Mellow Yellow

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"Mellow Yellow"
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Template:Infobox song/link by Donovan
from the album Mellow Yellow
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  • "Sunny South Kensington" (USA)
  • "Preachin' Love" (UK)
ReleasedPage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
  • October 1966 (US)
  • February 1967 (UK)
RecordedAugust 1966[1]
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  • Epic 5-10098
  • Pye 7N 17267
[[Songwriter|SongwriterTemplate:Pluralize from text]]Donovan
[[Record producer|ProducerTemplate:Pluralize from text]]Mickie Most
Donovan UK singles chronology
"Sunshine Superman"
(1966) 		"Mellow Yellow"
(1966) 		"There Is a Mountain"
(1967)
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"Mellow Yellow" is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan.[7] Released in the US in 1966, it reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.[8] Outside the US, "Mellow Yellow" peaked at No. 8 in the UK in early 1967.

Content

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.[9] According to Donovan's liner notes for 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.[10] 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."[11]

Recording

Donovan had originally written the song as a throwaway sing-a-long for private parties, and was surprised when producer Mickie Most chose it to be the follow up single to "Sunshine Superman".[12] The song was arranged by session musician John Paul Jones and became one of his first to achieve international success. At first, Donovan was disappointed in the horn sound, until Jones came up with the idea to use "hats" (horn mutes) to achieve the required "mellow" mood.[12] In addition, Donovan tuned his acoustic guitar to a D-major drone to mimic slide blues players.

Paul McCartney can be heard as one of the background revelers on this track but, contrary to rumour, the "quite rightly" whispering line in the chorus is not McCartney, but rather Donovan himself.[13] Donovan had a small part in coming up with the lyrics for "Yellow Submarine", so McCartney returned the favor by helping out on the title track and playing uncredited bass guitar on portions of the Mellow Yellow album.[14]

In 2005, the track was remastered by EMI Records for the Mellow Yellow album re-issue.[15]

Reception

Cash Box called "Mellow Yellow" an "easy-going, sophisticated blues number which should be a giant."[16]

Covers, later recordings and adaptations

"Mellow Yellow" was covered in 1967 by soul singer Big Maybelle on her album Got a Brand New Bag.[17] It was also covered in 1968 by British R&B singer/keyboardist Georgie Fame on his album The Third Face of Fame.[18]

In the mid-1980s, the Dairy Farmers of Canada produced a number of television ads for butter that used "Mellow Yellow".[19]

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.[20] In 2015, the song was covered by Spanish singer Abraham Mateo for promotion of the film Minions.[21] The original by Donovan was used in the film's ending titles. In Brazil, Michel Teló covered the song, translated into Portuguese, also for the movie.[22] Israeli singer Arik Einstein covered the song in 1967 as "Ani margish k'mo melech" ("I feel like a king").[citation needed]

Chart performance

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Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[31] Gold 1,000,000 

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Mellow Yellow 2005 re-release liner notes
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.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.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.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."
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.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
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.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.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Record Reviews > Pick of the Week" (PDF). Cash Box. Vol. XXVIII, no. 15. 5 November 1966. p. 22. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.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.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Hot 100". Billboard. 24 December 1966. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Adams, Cecil (26 April 2002). "Will smoking banana peels get you high?". The Straight Dope. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.George-Warren, Holly, ed. (2001). The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (3rd, Revised and updated for the 21st century ed.). Fireside. p. 276. ISBN 0-7432-0120-5.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Aftershow". NME. 18 June 2011. p. 66.
  12. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Leitch, Donovan (2006). The Autobiography of Donovan: The Hurdy Gurdy Man. New York: St. Martin's Press.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Mellow Yellow". Donovan Unofficial. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.The Paul McCartney World Tour booklet (Media notes). 1989.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Mellow Yellow (reissues)". Donovan Unofficial. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Record Reviews > Pick of the Week" (PDF). Cash Box. Vol. XXVIII, no. 15. 5 November 1966. p. 22. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Big Maybelle – Got a Brand New Bag". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Thompson, Dave. "Georgie Fame – Third Face of Fame". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  19. ^ Betamax King. “Canadian Dairy ‘Mellow Yellow’ Commercial 1986.” YouTube, uploaded by Betamax King, 7 July 2018. Accessed 13 October 2025.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Mind the Gap". Entertainment Weekly. No. 502. 10 September 1999. Archived from the original on 18 February 2009.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Abraham Mateo pone música a 'Los Minions'". Las Provincias (in español). 25 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."'Minions': Michel Teló conta como adaptou música tema do filme" (in português). Globo.com. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Go-Set's National Top 40". Go-Set. 11 January 1967. Retrieved 17 July 2013 – via Poparchives.com.au.
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."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.
  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Search listener". Flavour of New Zealand. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  26. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (D)". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  27. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Mellow Yellow – Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  28. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending DECEMBER 17, 1966". Cash Box. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012.
  29. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."100 Top Pops" (PDF). Record World. 17 December 1966. p. 19. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  30. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Jaaroverzichten 1967" (in Nederlands). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
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