I won tickets to see him... a LONG time ago. I was on the first row, but not in the center. However, and my roommate and the young girl (who fell in love with Donovan listening to her mother's records) behind me, both said that it looked like he was looking at me a lot. At the end of the concert, some gal, really dressed like a flower child, came up with a vase full of carnations. Donovan took them, thanked the girl then walked down and gave ME the first one. I still have it.
Years ago on a recording of a live concert, somebody in the audience said to Donovan...' I thought you were dead ' to which he replied sardonically....' not yet '. Good to hear he is alive and kicking from a fan going way back.
Anyone who is part of the Summer Nostalgia Tour industry should be referred to in the past tense. From Donovan to Kansas wsg/ Styx wsg/ REO Speedwagon wsg/ Def Leppard or whatever weird ticket stacking they have to do to achieve something approaching relevance.
@@Ahzpayne I agree that nostalgia tours are a waste of time & money (for the attendees) but I've grown more compassionate in my old age. After all, when they were popular the music business generally ripped them off. Maybe they need the cash to pay the bills, like anyone?
In the late 80's I had the opportunity to see Donovan live. Just him and his guitar. I've never seen anyone so charismatic. He'd tell a story for every song he played and his manner was mesmerizing. I also got the chance to meet him after the show, shook his hand, and got him to sign my ticket. He was very nice and took time to speak with anyone that stayed to meet him. One of my best concert memories!
I saw Donovan at a house party, mid ‘80s, in Reno NV. It was during his ring of flowers flowing robes tour and I didn’t get to talk to him, I just got to see. him play in a living room. I was standing behind a couch at 20 feet with nothing but air between us. Amazing.
I saw him live In Atlanta in the ‘70s. Fun fact: My GRANDMOTHER saw him on TV and insisted on coming along. A great time was had by all! (Except folks kept trying to give her pot.)
I saw him at a Nigel Kennedy gig and asked if I could meet him. Good old Nige was on it right away. I’d met him (NK) before and he is always great with fans. I’ve been a lifelong fan of Donovan and it was a great moment to meet him and talk to him. He was lovely. Do meet your heroes, it’s great. His songs are just eternal! Hope this makes people listen to him again/more xx
I was 18 and a college freshman, out for dinner with friends at a local Mexican restaurant, when "Mellow Yellow" came on over the jukebox speakers. It was an absolutely perfect moment, and one I still remember: a snapshot in my brain forever.
I'm a 74 year old man and I am amazed that people are still analyzing - quite interestingly, I must say -- songs that are 60 years old. When I graduated from high school my father owned an empty store front in which I decided to open a young woman's clothing boutique = the name - Jennifer Juniper. Fortunately I came to my senses and got out of my small college town. Straight to Haight Ashbury. Best thing I ever did. But I do think the Donovan song would have made the store a success.
💛💛💛💛💛💛Oh so funny never gave this song a second thought - just sang a long. Now ah I’m older just belt that baby out in my truck and yes I am a widow and a proud mother of two grown successful men. They somehow knew lol so was a hidden joke on mom ,,,,,,,now can’t wait to crank it and then let them know they are busted lol. 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛I now know haha.
I'm sure that in 1965 almost no-one was still interested in songs made famous in in 1900-1905. Well there might have been a few songs but nowhere near the vast interest the sixties misic still commands in 2024. Something incredible happened to music in that decade. There has been loads good music since then but to have live through that explosion of new music being everywhere must have been unbelieveable.
Many years ago, my husband and I saw Donovan at the Kent State Folk Festival. He talked about writing Hurdy Gurdy Man in when he was in Rishikesh with the Beatles. He said they would sit around in the evening and share what they were writing. When he shared Hurdy Gurdy Man, George contributed a verse. "When the mind lies buried deep, under a thousand years of sleep, time then does a turnaround, until the truth again is found." Amazing!
Everybody sang along to this song and I mean everybody and almost all of them still do to this day if it comes on the radio. If you think about it Donovan deserves to be in the Rock and roll Hall of Fame and for no other reason than the success of this song. It still holds up even nowadays.
Donavan album with Mello Yellow song on it was always in the stack of records my mom had ready to play while cleaning the house. I was little but the music always sticks with ya.
I had a friend, Tommy Sommers, back in high school, who was older & lived across the street from the high school & kept a number of motorcycles in his small yard, next to his rundown work shed, which was his home. He airbrushed gas tanks of motorcycles of motorcycle gangs & one early afternoon, I skipped classes & visited him.I displayed awe at the beautiful painted bikes that were sitting there, & he casually said, have you ever ridden a Harley? I said no, that I’d only been on a Honda 350 a couple of times. So he started up two Harleys right there & said, “Get on, we’re going to Hollywood, for a ride. After awhile, he talked me into it & we rode up Robertson Blvd. & headed to Tower Records, when I remember going up a steep hill that was LaCienega Blvd., with car traffic in front & back of us. Tommy was riding in back of me & I was revving the gas, in place, sweating my balls off, not wanting to let the engine die & waiting for the red light to turn green. Tommy was yelling instructions to me, the whole time. I weighed about 145 lbs., back then! Luckily, the light changed & two vehicles took off in front of me. I never had to place my foot down on the ground & there was no way I could have kept the bike upright! I somehow was able to pull into the parking lot of Tower Records. Tommy quickly got off his bike & helped me get off mine, safely. I was still sweating bullets, by now. He said, laughing, don’t worry, it’s all downhill on the way back! We went into Tower Records & all I remember was the great sound blasting from speakers, inside the huge record store, of Donovan’s unmistakable tunes! When we safely returned, somehow, w/o me putting so much as a scratch on the beautiful chopper, Tommy told me I had been riding on a Hells Angels customer’s bike that his customer had entrusted him with. Tommy was a cool dude, who was about 250 lbs,, & was always smiling, I recall. I remember always, getting stuck up that hill & Tommy, cool as a cucumber. I lost touch with him, shortly thereafter, unfortunately, when I moved to San Diego, following high school, in 1972. Those years, from the early 60s through the 70s, were the best music years. Donovan’s voice, being played on record, or heard over a radio, was unmistakable & eerily beautiful!
In August 1968, when I was eleven, my family flew back east from California to Massachusetts on TWA. There were earbuds on what looked like a stethoscope that enabled me to listen to any one of the music channels they had in flight, including rock and pop. My first and primary memory of Donovan is listening to "Jennifer Juniper" while soaring above the clouds. Just hearing the opening chords strikes me with vivid and intense nostalgia.
I remember those stethoscope type ear buds. Lol. We were on a TWA flight from Sweden back to the USA. They actually played a nudy gay film on the on flight film. No sex but a bunch of men running buck naked thru the fields and hugging on each other. Frontal nudity. I was 9 ! 😮 I remember my mom trying to block me from seeing that. Too late. I saw it 😣
@cjhoward409 It's a pretty funny story, though😄. I was watching "Georgy Girl" (on TV, for goodness sakes) when I was 12 and my mom made me turn it off when she realized there was a sex scene in it. You didn't even get to see anything, it was just implied. She would have freaked if they showed the movie you saw, instead of, "If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium" 😆🤣
It's programs like this that wake up my memories, as a teenager of the 60's I feel so lucky to have lived in that area. Donovan is Brilliant, but then so where all the rest.
