Search for: Follow This, That, and the Other on WordPress. 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.’ John Lennon and I used to look in the back of newspapers and pull out funny things and they’d end up in songs. Asked what the song was actually about, Donovan said, “Quite a few things. Most of these interpretations concerned drugs, but there were even rumors that the song was about abortion. According to Donovan’s notes accompanying the album Donovan’s Greatest Hits, the rumor that one could get high from smoking dried banana skins was started by Country Joe McDonald in 1966, and Donovan heard the rumor three weeks before “Mellow Yellow” was released as a single.ĭonovan set out to capture the mellow vibe of the ’60s with this song, adding what he called “cool, groovy phrases.” These phrases were interpreted in ways he never imagined, as people came up with lots of ideas as to what the song meant. ![]() ![]() This was supposed to release the banana’s hallucinogenic qualities, but that aspect of banana skins has since been debunked. Back in the 60s, it was believed that dried banana skins could be turned into a hallucinogenic drug by scraping the fibers off of a banana skin and cooking them over a low fire. According to Wikipedia, the song was rumored to be about smoking dried banana skins. It reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966. A little-known cool cover version of "Mellow Yellow" was done by the jazz-soul combo Young Holt Unlimited.“Mellow Yellow” was written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. The famous lyrical reference to an electric banana gave rise to fantastic rumors that smoking banana peels would get you high, though the words were surely intended in a lighthearted humorous fashion, not as a serious revelation. That partying atmosphere, something like a bridge between the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" and "All You Need Is Love" ambience, sticks with the rest of the song, particularly the fadeout. (Though those whispers have sometimes been rumored to have been voiced by Donovan's friend Paul McCartney, actually these were by Donovan.) After a near drum-roll of a turnaround, the song glides into an instrumental break of celebratory partying, with voices whooping it up as a striptease-like brass section takes over the main riff. 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. It was certainly difficult not to sing along with that chorus, too, particularly as it was immediately rejoined by a responsive knowing, nudge-nudge affirmative whisper. Mellow Yellow by Donovan Song Year: 1967 This classic track from Donovan is highly fitting for the period of psychedelia that was so popular at the time. 'Mellow Yellow' is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. There are a few fan theories about what the song is about. Mellow Yellow is as mellow as the title suggests, and there is no doubt that the song will get stuck in your head. Only in 19, perhaps, would that nickname be worn as a badge of honor, but it fit in well with the psychedelic era, when the more outrageous the language and flouting of convention, the better. Mellow Yellow by Donovan Song Year: 1967 This classic track from Donovan is highly fitting for the period of psychedelia that was so popular at the time. What makes this a psychedelic folk-rocker, rather than a sassy jazz tune, is the insistent chorus in which Donovan gleefully announces that they call him Mellow Yellow. OUTRO: A7 D G They call me mellow yellow (Quite rightly. ![]() The verses are certainly mighty melodic in a pop folk-rock fashion, with the singer's sly declarations of love for various fantastic women accompanied by only minimal electric guitar and bass. The big hook in "Mellow Yellow" is not a riff or note, but a jazzy walking beat which carries the instrumental intro until Donovan's usual breathy vocal makes its entrance. When Donovan was asked what the song was about by NME back in 2011, the folk star reflected and mused: Quite a few things. No song depicts the changing swinging style in the realm of dogeared acoustics and gingham quite like Donovan’s ‘Mellow Yellow’. Countercultural bliss, of course, did not prohibit commercial success, and "Mellow Yellow" was a very big hit, reaching number two in the U.S. By 1966, even the ancient genre of folk was beginning to feel the heady effects. "Mellow Yellow," in tandem with its predecessor "Sunshine Superman," established Donovan as the ultimate bearer of good vibes at the dawn of the psychedelic era.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |