Yellow warblers: #2 "Mellow Yellow" Donovan (1966)

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Scottish singer Donovan (Leitch) is difficult to peg. He is not rock nor folk. Psychedelic pop is perhaps the most apt description. Donovan enjoyed a late 60s run of popularity fueled by hits “Mellow Yellow” (US #2), “Sunshine Superman” (1966 #1), “Hurdy Gurdy Man” (1968 #5) and “Atlantis” (1969 #7). “I’m just mad about Saffron Saffran’s mad about me I’m just mad about Saffron She’s just mad about me They call me mellow yellow” Donovan’s lyrics are challenging. Was he under the influence? A popular debunked interpretation was “Mellow Yellow” referred to smoking dried banana peels thought to have hallucinagenic properties. Donovan once said a mellow yellow was a ladies vibrator. Was he joking? He did say it was about a cool laid back guy and that is the likeliest scenario. Donovan was pals with the Beatles and Paul McCartney is in the background. He swiftly went out of vogue in the 70s as his style simply did not fit. Donovan is considered an experimenting innovator responsible for bringing eastern sounds and psychedelia into rock and that admiration earned him an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.