When I was a kid, I got a crystal radio kit for Christmas. I put it together and the first thing I picked up was Mellow Yellow. A lot of my earliest exposure to rock was on that crystal set. Dad was the king of the radio in the car and he listened to a news station, so the crystal set was my "radio free Lucky."
My father was the same way. Sometimes, if he was in a good mood, he would let me listen to one of my stations for a few minutes, then it was back to soft listening or news (KFWB). One time when I was 15, my mom and dad and I (I don't remember if my brother came) went on a family drive on a Sunday afternoon. We went up in the mountains in the Lake Arrowhead area (CA) and got stuck on a dirt road that turned into more like a track. My father was concentrating on driving so heavily that he let slide Led Zep's "A Whole Lotta Love" -- the long ALBUM VERSION -- go by without saying a word until we came out onto a real paved road as the song ended. I think I asked him about it some years later, but he didn't remember.
Love Donovan. I was just a tiny child when he was popular but they played him so much on the radio and imma music freak since birth that I knew all These songs and they’re a part of my childhood!
I saw Donovan in the early 70s at the University of Chicago, where my boyfriend, Ted, was a student. One of Ted's friends had organized the concert, and the setting, the Rockefeller Chapel, was perfect, as far as we were concerned -- Donovan sang from in front of the altar. In the middle of the concert, there was some rustling behind Donovan, loud enough to make him turn around to see what it was. The woman who had organized the concert was hiding behind one of the large pieces of furniture, to get as close to Donovan as she could. He took the opportunity to thank her and to ask the audience to give her some applause. He then told her to stay where she was, and he continued with the concert -- it was magical!!
@@helencheung2537 In an industry filled with narcissists it’s very difficult to get credited, because narcissists tend to take the credit for other people’s work.
I had a Mathmatics instructor (when this came out) that picked up extra money on the weekends playing keyboards in bar bands. He would play Donovan ( as well as other counter culture music) during the classes.. I still remember seeing him groovin' around the room to "Sunshine Superman..".. Thanks Mr. Myhera!!
I was 14 when Donovan emerged, (just coincidence that he mentions that age) with so much profound creativity hitting us every week, we took it for granted that there would always be a constant flow new fantastic music. A lot of us just loved the music, didn’t care what the lyrics were about. Many lyrics were written to have hidden meaning, but sometimes they were just a tease, written to seem like they had hidden meaning, but were really just random phrases. I’m amazed now when I realize how much went over my head, because I just dug the music.
I've always liked this song...I'd chuckle everytime I'd here it..I knew what it was about. Now as a mom, my kids know it's one of my fav songs & my oldest daughter in High school TA'd for the teacher who ran the high school radio station. She mentioned I love that song & my drive to get them to school was about 30 min. & we'd pop on the school station & every morning he had Mellow Yellow played & we both would chuckle...no one knew...lol.
I heard the song later in the 70’s and honestly thought it was about the mello yello soda pop!😅😂I had no idea! Wow! The guy was very articulate to say the least! Blows my mind! Can’t unhear it now! I just had to click and listen! Ty!👍
I was a mere 2½ in 1966, turned 3 years old in Dec 1966. I remember turning 3 years old. My Brother and Sisiters were and still are, 10 years older than I am. Luckiest girl on the planet, because I got to grow up with the greatest music ever recorded, and yes, I thank God and my lucky stars for that very privilege! I grew up singing in the car and I knew, and still know the lyrics to all those songs! ❤
I had four older siblings. Plus, I moved to a "College-Town," Athens, Ohio, home of the Main Campus of Ohio University, in 1967, when I was six-years old.
Did you know that Donovan was involved with a children’s educational music series in the 70’s? One of the big two for elementary schools, there were song books and accompanying records so the kids could sing along. For each grade, Donovan wrote and sang one of that year’s songs. Even if the kids learned the song before hearing the record, that song was always the most popular for each grade. And the kids had no idea who wrote or sang the song. A great example of how good he really was!
I remember Mad Magazine’s take on the banana peel story. Cartoonist Don Martin did a comic strip that begins “Somewhere in San Francisco”. In it, a hippie tries smoking a banana peel. Of course nothing happens so he tosses the peel. Moments later he slips on the peel, striking his head and sees stars!✨💫💥And that’s how the rumor got started.
Donovan was the first musician and singer that I was a fan of. I have 18 of his albums, his book: Dry Songs and Scribbles, his DVD: Sunshine Superman, the Journey of Donovan, and his movie, The Pied Piper. I've gone to two of his concerts and was able to meet him after one. I am so glad to see you bring him up in this video. Thank you. He was so instrumental in the counter culture back in the sixties and so forgotten in present times.
You never mentioned Catch The Wind. Still one of my favorite songs. I was fortunate enough to see a Donovan show in 1967. Good to see he’s still out there. Thanks
I think I was 12 and saw Donovan in Seattle in the arena. I was in the middle of the very back row. I could look out and see everything. For the life of me, I can't conjure up that I had an adult with me. I may not have! Back in the day, you could go anywhere and everywhere on your own. I did, take public buses alone. Even @ 14, I flew to England alone and stayed a year with families... Love you Donovan
When discussing Donovan's songs in commercials, I am surprised you didn't mention "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" used in Loves Fresh Lemon perfume ads in the 1970's. Talk about mellow yellow!
I never once thought the whispered "quite rightly" was by McCartney. I was able to tell it was Donovan right away. That Scottish accent was a big giveaway, no surprise as he came from Scotland.
All I can say is FINALLY!!! I’ve been secretly wanting you to cover Donovan for a few months now. Mellow Yellow is awesome but I personally love Sunshine Superman.
I actually love season of the witch, best. 😊. Speaking of obscure musicians or bands, have you ever done a segment on Klaatu? Sub-Rosa subway for example?
Awesome! I was aware of Guthrie's famous label because my high school history teacher had a poster of Woody and his guitar with those words, and our teacher brought his guitar to class and taught us Seeger and Guthrie protest songs while we were learning about the great Depression and the rise of labor unions. I adored that teacher, Mr. Mitchell! I didn't know that about Donovan, thank you for that! Now I like him even more!
@@LazyIRanch Although Woody would not carry a gun and his high respect for unions he joined the merchant marine. He was on vessels bringing troops to the invasion of Italy and a lot more. When in port he gave concerts to the troops.
