![]() The title track of Donovan’s fourth album, 1967’s Mellow Yellow, became a No.Due to a contractual dispute, the album wasn’t initially released in the UK. The title track topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and reached No. His third album, 1966’s Sunshine Superman, was the start of Donovan’s greatest period of commercial success.3 in the UK and yielded the Top 5 UK single “Catch the Wind.” The second, Fairytale (also released in ’65), went Top 20 in the UK, and the single “Colours” became his second Top 5 hit. The first, 1965’s What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid (released in the US as Catch the Wind), reached No. Donovan got off to fast start, releasing nine albums between 19.He picked up the guitar at age 14 and performed in local clubs before making his first recordings in 1964, when he was 18. Born in Glasgow, Donovan moved with his family to Hertfordshire, England, when he was 10.The only thing we ever got close doing was that Mary Hopkin album.Initially dogged by comparisons to Bob Dylan, Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan found transatlantic pop success in the mid-’60s with psychedelic pop songs like “Sunshine Superman” and “Mellow Yellow.” (chuckles) Paul did the “Mellow Yellow” session and added the clap and the giggle. Rumor has it that Paul McCartney sang background on “Atlantis.”ĭonovan: No. Donovan, in a Jinterview with NMEįrom an interview with Goldmine, October 16, 2008: So it’s about being cool, laid-back, and also the electrical bananas that were appearing on the scene – which were ladies vibrators. ‘They call me Mellow Yellow, I’m the guy who can calm you down.’ Lennon and I used to look in the back of newspapers and pull out funny things and they’d end up in songs. His voice is likely somewhere in the mix at the end of the song amid the revelry.ĭonovan had recently helped out McCartney on another “Yellow” song: He provided the “sky of blue, sea of green” line in “ Yellow Submarine.” Both songs hit #2 US in 1966. McCartney dropped by the session and was captured on tape saying “Mellow Yellow” and doing some cheering. He was rumored to be the whispering voice saying “quite rightly,” but that was Donovan. Paul McCartney appears somewhere on this track, but it’s not clear where. 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. Paul McCartney can be heard as one of the background revellers on this track, but the “quite rightly” whispering answering lines in the chorus is not McCartney but rather Donovan himself. 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.” 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. 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. 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. 1.) Outside the US, “Mellow Yellow” peaked at No. ![]() (Both Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys and Winchester Cathedral by The New Vaudeville Band kept it from hitting No. “ Mellow Yellow” is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |