A little-known cool cover version of "Mellow Yellow" was done by the jazz-soul combo Young Holt Unlimited.“ Mellow Yellow” is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. (Both Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys and Winchester Cathedral by The New Vaudeville Band kept it from hitting No. 1.) Outside the US, “Mellow Yellow” peaked at No. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 appears somewhere on this track, but it’s not clear where. He was rumored to be the whispering voice saying “quite rightly,” but that was Donovan. McCartney dropped by the session and was captured on tape saying “Mellow Yellow” and doing some cheering. 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. ‘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. And it didn't take the duo long to sort it all out and resurrect an almost lost art form - the liquid light show.So it’s about being cool, laid-back, and also the electrical bananas that were appearing on the scene – which were ladies vibrators. I decided to see just how those amazing light shows were done in the old Fillmore East,” says Graeme. “I've always had an interest in music, and the psychedelic sounds and ideas have always held a place in my heart. Heavy Light is the creative team of friends Graeme Walford and Doug Kopacz, both of Vermont. The band has produced theatrical shows over the past several years, relying on digital technology to recreate that “sixties sound.” Founding member Brad Daddyo (David Cooper) says, “We feel that this is a natural extension of the work we have done before, but with the additional coolness of a hand crafted, live projection analog light show provided by Heavy Light, using technology that has not changed since 1967.” This will be the first of several shows in collaboration with Heavy Light, a team that creates live projection psychedelic light shows. Vermont-based Sixties tribute band Mellow Yellow is marking their 10 th anniversary with a new stage show called “Sixties Flashback.” The show will feature songs from the heyday of the late 1960s rock and pop music.
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