It's not so much about Mellow Yellow per se, but my story is about Donovan. I heard the song "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" in a radio play on Christmas day, 1980, when I was still a young kid. Had an open air tape recording of it that I eventually lost. I looked for that song for the next seven years... and remember, this was _way_ before the internet. I looked in the record catalogs of every record store I went into. Part of the problem was I had the lyric wrong; I was looking for "Well, you look like heaven"... which didn't help. Finally, when I was 19, I worked up the nerve to sing what I remembered to the cool manager of my local record store. He corrected me on the title, saying, "Oh, that's Donovan!" And I was like, "The _Mellow Yellow_ guy???" and he was like, "Yeah," and took me over to his greatest hits album. Much loved and listened to every since. _Carmine... carmine..._
Ignorance is blessed, it's an amazing era I loved growing up in the sixties at least a few years they were all discreet. Songs were great and this brings back lovely memories ❤️
Years ago I picked up some hitchhikers on their way to NYC, three of them. They looked like they were from Mad Max with their face tatoos. I had rocking my 'best of Donovan' CD. I asked the leader of the troupe if they wanted something else (realizing in 2008 Donovan is not everyones cup of tea), Hurdy Gurty man was playing and the guy was 'hell no man I love this song', so the four of us chatted anout music and what not bopping to Donovan. Nice folks.
Mellow Yellow in San Francisco - later became San Francisco Pizzeria/Wong's Cleaners and Laundry (they took the store and make two businesses out of it - I was wondering why that address looked familiar - I used to live above it!! LOL!!! I had my own record collection that my father had help me start since I was 5! No kiddie records (your stories of your father sounds like mine! We both lost our dads Adam, but Damn did they leave us with great music and memories!) in that lot at all! I still have a lot of them! He didn't care what I listened to, as long as I wasn't singing out lyrics in class. I got sent to the principles office for singing 'Get Down, Make Love' by Queen! SOOO yeah just keep it to myself! OH WOW! I thought he said "I'm just mad about 14" and I thought he said Fontaine which is a name. I had a friend with that name when I was a kid and we used to sing it that way! Dude - LOL sometimes it's better to not know man! HAHAHA!
Very interesting - as well as being an influence on Lennon's 'Dear Prudence' and 'Julia' when with him in Rishikesh, Donovan's guitar style is also very apparent in McCartney's 'Blackbird' and 'Mother Nature's son', and it could be argued that it also had a guiding hand in Lennon's 'Child of Nature', which later became 'Jealous Guy'.
Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965, and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles and albums during the late 1960s. His work became emblematic of the flower power era with its blend of folk, pop, psychedelic rock, and jazz stylings.
My mom was complaining about the sexual nature of modern music, so I pointed out that popular music of her day was often overtly sexual. The language may have been more innuendo, but it was still obvious what they were singing about! For example, my mom used to sing this 1940s calypso tune called "Marianne": "Marianne, oh Marianne, oh won't you marry me? We can have a bamboo hut, with brandy in a tea Leave your old fat mama home, she never will say yes Here my mom don't know now, she can guess *All day all night, Marianne* Down by the seaside, shifting sand... ...When we marry we will have a time you never saw I will be so happy I will kiss my mother inlaw Children by the dozen in and out the bamboo hut One for every palm tree and coconut!" (Sounds to me like this dude needs to keep it in his pants and go get a job to support all those dozens of kids he's responsible for!)
I grew up hearing a wide variety of music as I had 6 siblings and my dad was musician. As a teen before the internet I bought records and tapes from thrift stores and even got them from the library purely by looking at the cover art etc. It’s how I discovered Donovan, Cream, jethro Tull, Early Rolling Stones, etc which lead to a general love of 60’s and 70’s music that I have to this day. Music and nature I truly believe are transcendent. No matter the culture, language, religion it can move you.
Great - I was fortunate enough to meet Donovan after one of his concerts in Melbourne Australia in 1982 and he was so nice to me and my girl friend. I have lots of his albums. Cheers Adam.
When I was 16 myself and my mate put some banana skins under the grill so we could smoke them, but they caught fire and covered the kitchen in smoke and little black bits of banana, his mother wasn't happy 🤣🤣🤣
I read that nutmeg contains an LSD like substance (in tiny amounts). I can confirm that large quantities of snorted nutmeg gives you a nosebleed (and not much else…) 😵💫
Songs from my parents' record collection that I used to sing as a child: Donovan -Mellow Yellow, Jefferson Airplane -White Rabbit, Raspberries - Go All the Way, I Wanna Be With You, Rolling Stones -Mother's Little Helper, Satisfaction. I was 8 when Madonna's 'Like A Virgin' was released & used to run around the house singing that, too. I didn't know or care what any of them were about. Ignorance is bliss.
I maybe strange, but my fav Donovan tune is "Atlantis", the opening poetry and everything, then that closing sing-along stanza.... WAY DOWN, BELOW THE OCEAN, IS WHERE I WANNA BE! weeeeee! But yeah, love most all Donovan's tracks, and ofc, have a dedicated Spotify playlist to him.
I was only 12 when Mellow Yellow came out. I didn’t know (or care) what it was about, but loved it! There’s just a quality of Donovan’s voice that I’ve always loved.
I am old enough to have owned the Donovan album Mellow Yellow as well as a couple of others. I was a fan. I graduated HS in 1966 arguably a turning point in music here in the US by virtue of the British Invasion. No, I don't still have the albums. I used to drive around with them in my car trunk with my portable record player -- have party, will travel -- was not good for keeping my collection (Beatles, Stones, Donovan, Animals, and the un-British group, CCR) pristine. It was an amazing time with amazing music playing in the background.
In 1966 I was thirteen. I used to listen to the radio to go to sleep at night and two songs would invade my dreams, Hurdy Gurdy Man, with it's weird vibrato and The Beach Boys, Good Vibrations, with the Theremin.
I also thought he said I,m just mad about Fontaine ,which I thought was a girl's name.Also have you heard W.A.P. by Cardi B ,now days they can get away with Sexually Suggestive songs.
I learned years ago Steely Dan was named after a device 😂, but when you alluded to Mellow Yellow as being the name of another one, my initial reaction was wait, what? 🤣 To paraphrase Dylan Hollis in one of his baking/cooking videos, our parents are like washing celery: dirtier than what we think. And therefore, so are some of the musical artists I grew up with.
Steely Dan named themselves after an object in a William S. Burroughs novel, Naked Lunch. The “Steely Dan” in question was a steam powered, mechanical dildo. The name suited their music to a T.
I really appreciate you calling out the perviness of Donovan and not making excuses for it. You didn’t have to do that, but I’m so happy you did. There was a very good reason all the adults didn’t like their daughters hanging out with musicians. It’s just a shame so many didn’t actually verbalize the risks, although that would mean they would have to confront them in their minds. I’m an oldies fan because of my mom. Sirius radio is dirt cheap these days, and I’m always listening to the Beatles or other oldies stations.
Koko Taylor: "we gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long" Taylor later explained that a wang dang doodle is an off-premise after-hours party. But that's not what everyone believed . . .
I loved Donovan's "Gift from a Flower to a Garden" - Mad John's Escape, There Was a Time, Isle of Islay. Great songs. Great songwriter and singer. Donovan lived the life of a true 60's minstrel. I heard another rumor that Electrical Banana was a reference to the Youngbloods' lead guitarist Lowell "Banana" Levinger. Talk about double and even triple entendres. This song has them all!
