"Mellow Yellow" is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan.[6] Released in the US in 1966, it reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.[7] Outside the US, "Mellow Yellow" peaked at No. 8 in the UK in early 1967.
The song was rumoured to be about smoking dried banana skins, which was believed to be a hallucinogenic drug in the 1960s, though this aspect of bananas has since been debunked.[8] According to Donovan's notes, accompanying the album Donovan's Greatest Hits, the rumour that one could get high from smoking dried banana skins was started by Country Joe McDonald in 1966, and Donovan heard the rumour three weeks before "Mellow Yellow" was released as a single.
According to The Rolling Stone Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll, he admitted later the song made reference to a vibrator; an "electrical banana" as mentioned in the lyrics.[9] Donovan stated, "I was reading a newspaper and on the back there was an ad for a yellow dildo called the mellow yellow," he said. "Really, you know the 'electric banana' was right in there and gave it away. And that's what the song's about." This definition was re-affirmed in an interview with NME magazine: "it's about being cool, laid-back, and also the electrical bananas that were appearing on the scene – which were ladies' vibrators."[10]
Paul McCartney can be heard as one of the background revellers on this track, but the "quite rightly" whispering lines in the chorus is not McCartney, but rather Donovan himself.[11] Donovan had a small part in coming up with the lyrics for "Yellow Submarine", and McCartney played bass guitar (uncredited) on portions of Donovan's Mellow Yellow album.[12]
Cash Box called "Mellow Yellow" an "easy-going, sophisticated blues number which should be a giant."[14]
Covers and adaptationsedit
"Mellow Yellow" was covered in 1967 by soul singer Big Maybelle on her album Got a Brand New Bag.[15] It was also covered in 1968 by British R&B singer/keyboardist Georgie Fame on his album The Third Face of Fame.[16]
In 1999, "Mellow Yellow" was sung by a group of young adults, among whom were then-unknowns Alex Greenwald, Rashida Jones and Jason Thompson, in Gap's "Everybody in Cords" commercial directed by Pedro Romhanyi. The music mix was done by the Dust Brothers.[17] In 2015 the song was covered by Spanish singer Abraham Mateo for promotion of the film Minions.[18] The original by Donovan was used in the film's ending titles. In Brazil Michel Teló covered the song, adapted to Portuguese, also for the movie.[19]
^Laing, Dave (1975). The Electric Muse: the story of Folk into Rock. Methuen. p. 151. ISBN0-413-31860-5. Donovan (...) did change styles to make a couple of enormously successful pop singles, "Mellow Yellow" and "Sunshine Superman", before disappearing from the front ranks.
^Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. p. 305. ISBN978-1-8435-3105-0. A further move into psychedelic pop spawned another million-seller in "Mellow Yellow" — [Donovan's] best-known song
^Ellis, Iain (2012). Brit Wits: A History of British Rock Humor. Intellect Books. p. 42. ISBN978-1-8415-0565-7. Hits like "Mellow Yellow" (1967) and "Hurdy Gurdy Man" (1968) saw Donovan become the public face of fanciful British psychedelic pop in the latter part of the decade.
^"Record Reviews > Pick of the Week" (PDF). Cash Box. Vol. XXVIII, no. 15. 5 November 1966. p. 22. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
^"The Hot 100". Billboard. 24 December 1966. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
^Adams, Cecil (26 April 2002). "Will smoking banana peels get you high?". The Straight Dope. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
^George-Warren, Holly, ed. (2001). The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (3rd, Revised and updated for the 21st century ed.). Fireside. p. 276. ISBN0-7432-0120-5.
^"Mellow Yellow – Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
^. Cash Box. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012.
