mellow yellow

Donovan quite rightly had a sudden craze with this easygoing psychedelic paean to Saffron, among other things. He says, "'Mellow Yellow' was a jazz groove that I learned, the feel of the groove, in Preservation Hall in New Orleans one month, early in my career, it must have been early ’66. And I came back to London and I just used to sing this thing in parties, and my producer Mickey Most said, 'ahh that’s it, that’s the next single.' I said, 'what, this?' He said, 'yeah.' And so it was. And to be mellow and to feel mellow was the cool groove of 'Mellow Yellow'. And the greatest accolade I got was from Dr. John, who said, 'Yeah man!'"

The Beatlesque sound was a nod to the Fab Four and their song 'Yellow Submarine', to which Donovan had contributed lyrics. Paul McCartney apparently was present during the sessions and can be heard among the shouts at the end of the song. There has been considerable speculation on the meaning of the lyrics. One urban legend is that you can get high from smoking banana peels. Another suggestion is that the titular phrase comes from James Joyce's 'Ulysses'. Some think the song is about liver disease. Donovan explains what the song is about: "Quite a few things. Being mellow, laid-back, chilled out. '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. So it's about being cool, laid-back, and also the electrical bananas that were appearing on the scene - which were ladies vibrators." The line "mad about fourteen" refers to fourteen year old girls, who comprised the bulk of his fans. The song reached number eight in the UK and number two in the US.








https://donovan.ie/

I'm just mad about Saffron,

A-Saffron's mad about me.

I'm a-just mad about Saffron,

She's just mad about me.

They call me mellow yellow.

They call me mellow yellow.

They call me mellow yellow.

I'm just mad about Fourteen,

A-Fourteen's mad about me.

I'm a-just a-mad about a-Fourteen,

She's just mad about me.

They call me mellow yellow.

They call me mellow yellow.

They call me mellow yellow.

Born high forever to fly,

Wind-a velocity nil.

Born high forever to fly,

If you want your cup I will fill.

They call me mellow yellow.

They call me mellow yellow.

They call me mellow yellow.

He's so mellow, mellow fellow.

Electrical banana

Is gonna be a sudden craze.

Electrical banana

Is bound to be the very next phase.

They call it mellow yellow.

They call me mellow yellow.

They call me mellow yellow.

You, ah, Saffron, yeah,

I'm just mad about her.

I'm a-just a-mad about a-Saffron,

She's just mad about me.

They call me mellow yellow.

They call me mellow yellow.

They call me mellow yellow.

Oh so mellow, oh so mellow, oh so mellow.

sunshine superman

Donovan broke through on the American charts and blew our little minds with one of the first psychedelic records ever recorded. 'Sunshine Superman' was recorded in January of 1966 for Pye Records and was his first collaboration with Mickie Most and John Cameron (who played harpsicord); but, due to a legal dispute, it was not released until months later after Donovan signed a deal with Epic Records. It was released on Epic in the US in July and rose to the top of the pop chart. In the UK, it was released in December on Pye and peaked at number two.

Donovan wrote the song about Linda Lawrence, with whom he'd had a brief affair: "Linda's in all the songs. 'Sunshine Superman', 'Hampstead Incident', 'Young Girl Blues'... Linda's the muse." The two would meet again in 1970 and get married. "It's not a normal love song, on the face of it, the song is about being with Linda again. But sunshine is a nickname for acid. The Superman is the person capable of entering higher states because it's not easy to go into the fourth dimension and see the matrix of the universe in which everything is connected." 'Sunshine Superman' features Jimmy Page and Eric Ford on electric guitar, Spike Heatley and John Paul Jones on bass, and Bobby Orr and Tony Carr on drums and percussion. Donovan says, "The line 'everybody's hustling' referred to the pop scene at the time, where you could lose yourself very easily."









http://donovan.ie/

Sunshine came softly through my a-window today

Could've tripped out easy a-but I've a-changed my ways

It'll take time, I know it but in a while

You're gonna be mine, I know it, we'll do it in style

'Cause I made my mind up you're going to be mine

I'll tell you right now

Any trick in the book now, baby, all that I can find

Everybody's hustlin' just to have a little scene

When I say we'll be cool I think that you know what I mean

We stood on a beach at sunset, do you remember when?

I know a beach where, baby, a-it never ends

When you've made your mind up forever to be mine

Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm

I'll pick up your hand and slowly blow your little mind

'Cause I made my mind up you're going to be mine

I'll tell you right now

Any trick in the book now, baby, all that I can find

Superman or Green Lantern ain't got a-nothin' on me

I can make like a turtle and dive for your pearls in the sea, yeah!

A you-you-you can just sit there a-thinking on your velvet throne

'bout all the rainbows a-you can a-have for your own

When you've made your mind up forever to be mine

I'll pick up your hand and slowly blow your little mind

When you've made your mind up forever to be mine

I'll pick up your hand

I'll pick up your hand

"Jennifer Juniper"







'Sunshine Superman' full album:




All songs written and composed by Donovan. 

Side A
1. "Sunshine Superman"   3:15
2. "Legend of a Girl Child Linda"   6:50
3. "Three King Fishers"   3:16
4. "Ferris Wheel"   4:12
5. "Bert's Blues"   3:56
Side B
6. "Season of the Witch"   4:56
7. "The Trip"   4:34
8. "Guinevere"   3:41
9. "The Fat Angel"   4:11
10. "Celeste"   4:08

donovan

Donovan Philips Leitch 
was born 10 May 1946 in Glasgow. 



 His unique brand of pop melded folk music with blues, jazz, and psychedelia; and his use of Eastern instruments combined with his transcendent positivity made him the poster boy for flower power. His interest in transcendental meditation inspired the Beatles to join him at the Maharishi's ashram in India, where he taught them various folk guitar picking techniques. After he parted ways with producer Mickie Most, his popularity began to decline. He has sporadically continued to score films, tour, and record albums up to the present recording children's albums and reinventing his sound and ultimately returning to the stripped down folk of his youth. In recent years he has worked with David Lynch and Paul McCartney to raise money through the Change Begins Within Foundation to open a transcendental meditation school in Scotland to be named the Invincible Donovan University.






http://donovan.ie/

This live rendition of his first single 'Catch The Wind' explains why he was considered "Britain's answer to Bob Dylan". It made it to number four in the UK and number twenty three in the US.

"For standin' in your heart,

Is where I want to be, and I long to be,

Ah, but I may as well, try and catch the wind."

The melody from 'There Is A Mountain' has been used in jams by the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers Band. Donovan's version charted at eight in the UK and eleven in the US in 1967.

"First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is."

'Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)' was his last hit, reaching number twelve on the British charts. He was backed by The Jeff Beck Group, featuring Beck on lead guitar, Ronnie Wood on bass, Nicky Hopkins on piano, and Micky Waller on drums.

"In love pool eyes float feathers after the struggle the hopes burst and shot joy all through the mind. Sorrow more distant then a star multi-color run down over you body then the liquid passing all into all. Love is hot, love is hot. Truth is molten!"