As a young kid in the 1960's, I used to sing along when this song came on the radio. When I got a little older, I was told it was about drugs. That seemed to make sense. But now, to learn it was about a sex toy? Truly disturbing! Especially because I remember my PARENTS also singing along with the chorus. Pretty sure they were clueless too.
Back in the mid 70's I had a step father who I would listen to a lot of music with and one day he told me that one of his fav singer's was Donavan, well after laughing historically and telling everyone I knew and generally embarrassing him......then some years later after maturing I realized how right he was about Donavan! I still feel bad about the way I acted and wish I could tell him how right he was....😶🌫️
One cool thing about music (or poetry, or art, or any creative endeavor) is that it doesn't really matter where the inspiration came from, or what the creator really had in mind when they use it. Any interpretation ultimately comes from the consumer. So, really, it's "about" whatever it makes you think of, or feel when you hear it.
LOL I always thought it was obvious when I was i kid even. But yeah, it was a surprisingly popular mainstream song. Many seemed oblivious. I think the majority of people, now, then and always do not listen to lyrics beyond a few words of a chorus. Cool Video. Time to go listen to some Steely Dan.
The timing of this video is so apt. Just yesterday my parents and I were talking about subtle sex references in songs and I was telling them about your channel. Mom’s a fan of Donovan so I had to send this to her!
I never thought the "quite rightly" asides were done by anyone other than Donovan himself, even with the persistent rumors they had been provided by McCartney. Saw Donovan in concert twice during the 1980s and enjoyed both. Also, he is a consummate name-dropper, constantly alluding to his various famous friends.
@@ProfessorofRock i saw him in melbourne (in the late 90s i think.) such a chronic name dropper, but we were there for the stories as much as the music. the amazing valie meyers was in the audience and yelled out "hi donny!"
Saw him at Beatlefest in Las Vegas in June of 2008. He was awesome. He was selling his autobiography, which was fascinating, and he signed my copy of the book. I was so happy to have had the opportunity to meet him. Favorite Donovan song?? “Atlantis”…..definitely.
I met him at the Beatlefest in 2014 in NYC and had him sign my copy of his autobiography. He was a very kind man. My favorite song is "Catch the Wind."
OMG. I grew up with Donovan and Beatles and cream and Jimmy…. This was a great episode. Thank you so much. ( And had no idea about the mellow yellow ref.. too funny)🙏🏼👍❤️
I've always been fascinated with Donovan. His music has always been enjoyable when I've heard it, and I've savored the parts of the British rock timeline in which he interacted with The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and other high-profile members of that music scene. I regret that my first taste of "Mellow Yellow" in particular wasn't until The Gap licensed it for one of that early 2000s ad campaigns.
Another fascinating Donovan trivia tidbit, he did guest vocals along with Alice Cooper on the title track from the Billion Dollar Babies album. In the section with the lyrics "We go dancing nightly..." Alice sings while Donovan does the same lyrics spoken. When the section repeats later in the song, Alice does it spoken while Donovan sings.
After listening to this, I went and listened to Donovan's greatest hits. Wow... what a talent. What a great mix of folk and drug culture, spiritualism. I really liked it. And I love the Mellow Yellow, and it's story. Fantastic. Been listening to Cassandra by ABBA. Which is about Gods and falling empires. What band ever sings about that stuff? Oh wait... Nightwish? Even my 84 yr old mother loves Ghost Love Score.
Reminds me of animated kiddies movies which often have double meanings, one for kids and one for the adults. I treated my daughter's friend to a rewatch of Shrek when she was 23. Now catching the adult bits, she looked at me with her mouth open and said "you guys let us watch this when we were kids?!"😂😂
I'm the same way with movies from the 80s. My mum didn't care about film ratings. Many movies from the 80s wouldn't fly today. Ghostbusters is extremely sexist. Labyrinth has a pee scene and a *wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more* David Bowie. I shouldn't have to explain why Earth Girls Are Easy wouldn't fly with that title. Pretty Woman is 1990, but it's about a prostitute that intrigues Richard Gere's character. A lot of cartoons in the 90s had adult jokes. Of course, there was once a time when people had one TV. Family viewing needed to entertain more age groups.
This was a fascinating history lesson. I loved Donovan growing up. I had NO IDEA the song Mellow Yellow had any real meaning at all😂😂😂. I just loved listening to him & the memories of that time. My mom enjoyed listening to him as well...crazy times. Thank you for all of the background information. It blows my mind to hear the history of some musicians. ❤ New subscriber!
I know this. I knew it in 1966. When I was 10 years old. I LAUGHED MY ASS OFF WHEN I FIRST HEARD THIS SONG, playing on the car radio. And then I had to explain it to my mother. Who then almost wrecked the car, laughing so hard.
@@knielson1201 No, Darling, I grew up on a farm, and I do not ever remember a time when I did NOT know what sex was. I knew this because I was a voracious reader, and I also listened to what was said around me. "Little Pitchers have Big Ears," combined with "Children do not grow up in a vacuum." It has been ny experience that the people who want most to keep children totally ignorant of sex and sexuality, are THE VERY PEOPLE WHO WANT TO VICTIMIZE THEM. Now, go ponder upon your motives. Because I already have.
Donovan was one strange cat, but his music was fun and enjoyable. My elementary school music teacher had us singing a few of his songs. Sunny Day, There is a Mountain, and Wear Your Love Like Heaven.
What a wonderful music teacher! I loved my elementary school music teacher too. She was kind of a hippy, and taught us protest songs by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, and one by Dylan, but I can't remember which one now. The song that stayed me most was "Poor Wayfaring Stranger", which is a Gospel hymn, but she had us sing a rather dark, spooky folk version that sounded less "churchy hymnal". The kids who couldn't remember lyrics sang the background vocals of, "Oooohh, Ooooh, Ooooohh, OOOHH, Ooooh-ooooooh", which sounded extra creepy in our little kid voices. She should have recorded us and sent it to Universal Studios to use in monster movies!👻
Loved Donovan in the 60s when I saw and bought several of his records and still enjoy his music now. When I was twelve I was coming home from school on the bus to Hatfield in Hertfordshire (pronounced Hartfordsheer by anyone who lives there by the way ;-) ) when the bus conductor asked me if I were Donovan’s brother. My long dark hair looked very similar I suppose and I was heading for the same part of town where his family lived. I saw Donovan play in 2018 (I think) and mentioned this to him after the show. He didn’t look as impressed as I felt at the time or since, if I’m honest. Of course, we could never have been mistaken for brothers if we were standing side by side. He is much shorter than I am and I could never manage any kind of Scots accent!
I'm Donovan and was named after him! I was so influenced by my name sake, I too got into meditation and Hinduism which I still practice today! Love the guy - obviously
Since everyone thought back then that Mellow Yellow was about smoking banana peels, my uncle figured that saffron must also be a natural high. So he smoked some, and surprise!, nothing happend.
