Mellow Yellow

For other uses, see Mellow Yellow (disambiguation).

"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.

"Mellow Yellow"
Single by Donovan
from the album Mellow Yellow
B-side	"Sunny South Kensington" (USA) "Preachin' Love" (UK)
Released	October 1966 (US) February 1967 (UK)
Recorded	August 1966[1]
Genre	Pop[2][3] psychedelic pop[4][5] blues[6]
Length	3:42
Label	Epic 5-10098 Pye 7N 17267
Songwriter(s)	Donovan
Producer(s)	Mickie Most
Donovan 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)

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 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.^[19] In 2015 the song was covered by Spanish singer Abraham Mateo for promotion of the film Minions.^[20] 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.^[21] Israeli singer Arik Einstein covered the song in 1967 as "Ani margish k'mo melech" ("I feel like a king").^{[citation needed]}

Chart performance

Weekly charts Chart (1966–1967) Peak position Australia (Go-Set National Top 40)[22] 7 Australia (Kent Music Report)[23] 8 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[24] 12 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[25] 7 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[26] 2 Germany (GfK)[27] 16 Ireland (IRMA)[28] 15 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[29] 14 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[30] 12 New Zealand (Listener)[31] 3 Norway (VG-lista)[32] 7 South Africa (Springbok)[33] 4 UK Singles (OCC)[34] 8 US Billboard Hot 100[35] 2 US Cash Box[36] 3 US Record World[37] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1967) Position Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[38] 63

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[39]	Gold	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.