio album by
Released14 October 1996
Recorded1995–96
Genre Folk
Length50:51
Label American Recordings
Producer Rick Rubin
Donovan chronology
One Night in Time
(1993)
Sutras
(1996)
Rising Again (Live)
(2001)

Sutras is the nineteenth studio album (22nd overall) by Scottish singer/songwriter Donovan. It was released in the UK (American Recordings 74321 39743 2) and the US (American Recordings 43705) on 14 October 1996. The US version does not contain the final track, "The Garden".

Contents

History

By the mid-1990s, the CD reissues of Donovan's 1960s albums and the Troubadour: The Definitive Collection 1964-1976 boxed set reacquainted his fans with his music. These releases also introduced him to newer generations, which helped rebuild his fan base.

The success of Johnny Cash's American Recordings album prompted producer Rick Rubin to search for other artists who would benefit from the same model. While in the studio with Tom Petty, Rubin mentioned that he would like to work with Donovan. Petty suggested that he call Donovan, which he did.

Donovan agreed to have Rubin produce his next album, and prepared over one hundred songs for the recording sessions. The sessions were to feature sparse instrumentation, much like the sessions that made Cash's American Recordings such a success. Rubin insisted that Donovan listen to the folk material that Donovan recorded for Pye Records in 1964 and '65 for inspiration. The recording sessions commenced in 1995 with mixing of the song "El Dorado" in Los Angeles by Sylvia Massy. The deeply meditative Sutras was released late the following year.

Sutras received mixed reviews and failed to achieve the kind of commercial success Cash's American Recordings had. Donovan did not receive a longer contract, and Sutras became his only collaboration with Rubin; it is now out of print in the US. Yet for all its lack of commercial success, Sutras galvanized Donovan's fan base by reestablishing him as a current artist releasing new material. The internet in particular served a vital role in uniting his fans after the release of Sutras. Donovan paid close attention to this movement, and spent the next five years reorganizing his business around the internet to better reach his fans. Sutras can be seen as one of his most coherent solo efforts, since his creative period shortly after learning Transcendental Meditation and the period he spent in India with The Beatles (1967–71).

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg link
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg link

Track listing

All tracks by Donovan Leitch, except where noted. The US version of Sutras retained the same track sequence, but deleted the last song on the album ("The Garden"), making it a fourteen-track album.

Original UK release

  1. "Please Don't Bend" – 4:14
  2. "Give It All Up" – 3:09
  3. "Sleep" (Traditional; arranged by Donovan) – 2:47
  4. "Everlasting Sea" – 3:33
  5. "High Your Love" – 2:31
  6. "The Clear-Browed One" – 3:20
  7. "The Way" – 2:16
  8. "Deep Peace" (Donovan, MacLeod, Walton) – 3:11
  9. "Nirvana" – 3:31
  10. "Eldorado" (Words by Edgar Allan Poe; music by Donovan) – 3:06
  11. "Be Mine" – 3:28
  12. "Lady of the Lamp" – 3:53
  13. "The Evernow" – 4:09
  14. "Universe Am I" – 4:46
  15. "The Garden" – 2:51

credits from allmusic.com

Credits

ArtistCredit
Martyn AtkinsPhotography
Nick BrineEngineer
Christine CanoArt Direction, Design
DonovanComposer, Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Acoustic), Harmonica, Harmonium, Primary Artist, Vocals
Steve Ferrone Drums, Percussion
Josh Haden Bass
Evan HartzellDrums
Mobi HoTranslation
Nigel Kennedy Arranger, Violin
Fiona MacLeodComposer, Voices
Sylvia Massy Mixing
Caitlin MatthewsTranslation
Eddie MillerAssistant Engineer
Dave Navarro Chamberlin, Fender Rhodes, Guest Artist, Keyboards, Mellotron, Piano, Sitar (Electric), Vocals (Background)
Edgar Allan PoeComposer
Jonny Polonsky Bass
Juliet PraterPercussion
Paul ReedEngineer
Paul Roche Translation
Rick RubinArranger, Producer
Al SandersonAssistant Engineer
Dave Sardy Bells
David SchiffmanEngineer, Mixing
Eddy SchreyerMastering
Jim Scott Engineer
Michael SeverensCello
Pavinder SinghTabla
Michael StockAssistant Engineer
Gerri SutyakCello
Benmont Tench Keyboards
Danny Thompson Bass (Acoustic)
TraditionalComposer
Jake Walton

Related Research Articles

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers American rock band

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. Formed in 1976, the band originally comprised Tom Petty, Mike Campbell, Ron Blair, Stan Lynch (drums), and Benmont Tench (keyboards). In 1981, Blair, weary of the touring lifestyle, departed the band. His replacement, Howie Epstein, stayed with the band for the next two decades. In 1991, Scott Thurston joined the band as a multi-instrumentalist—mostly on rhythm guitar and second keyboards. In 1994, Steve Ferrone replaced Lynch on drums. Blair returned to the Heartbreakers in 2002, the year before Epstein's death. The band had a long string of hit singles including "Breakdown", "American Girl", "Refugee", "The Waiting", "Learning to Fly", and "Mary Jane's Last Dance", among many others, that stretched over several decades of work.

Donovan Scottish musician

Donovan Phillips Leitch, mononymously known as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world music. He has lived in Scotland, Hertfordshire (England), London, California, and—since at least 2008—in County Cork, Ireland, with his family. Emerging from the British folk scene, Donovan reached fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with live performances on the pop TV series Ready Steady Go!.

American Recordings (record label) American record label

American Recordings is an American record label headed by producer Rick Rubin. The label has featured artists such as Slayer, the Black Crowes, ZZ Top, Danzig, Trouble, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, The Mother Hips, and System of a Down.