Mellow Yellow album is a little time capsule of the sixties just before the 'scene' became a parody of itself in '67. The cross over between coffee bar jazz hipsterness and the coming tide of psychadelia. Mellow Yellow is the least consequential, most 'throw away' song on the album but its great ear candy. Have seen Donovan a number of times over the years. He never fails to entertain his audience.
Donovan's music back in the 60's was fantastic and hold so many great memories of being young and free to explore life with no hangups! I would love to go back and experience it aĺl over again!!
I became 9 in 1966. What I remember of Donovan’s songs was that they were ear candy that you didn’t have to think about. They were just coherent pieces unto themselves, like an architecturally significant building, or a well-styled car. When his songs came on the radio, you didn’t have to change the station: you didn’t want to.
Also, about the 14 year-old girl thing. If you do some light research about Teeny Boppers, you’ll get an impression of what the zeitgeist was regarding swinging Lolitas. They most predatory animals pursuing young girls were on Madison Avenue. They were mad to sell them stuff. And now we arrive at the topic of Bubblegum Music. And there you go.
Wait a minute. Mellow Yellow is a vibrator. Mellow Yellow is the speaker. So Saffron and 14 can have right at it without running afoul of the law. In fact, a 14 year-old girl would get things from Mellow Yellow that boys won’t be inclined to achieve until they are 23 or 25…if they are the conscientious sort. So…the song would actually be timely in that light. In poetry and lyrics it is not always the case that the singer is the speaker. Mick Jagger isn’t Lucifer…most of the time.
damn, never heard that Donovan taught Paul & John those picking techs, (that are a right pain in the a$$ if I do say myself). Always learning something new here, Thanks Prof!
I got to hear Donovan perform live back in ‘77 as the warmup band at a YES concert at MSG…great show…i also heard stories that both Lennon and Harrison were schooled by Donovan while they were in India…it was said, the two of them were blown away by both his picking style and chord progressions…
Donovan provided an important part of the soundtrack of my youth. In an earlier time, popular poets would have done much to shape the public mind. In our day it’s the singer-songwriters, much like the troubadours.
I'm still wondering why they featured it in "Zodiac." Since seeing that movie, that's the visual I have every time I listen to "Hurdy Gurdy Man." I wish I didn't.
MELLOW YELLOW!! I remember the soda! My friends and I used to refer to the soda as “Florida’s answer to water”! LOL… I lived in Clearwater FL back in 1990 and EVERYBODY was drinking the soda like it was water (no wonder)… I never did figure out WHY.
I wonder if that's what inspired "Brawndo", from the -movie- (now) documentary, "Idiocracy". "Brawndo! It has electrolytes! It's got what plants NEED!" 🤪
I was 14, traveling with my family by car from Miami to New York for the World's Fair. I had a copy of an small British mag (name slips m mind, but it mainly covered the Beatles) with Donovan on the cover. "Catch the Wind" was on the radio and he was being touted as the 'new Dylan'. Years later I saw him on a documentary where he and Dylan met and played self-penned tunes for each other. Donovan was warm and respectful, but Dylan couldn't hide his contempt and patronizing praise of Donovan. Never forgot that. I got to see Donovan in Peekskill in the mid 2000s. To me he has always been brilliant and under-appreciated.
I saw Donovan at Leeds University Student Union refectory in about 1972. The set was just a bean bag on the stage and Donovan just walked on, sat on that with acoustic guitar and harmonica, and entranced the audience for 2 hours. Magical artist.
My favorite 2 Donovan tracks are the longer recordings of 'Catch the Wind' and 'Colours' on the Greatest Hits LP. Those two cuts showed that he was a key figure in folk rock going through psychedelia as its best, most well rooted, wing then became country rock.
Poll: What is your pick for the COOLEST Artist or Band Name in the history of music?
Ned's Atomic Dustbin
Oingo Bingo
They Might Be Giants
Kajagoogoo
The Rolling Stones.
Runnerups: Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes and Blood, Sweat & Tears.
The Eurythmics.
@@rogerdeahl9629 I definitely thought about Oingo Boingo.
I won tickets to see him... a LONG time ago. I was on the first row, but not in the center. However, and my roommate and the young girl (who fell in love with Donovan listening to her mother's records) behind me, both said that it looked like he was looking at me a lot. At the end of the concert, some gal, really dressed like a flower child, came up with a vase full of carnations. Donovan took them, thanked the girl then walked down and gave ME the first one. I still have it.
Such a cool story! 🥰
❤
For those who don't know, Donovan is still alive & continues to make music so he shouldn't be referred to in the past tense.
His daughter played the part of Chrissy in "River's Edge".
Years ago on a recording of a live concert, somebody in the audience said to Donovan...' I thought you were dead ' to which he replied sardonically....' not yet '. Good to hear he is alive and kicking from a fan going way back.
RIP.
Anyone who is part of the Summer Nostalgia Tour industry should be referred to in the past tense. From Donovan to Kansas wsg/ Styx wsg/ REO Speedwagon wsg/ Def Leppard or whatever weird ticket stacking they have to do to achieve something approaching relevance.
@@Ahzpayne I agree that nostalgia tours are a waste of time & money (for the attendees) but I've grown more compassionate in my old age. After all, when they were popular the music business generally ripped them off. Maybe they need the cash to pay the bills, like anyone?
This one gives "Good Vibrations" a whole new meaning.
😂 Quite the observation.
"She's giving me secxitations..."
😂🤣This👆😂😂that was an awesome comment!!!🤭🤭
Yea we used to sing along but sing good vibrators
😂 I’ll never hear that song the same again. 😂
In the late 80's I had the opportunity to see Donovan live. Just him and his guitar. I've never seen anyone so charismatic. He'd tell a story for every song he played and his manner was mesmerizing. I also got the chance to meet him after the show, shook his hand, and got him to sign my ticket. He was very nice and took time to speak with anyone that stayed to meet him. One of my best concert memories!
I saw Donovan at a house party, mid ‘80s, in Reno NV. It was during his ring of flowers flowing robes tour and I didn’t get to talk to him, I just got to see. him play in a living room. I was standing behind a couch at 20 feet with nothing but air between us. Amazing.
I saw him live In Atlanta in the ‘70s. Fun fact: My GRANDMOTHER saw him on TV and insisted on coming along. A great time was had by all! (Except folks kept trying to give her pot.)
I saw him at a Nigel Kennedy gig and asked if I could meet him. Good old Nige was on it right away. I’d met him (NK) before and he is always great with fans. I’ve been a lifelong fan of Donovan and it was a great moment to meet him and talk to him. He was lovely. Do meet your heroes, it’s great. His songs are just eternal! Hope this makes people listen to him again/more xx
Sound great
He's great!
I was 18 and a college freshman, out for dinner with friends at a local Mexican restaurant, when "Mellow Yellow" came on over the jukebox speakers. It was an absolutely perfect moment, and one I still remember: a snapshot in my brain forever.
