''Neutronica'' is the fifteenth studio album (seventeenth overall) by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

singer/songwriter

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously 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 musi ...

. It was released in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

(

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 pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westin ...

PL 28429) in August 1980 and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

(

Barclay Records Barclay is a French record company and label founded by Eddie Barclay in 1953. Eddie Barclay was a bandleader, pianist, producer, and nightclub owner. With his wife, Nicole, who was the vocalist in his band, he started Barclay. The catalogue in ...

BA 253 200149) in 1980.

Background

After ''

'' failed to chart in both the UK and US, Donovan once again left his long-time producer

Mickie Most Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind scores of hit singles for acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Choco ...

. He travelled throughout mainland

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, bringing attention to

world hunger Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

and protesting against

nuclear proliferation Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to nations not recognized as "Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weap ...

and weapons development. RCA signed him for a European record distribution deal, beginning with ''Neutronica'', released in 1980. The album did not receive distribution in the US or UK. Many of the songs Donovan wrote for ''Neutronica'' are directly related to his political views. At the time, he was campaigning against what he viewed as disproportionate military spending while famine existed across much of the world. Donovan also recorded "Mee Mee I Love You", a song co-written by his daughter Astrella Leitch, and two war-themed songs, the traditional

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included t ...

tune "Heights of Alma" and

Eric Bogle Eric Bogle (born 23 September 1944) is a Scottish-born Australian folk singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Scotland, he emigrated to Australia at the age of 25, to settle near Adelaide, South Australia. Bogle's songs have covered a variety of ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

"No Man's Land". The arrangements on ''Neutronica'' range from synthesizer-based rock songs to acoustic folk songs. Donovan's vocals similarly range from the harder singing style prevalent on ''Donovan'' on the rockers, and softer singing on the acoustic numbers.

Reissues

*On 28 August 2001, Pilot Records released ''Neutronica'' (Pilot 89) in the UK for the first time on CD with seven bonus tracks. The first two bonus cuts are concert recordings of "The Heights of Alma" and

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American ( Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these ...

's "Universal Soldier". The next two bonus tracks, "Only to Be Expected" and "Split Wood Not Atoms", were acoustic demo recordings for ''Neutronica''. The fifth and sixth bonus tracks are alternate versions of "Shipwreck" and "Madrigalinda" respectively. The last bonus track, "Fair Ye Well", is an a cappella song.

Track listing

All tracks by Donovan Leitch, except where noted.

Original album

Side one

#"Shipwreck" – 3:30 #"Only to Be Expected" – 3:27 #"Comin' to You" – 3:30 #"No Hunger" – 2:44 #"Neutron" – 2:05 #"Mee Mee I Love You" (D. Leitch, Astrella Leitch) – 2:45

Side two

#"The Heights of Alma" (

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...

, arranged by Donovan) – 3:45 #"No Man's Land" (

) – 5:23 #"We Are One" – 3:52 #"Madrigalinda" – 2:47 #"Harmony" – 2:16

2001 Pilot Records reissue

#"Shipwreck" – 3:26 #"Only to Be Expected" – 3:21 #"Comin' to You" – 3:28 #"No Hunger" – 2:44 #"Neutron" – 2:05 #"Mee Mee I Love You" (D. Leitch, Astrella Leitch) – 2:45 #"The Heights of Alma" (Traditional, arranged by Donovan) – 3:42 #"No Man's Land" (Eric Bogle) – 5:20 #"We Are One" – 3:46 #"Madrigalinda" – 2:46 #"Harmony" – 2:16

Bonus tracks

#"Heights of Alma" (live) (traditional, arranged by Donovan) – 3:33 #"Universal Soldier" (live) (

) – 2:38 #"Only to Be Expected" (acoustic) – 2:40 #"Split Wood Not Atoms" – 2:41 #"Shipwreck" (alt mix) – 3:45 #"Madrigalinda" (Alt. Version) – 2:44 #"Fair Ye Well" (acapella) – 1:50

Personnel

*Donovan – vocals, acoustic guitar *Ian Berenson – electric guitar *

John Giblin John Giblin, is an active session musician, contributing mainly as an acoustic and electric bass player, and spanning genres of jazz, classical, rock, folk and avant-garde music. Best known as a studio musician, recording film scores and cont ...

– bass guitar *

Morris Pert Morris David Brough Pert (8 September 1947 – 27 April 2010) was a Scottish composer, drummer/percussionist, and pianist who composed in the fields of both contemporary classical and jazz-rock music. His compositions include three symphonies, p ...

– drums

References

External links

''Neutronica'' – Donovan Unofficial Site
{{Authority control Donovan albums 1980 albums