^"100 Top Pops" (PDF). Record World. 17 December 1966. p. 19. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
^"Jaaroverzichten 1967" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
External linksedit
Mellow Yellow (Single) – Donovan Unofficial Site
"Mellow Yellow" at MusicBrainz (information and list of recordings)
January 01, 1970
mellow, yellow, other, uses, disambiguation, song, written, recorded, scottish, singer, songwriter, donovan, released, 1966, reached, billboard, outside, peaked, early, 1967, single, donovanfrom, album, side, sunny, south, kensington, preachin, love, releasedo. For other uses see Mellow Yellow disambiguation Mellow Yellow is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer songwriter Donovan 6 Released in the US in 1966 it reached No 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 7 Outside the US Mellow Yellow peaked at No 8 in the UK in early 1967 Mellow Yellow Single by Donovanfrom the album Mellow YellowB side Sunny South Kensington USA Preachin Love UK ReleasedOctober 1966 US February 1967 UK RecordedOctober 1966GenrePop 1 2 psychedelic pop 3 4 blues 5 Length3 42LabelEpic 5 10098Pye 7N 17267Songwriter s DonovanProducer s Mickie MostDonovan UK singles chronology Sunshine Superman 1966 Mellow Yellow 1966 There Is a Mountain 1967 Donovan US singles chronology Sunny Goodge Street 1966 Mellow Yellow 1966 Epistle to Dippy 1967 Contents 1 Content 2 Reception 3 Covers and adaptations 4 Chart performance 4 1 Weekly charts 4 2 Year end charts 5 References 6 External linksContent editThe song was rumoured to be about smoking dried banana skins which was believed to be a hallucinogenic drug in the 1960s though this aspect of bananas has since been debunked 8 According to Donovan s notes accompanying the album Donovan s Greatest Hits the rumour that one could get high from smoking dried banana skins was started by Country Joe McDonald in 1966 and Donovan heard the rumour three weeks before Mellow Yellow was released as a single According to The Rolling Stone Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll he admitted later the song made reference to a vibrator an electrical banana as mentioned in the lyrics 9 Donovan stated I was reading a newspaper and on the back there was an ad for a yellow dildo called the mellow yellow he said Really you know the electric banana was right in there and gave it away And that s what the song s about This definition was re affirmed in an interview with NME magazine it s about being cool laid back and also the electrical bananas that were appearing on the scene which were ladies vibrators 10 Paul McCartney can be heard as one of the background revellers on this track but the quite rightly whispering lines in the chorus is not McCartney but rather Donovan himself 11 Donovan had a small part in coming up with the lyrics for Yellow Submarine and McCartney played bass guitar uncredited on portions of Donovan s Mellow Yellow album 12 In 2005 the track was remastered by EMI Records for the Mellow Yellow album re issue 13 Reception editCash Box called Mellow Yellow an easy going sophisticated blues number which should be a giant 14 Covers and adaptations edit Mellow Yellow was covered in 1967 by soul singer Big Maybelle on her album Got a Brand New Bag 15 It was also covered in 1968 by British R amp B singer keyboardist Georgie Fame on his album The Third Face of Fame 16 In 1999 Mellow Yellow was sung by a group of young adults among whom were then unknowns Alex Greenwald Rashida Jones and Jason Thompson in Gap s Everybody in Cords commercial directed by Pedro Romhanyi The music mix was done by the Dust Brothers 17 In 2015 the song was covered by Spanish singer Abraham Mateo for promotion of the film Minions 18 The original by Donovan was used in the film s ending titles In Brazil Michel Telo covered the song adapted to Portuguese also for the movie 19 Chart performance editWeekly charts edit Chart 1966 1967 Peakposition Australia Go Set National Top 40 20 7 Australia Kent Music Report 21 8 Austria O3 Austria Top 40 22 12 Belgium Ultratop 50 Flanders 23 7 Canada Top Singles RPM 24 2 Germany Official German Charts 25 16 Ireland IRMA 26 15 Netherlands Dutch Top 40 27 14 Netherlands Single Top 100 28 12 New Zealand Listener 29 3 Norway VG lista 30 7 South Africa Springbok 31 4 UK