I'm a 74 year old man and I am amazed that people are still analyzing - quite interestingly, I must say -- songs that are 60 years old. When I graduated from high school my father owned an empty store front in which I decided to open a young woman's clothing boutique = the name - Jennifer Juniper. Fortunately I came to my senses and got out of my small college town. Straight to Haight Ashbury. Best thing I ever did. But I do think the Donovan song would have made the store a success.
💛💛💛💛💛💛Oh so funny never gave this song a second thought - just sang a long. Now ah I’m older just belt that baby out in my truck and yes I am a widow and a proud mother of two grown successful men. They somehow knew lol so was a hidden joke on mom ,,,,,,,now can’t wait to crank it and then let them know they are busted lol. 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛I now know haha.
I'm sure that in 1965 almost no-one was still interested in songs made famous in in 1900-1905. Well there might have been a few songs but nowhere near the vast interest the sixties misic still commands in 2024.
Something incredible happened to music in that decade. There has been loads good music since then but to have live through that explosion of new music being everywhere must have been unbelieveable.
Many years ago, my husband and I saw Donovan at the Kent State Folk Festival. He talked about writing Hurdy Gurdy Man in when he was in Rishikesh with the Beatles. He said they would sit around in the evening and share what they were writing. When he shared Hurdy Gurdy Man, George contributed a verse. "When the mind lies buried deep, under a thousand years of sleep, time then does a turnaround, until the truth again is found." Amazing!
Maharishi is the roly poly man...singing songs of love.
Amazing
Cool trivia!
Never heard that verse and does not ADD to the song
It us definitely time for all of humanity to wake up and realize we've been lied to for eons.
Any songwriter who outsmarted everyone about the true meaning of their song for many years deserves respect
I'm still trying to figure out what Donovan meant by "love is hot, truth is molten."
That deserves our, “respect,” huh? Wow.
@@sharonjensen3016 Think about it.
@sharonjensen3016 I interpret it as truth being better, or trumping love. I believe true love and truth are intertwined
They're still trying to decypher "Louie, Louie"... :D
Everybody sang along to this song and I mean everybody and almost all of them still do to this day if it comes on the radio. If you think about it Donovan deserves to be in the Rock and roll Hall of Fame and for no other reason than the success of this song. It still holds up even nowadays.
I'd just like to thank you Professor, for reminding me of 'Nils Lofgren'! A cherished part of my musical youth.
He IS in the R & R Hall of Fame!!!
@@caroljo420 I know he is I was just saying that he deserves to be in there for no other reason than just that song alone
As a kid in the 70’s I always thought the name Donovan was really cool… 25 years later I ended up naming my son Donovan, love it even more now!! ❤
Donavan album with Mello Yellow song on it was always in the stack of records my mom had ready to play while cleaning the house. I was little but the music always sticks with ya.
I had a friend, Tommy Sommers, back in high school, who was older & lived across the street from the high school & kept a number of motorcycles in his small yard, next to his rundown work shed, which was his home. He airbrushed gas tanks of motorcycles of motorcycle gangs & one early afternoon, I skipped classes & visited him.I displayed awe at the beautiful painted bikes that were sitting there, & he casually said, have you ever ridden a Harley? I said no, that I’d only been on a Honda 350 a couple of times. So he started up two Harleys right there & said, “Get on, we’re going to Hollywood, for a ride. After awhile, he talked me into it & we rode up Robertson Blvd. & headed to Tower Records, when I remember going up a steep hill that was LaCienega Blvd., with car traffic in front & back of us. Tommy was riding in back of me & I was revving the gas, in place, sweating my balls off, not wanting to let the engine die & waiting for the red light to turn green. Tommy was yelling instructions to me, the whole time. I weighed about 145 lbs., back then! Luckily, the light changed & two vehicles took off in front of me. I never had to place my foot down on the ground & there was no way I could have kept the bike upright! I somehow was able to pull into the parking lot of Tower Records. Tommy quickly got off his bike & helped me get off mine, safely. I was still sweating bullets, by now. He said, laughing, don’t worry, it’s all downhill on the way back! We went into Tower Records & all I remember was the great sound blasting from speakers, inside the huge record store, of Donovan’s unmistakable tunes! When we safely returned, somehow, w/o me putting so much as a scratch on the beautiful chopper, Tommy told me I had been riding on a Hells Angels customer’s bike that his customer had entrusted him with. Tommy was a cool dude, who was about 250 lbs,, & was always smiling, I recall. I remember always, getting stuck up that hill & Tommy, cool as a cucumber. I lost touch with him, shortly thereafter, unfortunately, when I moved to San Diego, following high school, in 1972. Those years, from the early 60s through the 70s, were the best music years. Donovan’s voice, being played on record, or heard over a radio, was unmistakable & eerily beautiful!
Thank you for sharing this, what an awesome experience! Precious memories ❤
Thoroughly enjoyed reading your account what a cool memory!
He used a Hells Angels' bike for a joy ride! It's a really good thing you didn't scratch it. You probably wouldn't be telling this story otherwise.
Great memory! Thanks for sharing it!
Great story .
In August 1968, when I was eleven, my family flew back east from California to Massachusetts on TWA. There were earbuds on what looked like a stethoscope that enabled me to listen to any one of the music channels they had in flight, including rock and pop. My first and primary memory of Donovan is listening to "Jennifer Juniper" while soaring above the clouds. Just hearing the opening chords strikes me with vivid and intense nostalgia.
They are the moments to remember when days are dark. Good for you!
I remember those stethoscope type ear buds. Lol.
We were on a TWA flight from Sweden back to the USA. They actually played a nudy gay film on the on flight film. No sex but a bunch of men running buck naked thru the fields and hugging on each other. Frontal nudity. I was 9 ! 😮 I remember my mom trying to block me from seeing that. Too late. I saw it 😣
@cjhoward409 It's a pretty funny story, though😄. I was watching "Georgy Girl" (on TV, for goodness sakes) when I was 12 and my mom made me turn it off when she realized there was a sex scene in it. You didn't even get to see anything, it was just implied. She would have freaked if they showed the movie you saw, instead of, "If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium" 😆🤣
This adds a whole new angle to my friend's mom singing it with such passion one summer afternoon in 1982.
It's programs like this that wake up my memories, as a teenager of the 60's I feel so lucky to have lived in that area. Donovan is Brilliant, but then so where all the rest.
*lived in that " era"
Yes the 60's was a great time to be a teenager 😉
yep
@@hedcase70’s weren’t so bad but I always wished I graduated HS in 1970 vs 1980
When I was a kid, I got a crystal radio kit for Christmas. I put it together and the first thing I picked up was Mellow Yellow. A lot of my earliest exposure to rock was on that crystal set. Dad was the king of the radio in the car and he listened to a news station, so the crystal set was my "radio free Lucky."