Rick Rubin American music producer

Frederick Jay Rubin is an American record producer and former co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, he is the cofounder of Def Jam Recordings and also established American Recordings. With the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Geto Boys, and Run-DMC, Rubin helped popularize hip hop music. He also produced a number of top-selling artists from a variety of other genres including heavy metal, alternative rock, and country.

Leon Russell American singer-songwriter

Leon Russell was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and roll, country, gospel, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, southern rock, blues rock, folk, surf and Tulsa Sound.

<i>Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One</i> 1970 studio album by the Kinks

Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One, commonly abbreviated to Lola Versus Powerman, or simply Lola, is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Kinks, recorded and released in 1970. A concept album, it is a satirical appraisal of the music industry, including song publishers, unions, the press, accountants, business managers, and life on the road. Musically Lola Versus Powerman is varied, described by Stephen Thomas Erlewine as "a wildly unfocused but nonetheless dazzling tour de force", containing some of Ray Davies' strongest songs.

<i>Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1</i> 1988 studio album by Traveling Wilburys

The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 is the debut studio album by the English-American supergroup Traveling Wilburys, comprising George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. It was released in October 1988 to commercial success and critical acclaim. Although Harrison had long planned to start such a band, the project came about through happenstance. Harrison was in Los Angeles and in need of a B-side for a single from his Cloud Nine album, which resulted in the participants collaborating informally on the song "Handle with Care" at Dylan's home. Adopting alter egos as the five Wilbury brothers, they then recorded a full album, produced by Lynne and Harrison. It was the only Wilburys album to feature Orbison, who died suddenly of a heart attack less than two months after its release. The group continued as a four-piece after his death.

<i>The Hurdy Gurdy Man</i> 1968 studio album by Donovan

The Hurdy Gurdy Man is the sixth studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the US in October 1968, but not in the UK, because of a continuing contractual dispute that also prevented Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow from being released there. A songbook of lead sheets to the album was nonetheless issued in both countries.

<i>HMS Donovan</i> (album) 1971 studio album by Donovan

HMS Donovan is the ninth studio album, and tenth album overall, from British singer-songwriter Donovan. It marks the second album of Donovan's children's music, after the For Little Ones portion of A Gift from a Flower to a Garden. HMS Donovan is the second double album of Donovan's career, and was released in the UK only, in July 1971.

<i>Lady of the Stars</i> 1984 studio album by Donovan

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 in 1983 and the US in January 1984.

<i>Pied Piper</i> (Donovan album) 2002 studio album by Donovan

Pied Piper is the twentieth studio album, by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It marks the third album of his children's music, after the For Little Ones portion of A Gift from a Flower to a Garden and H.M.S. Donovan. Pied Piper was released in both the UK and US on 19 March 2002.

"Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" is a rockabilly song often credited to Carl Perkins. Based on a 1936 song written by singer/songwriter Rex Griffin, it achieved widespread popularity when it was released in 1957 by Perkins and covered by the Beatles in 1964.

<i>12 Songs</i> (Neil Diamond album) 2005 studio album by Neil Diamond

12 Songs is the twenty-sixth studio album by Neil Diamond, released in 2005. It was his first studio album since 2001's Three Chord Opera. It was produced by Rick Rubin.

<i>American IV: The Man Comes Around</i> Album by Johnny Cash

American IV: The Man Comes Around is a studio album by Johnny Cash. It was released on November 5, 2002, by American Recordings and Universal Records. It is the fourth in Cash's "American" series of albums, and the last album released during his lifetime, and is considered some of his finest work towards the end of his life. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

<i>Unchained</i> (Johnny Cash album) 1996 studio album by Johnny Cash

Unchained, also known as American II: Unchained, is the second album in Johnny Cash's American Recordings series. It was released on November 5, 1996, by American Recordings. Like all of Cash's albums for American Recordings, Unchained was produced by Rick Rubin. The album received a Grammy for Best Country Album and Cash was nominated for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for his version of "Rusty Cage."

"Universal Soldier" is a song written and recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. The song was originally released on Sainte-Marie's debut album It's My Way! in 1964. "Universal Soldier" was not an immediate popular hit at the time of its release, but it did garner attention within the contemporary folk music community. It became a hit a year later when Donovan covered it, as did Glen Campbell. Sainte-Marie said of the song: "I wrote 'Universal Soldier' in the basement of The Purple Onion coffee house in Toronto in the early sixties. It's about individual responsibility for war and how the old feudal thinking kills us all."

<i>American III: Solitary Man</i> 2000 studio album by Johnny Cash

American III: Solitary Man is a studio album by Johnny Cash. It was released on October 17, 2000, by American Recordings. It is the third album in Cash's American series.

<i>Unearthed</i> (Johnny Cash album) Compilation album

Unearthed is a box set by American country music singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. It was released by American Recordings on November 25, 2003, two months after Cash's death. The album was compiled by Cash and Rick Rubin, who also produced the set. It was certified Gold on December 2, 2004, by the Recording Industry Association of America.

<i>Lynn Andersons Greatest Hits</i> 1972 greatest hits album by Lynn Anderson

Lynn Anderson's Greatest Hits is a compilation album by American country artist Lynn Anderson. It was released in August 1972 via Columbia Records and was produced by Glenn Sutton. It was Anderson's eighth compilation released during her recording career and second for the Columbia label. Eleven tracks were chosen for the collection, all of which were previously hits. The album charted on major record publications at the time of its release and later certified for major sales.

Jonny Polonsky Musical artist

Jonny Polonsky is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer.

References