Singles OCC 32 8 US Billboard Hot 100 33 2 US Cash Box 34 3 US Record World 35 1 Year end charts edit Chart 1967 Position Belgium Ultratop 50 Flanders 36 63References edit Laing Dave 1975 The Electric Muse the story of Folk into Rock Methuen p 151 ISBN 0 413 31860 5 Donovan did change styles to make a couple of enormously successful pop singles Mellow Yellow and Sunshine Superman before disappearing from the front ranks Willis Ellen 2011 Out of the Vinyl Deeps Ellen Willis on Rock Music University of Minnesota Press p 14 ISBN 978 0 8166 7283 7 Donovan wrote medieval fantasies and pop collages like Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow Buckley Peter 2003 The Rough Guide to Rock Rough Guides p 305 ISBN 978 1 8435 3105 0 A further move into psychedelic pop spawned another million seller in Mellow Yellow Donovan s best known song Ellis Iain 2012 Brit Wits A History of British Rock Humor Intellect Books p 42 ISBN 978 1 8415 0565 7 Hits like Mellow Yellow 1967 and Hurdy Gurdy Man 1968 saw Donovan become the public face of fanciful British psychedelic pop in the latter part of the decade Record Reviews gt Pick of the Week PDF Cash Box Vol XXVIII no 15 5 November 1966 p 22 Retrieved 12 January 2022 Gilliland John 1969 Show 48 The British are Coming The British are Coming With an emphasis on Donovan the Bee Gees and the Who Part 5 UNT Digital Library audio Pop Chronicles University of North Texas Libraries The Hot 100 Billboard 24 December 1966 Retrieved 1 December 2018 Adams Cecil 26 April 2002 Will smoking banana peels get you high The Straight Dope Retrieved 9 June 2014 George Warren Holly ed 2001 The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock amp Roll 3rd Revised and updated for the 21st century ed Fireside p 276 ISBN 0 7432 0120 5 The Aftershow NME 18 June 2011 p 66 Mellow Yellow Donovan Unofficial Archived from the original on 5 March 2016 The Paul McCartney World Tour booklet Media notes 1989 Mellow Yellow reissues Donovan Unofficial Archived from the original on 14 March 2016 Record Reviews gt Pick of the Week PDF Cash Box Vol XXVIII no 15 5 November 1966 p 22 Retrieved 12 January 2022 Big Maybelle Got a Brand New Bag AllMusic Retrieved 11 May 2016 Thompson Dave Georgie Fame Third Face of Fame AllMusic Retrieved 11 May 2016 Mind the Gap Entertainment Weekly No 502 10 September 1999 Archived from the original on 18 February 2009 Abraham Mateo pone musica a Los Minions Las Provincias in Spanish 25 June 2015 Retrieved 29 June 2015 Minions Michel Telo conta como adaptou musica tema do filme in Portuguese Globo com 22 June 2015 Retrieved 29 June 2015 Go Set s National Top 40 Go Set 11 January 1967 Retrieved 17 July 2013 via Poparchives com au Forum ARIA Charts Special Occasion Charts Chart Positions Pre 1989 Part 3 Australian charts com Hung Medien Archived from the original on 20 October 2013 Retrieved 9 June 2014 Donovan Mellow Yellow in German O3 Austria Top 40 Retrieved 9 June 2014 Donovan Mellow Yellow in Dutch Ultratop 50 Retrieved 9 June 2014 Top RPM Singles Issue 5781 RPM Library and Archives Canada Retrieved 17 July 2013 Donovan Mellow Yellow in German GfK Entertainment charts Retrieved 9 June 2014 The Irish Charts Search Results Mellow Yellow Irish Singles Chart Retrieved 17 July 2013 Nederlandse Top 40 week 51 1966 in Dutch Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 9 June 2014 Donovan Mellow Yellow in Dutch Single Top 100 Retrieved 9 June 2014 Search listener Flavour of New Zealand Retrieved 25 April 2018 Donovan Mellow Yellow VG lista Retrieved 9 June 2014 South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 1989 Acts D Rock co za Retrieved 5 January 2019 Official Singles Chart Top 100 Official Charts Company Retrieved 17 July 2013 Mellow Yellow Awards AllMusic Retrieved 17 July 2013 CASH BOX Top 100 Singles Week ending DECEMBER 17 1966 Cash Box Archived from the original on 5 October 2012 100 Top Pops PDF Record World 17 December 1966 p 19 Retrieved 9 September 2017 Jaaroverzichten 1967 in Dutch Ultratop Hung Medien Retrieved 9 June 2014 External links editMellow Yellow Single Donovan Unofficial Site Mellow Yellow at MusicBrainz information and list of recordings Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mellow Yellow amp oldid 1217011156, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