My father was the same way. Sometimes, if he was in a good mood, he would let me listen to one of my stations for a few minutes, then it was back to soft listening or news (KFWB). One time when I was 15, my mom and dad and I (I don't remember if my brother came) went on a family drive on a Sunday afternoon. We went up in the mountains in the Lake Arrowhead area (CA) and got stuck on a dirt road that turned into more like a track. My father was concentrating on driving so heavily that he let slide Led Zep's "A Whole Lotta Love" -- the long ALBUM VERSION -- go by without saying a word until we came out onto a real paved road as the song ended. I think I asked him about it some years later, but he didn't remember.
Love Donovan. I was just a tiny child when he was popular but they played him so much on the radio and imma music freak since birth that I knew all
These songs and they’re a part of my childhood!
I saw Donovan in the early 70s at the University of Chicago, where my boyfriend, Ted, was a student. One of Ted's friends had organized the concert, and the setting, the Rockefeller Chapel, was perfect, as far as we were concerned -- Donovan sang from in front of the altar. In the middle of the concert, there was some rustling behind Donovan, loud enough to make him turn around to see what it was. The woman who had organized the concert was hiding behind one of the large pieces of furniture, to get as close to Donovan as she could. He took the opportunity to thank her and to ask the audience to give her some applause. He then told her to stay where she was, and he continued with the concert -- it was magical!!
Donovan was consistently underestimated ... he was much more influential that people ever gave him credit for.
If people didn't give him credit he wasn't influential.
@@helencheung2537 In an industry filled with narcissists it’s very difficult to get credited, because narcissists tend to take the credit for other people’s work.
Donovan is on the same class as Bowie and all artists way ahead of their time! Brilliant!
I had a Mathmatics instructor (when this came out) that picked up extra money on the weekends playing keyboards in bar bands. He would play Donovan ( as well as other counter culture music) during the classes.. I still remember seeing him groovin' around the room to "Sunshine Superman..".. Thanks Mr. Myhera!!
#mathematics
Mathematics
I was 14 when Donovan emerged, (just coincidence that he mentions that age) with so much profound creativity hitting us every week, we took it for granted that there would always be a constant flow new fantastic music. A lot of us just loved the music, didn’t care what the lyrics were about. Many lyrics were written to have hidden meaning, but sometimes they were just a tease, written to seem like they had hidden meaning, but were really just random phrases. I’m amazed now when I realize how much went over my head, because I just dug the music.
Even Today's music has Hidden Meaning in the lyrics!!
I've always liked this song...I'd chuckle everytime I'd here it..I knew what it was about. Now as a mom, my kids know it's one of my fav songs & my oldest daughter in High school TA'd for the teacher who ran the high school radio station. She mentioned I love that song & my drive to get them to school was about 30 min. & we'd pop on the school station & every morning he had Mellow Yellow played & we both would chuckle...no one knew...lol.
Thanks Prof for doing a video on Donovan. Let the younger generation know the 60's had a lot more artists than the Beatles, and The Stones.
I heard the song later in the 70’s and honestly thought it was about the mello yello soda pop!😅😂I had no idea! Wow! The guy was very articulate to say the least! Blows my mind! Can’t unhear it now! I just had to click and listen! Ty!👍
I also thought he was singing about the soda😂
I was a mere 2½ in 1966, turned 3 years old in Dec 1966. I remember turning 3 years old. My Brother and Sisiters were and still are, 10 years older than I am. Luckiest girl on the planet, because I got to grow up with the greatest music ever recorded, and yes, I thank God and my lucky stars for that very privilege! I grew up singing in the car and I knew, and still know the lyrics to all those songs! ❤
Same with me! 6 older siblings and 1 brother 6 years younger. Great memories and seems like I remember every song!❤️
Good for you, I feel the same. You probably feel very close to you brothers because of it.
I had four older siblings. Plus, I moved to a "College-Town," Athens, Ohio, home of the Main Campus of Ohio University, in 1967, when I was six-years old.
I was 4
I have 8 older siblings and two younger.
11 kids!!!? Wow, how fun!👍🏼@@richyrich4672
Oh the 60’s were great, such fun and funky💜💜💜
Sadly missed the best times ever
If I could just remember every minute of 64-69, I'd die happier.
Going by the title of this post I thought the song was going to be 'my ding-a-ling'
The music in the '60s was absolutely the BEST!!!
@@lsingstock1646my mom too. Lol. I was conceived in ‘65. She said it was a crazy year. Lol
Did you know that Donovan was involved with a children’s educational music series in the 70’s? One of the big two for elementary schools, there were song books and accompanying records so the kids could sing along. For each grade, Donovan wrote and sang one of that year’s songs. Even if the kids learned the song before hearing the record, that song was always the most popular for each grade. And the kids had no idea who wrote or sang the song. A great example of how good he really was!
I remember Mad Magazine’s take on the banana peel story. Cartoonist Don Martin did a comic strip that begins “Somewhere in San Francisco”. In it, a hippie tries smoking a banana peel. Of course nothing happens so he tosses the peel. Moments later he slips on the peel, striking his head and sees stars!✨💫💥And that’s how the rumor got started.
Mad was such a great magazine and had great social commentary. It was the gateway to National Lampoon.😂
What, me worry?
I saw him at the University of Detroit in the 1970s. He was great! He sat crosslegged on the stage and sang all of his hits. He’s so unique !
Donovan was the first musician and singer that I was a fan of. I have 18 of his albums, his book: Dry Songs and Scribbles, his DVD: Sunshine Superman, the Journey of Donovan, and his movie, The Pied Piper. I've gone to two of his concerts and was able to meet him after one. I am so glad to see you bring him up in this video. Thank you. He was so instrumental in the counter culture back in the sixties and so forgotten in present times.
You never mentioned Catch The Wind. Still one of my favorite songs. I was fortunate enough to see a Donovan show in 1967. Good to see he’s still out there. Thanks
Check out the Irish Descendants cover of it. Amazing!
He did.
Catch the Wind is still my favorite Donovan song.
I think I was 12 and saw Donovan in Seattle in the arena. I was in the middle of the very back row. I could look out and see everything. For the life of me, I can't conjure up that I had an adult with me. I may not have! Back in the day, you could go anywhere and everywhere on your own. I did, take public buses alone. Even @ 14, I flew to England alone and stayed a year with families... Love you Donovan
I love Donovan. Sunshine Superman, Season of the Witch, Mellow Yellow, great frickin songs.
I can't imagine that time without him. He WAS 1966, until the Doors came knockin
Hurdy Gurdy Man, Atlantis
When discussing Donovan's songs in commercials, I am surprised you didn't mention "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" used in Loves Fresh Lemon perfume ads in the 1970's. Talk about mellow yellow!
I never once thought the whispered "quite rightly" was by McCartney. I was able to tell it was Donovan right away. That Scottish accent was a big giveaway, no surprise as he came from Scotland.
I always assumed it was Donovan, too.
Me, too; I never imagined that was anyone _but_ Donovan. I'm not even sure why anyone would wonder in the first place.
Yup
Yes, exactly....you can clearly hear Paul in the background during the brass solo though.
@@mattbalas8828 Same
All I can say is FINALLY!!! I’ve been secretly wanting you to cover Donovan for a few months now. Mellow Yellow is awesome but I personally love Sunshine Superman.
Coming soon! What about Hurdy Gordy man!
I actually love season of the witch, best. 😊. Speaking of obscure musicians or bands, have you ever done a segment on Klaatu? Sub-Rosa subway for example?
@@sheilahgregg7879I love Season of the Witch, too.
@ProfessorofRock do not know it's meaning. But it felt right in the movie zodiac!!!❤❤😂
@@ProfessorofRock Of course, "Atlantas" was a very unlikely hit single. Mostly spoken word and very LONG for AM radio.
Woodie Guthrie's guitar famously had a label that read, "This Machine Kills Fascists. Donovan's simply read, "This Machine Kills." Freaking LOVE that!
Ha ha! Pretty good!
Awesome! I was aware of Guthrie's famous label because my high school history teacher had a poster of Woody and his guitar with those words, and our teacher brought his guitar to class and taught us Seeger and Guthrie protest songs while we were learning about the great Depression and the rise of labor unions. I adored that teacher, Mr. Mitchell!
I didn't know that about Donovan, thank you for that! Now I like him even more!
@@LazyIRanch Although Woody would not carry a gun and his high respect for unions he joined the merchant marine. He was on vessels bringing troops to the invasion of Italy and a lot more. When in port he gave concerts to the troops.
Yet hollywood and now the music industry are the "fascist" biggest supporters...
It's not so much about Mellow Yellow per se, but my story is about Donovan. I heard the song "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" in a radio play on Christmas day, 1980, when I was still a young kid. Had an open air tape recording of it that I eventually lost. I looked for that song for the next seven years... and remember, this was _way_ before the internet. I looked in the record catalogs of every record store I went into. Part of the problem was I had the lyric wrong; I was looking for "Well, you look like heaven"... which didn't help. Finally, when I was 19, I worked up the nerve to sing what I remembered to the cool manager of my local record store. He corrected me on the title, saying, "Oh, that's Donovan!" And I was like, "The _Mellow Yellow_ guy???" and he was like, "Yeah," and took me over to his greatest hits album. Much loved and listened to every since. _Carmine... carmine..._
B b😊p b9😅😅😅😅2
Great story.
That's my favorite of his.
Yeah, that was back when you had to listen to the record over and over and guess the lyrics.😜
@@thurayya8905some albums had lyrics with them
Ignorance is blessed, it's an amazing era I loved growing up in the sixties at least a few years they were all discreet. Songs were great and this brings back lovely memories ❤️
Years ago I picked up some hitchhikers on their way to NYC, three of them. They looked like they were from Mad Max with their face tatoos. I had rocking my 'best of Donovan' CD. I asked the leader of the troupe if they wanted something else (realizing in 2008 Donovan is not everyones cup of tea), Hurdy Gurty man was playing and the guy was 'hell no man I love this song', so the four of us chatted anout music and what not bopping to Donovan. Nice folks.
Donovan is for everyone!
Such a cool story!
Mellow Yellow in San Francisco - later became San Francisco Pizzeria/Wong's Cleaners and Laundry (they took the store and make two businesses out of it - I was wondering why that address looked familiar - I used to live above it!! LOL!!!
I had my own record collection that my father had help me start since I was 5! No kiddie records (your stories of your father sounds like mine! We both lost our dads Adam, but Damn did they leave us with great music and memories!) in that lot at all!
I still have a lot of them! He didn't care what I listened to, as long as I wasn't singing out lyrics in class. I got sent to the principles office for singing 'Get Down, Make Love' by Queen! SOOO yeah just keep it to myself!
OH WOW! I thought he said "I'm just mad about 14" and I thought he said Fontaine which is a name. I had a friend with that name when I was a kid and we used to sing it that way! Dude - LOL sometimes it's better to not know man! HAHAHA!
Very interesting - as well as being an influence on Lennon's 'Dear Prudence' and 'Julia' when with him in Rishikesh, Donovan's guitar style is also very apparent in McCartney's 'Blackbird' and 'Mother Nature's son', and it could be argued that it also had a guiding hand in Lennon's 'Child of Nature', which later became 'Jealous Guy'.
1:20 is where he reveals it’s Mellow Yellow by Donovan.
Thank you, he's extremely verbose.
Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965, and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles and albums during the late 1960s. His work became emblematic of the flower power era with its blend of folk, pop, psychedelic rock, and jazz stylings.
This song is just a reminder that music has always been naughty, it's just been more explicit the last few decades.
So true!
The naughtiest part is that the user is only 14!
My mom was complaining about the sexual nature of modern music, so I pointed out that popular music of her day was often overtly sexual. The language may have been more innuendo, but it was still obvious what they were singing about!
For example, my mom used to sing this 1940s calypso tune called "Marianne":
"Marianne, oh Marianne, oh won't you marry me?
We can have a bamboo hut, with brandy in a tea
Leave your old fat mama home, she never will say yes
Here my mom don't know now, she can guess
*All day all night, Marianne*
Down by the seaside, shifting sand...
...When we marry we will have a time you never saw
I will be so happy I will kiss my mother inlaw
Children by the dozen in and out the bamboo hut
One for every palm tree and coconut!"
(Sounds to me like this dude needs to keep it in his pants and go get a job to support all those dozens of kids he's responsible for!)
I don't know if it just went over their heads in the past but today they don't even try to cover it up just vulgar.
...I think you mean "rock-and-roll music" because a lot of music is purely religious music...
I grew up hearing a wide variety of music as I had 6 siblings and my dad was musician. As a teen before the internet I bought records and tapes from thrift stores and even got them from the library purely by looking at the cover art etc. It’s how I discovered Donovan, Cream, jethro Tull, Early Rolling Stones, etc which lead to a general love of 60’s and 70’s music that I have to this day. Music and nature I truly believe are transcendent. No matter the culture, language, religion it can move you.
I miss album covers. They are wonderful art.
Great - I was fortunate enough to meet Donovan after one of his concerts in Melbourne Australia in 1982 and he was so nice to me and my girl friend. I have lots of his albums. Cheers Adam.
When I was 16 myself and my mate put some banana skins under the grill so we could smoke them, but they caught fire and covered the kitchen in smoke and little black bits of banana, his mother wasn't happy 🤣🤣🤣
I read that nutmeg contains an LSD like substance (in tiny amounts). I can confirm that large quantities of snorted nutmeg gives you a nosebleed (and not much else…) 😵💫
😅
Songs from my parents' record collection that I used to sing as a child: Donovan -Mellow Yellow, Jefferson Airplane -White Rabbit, Raspberries - Go All the Way, I Wanna Be With You, Rolling Stones -Mother's Little Helper, Satisfaction. I was 8 when Madonna's 'Like A Virgin' was released & used to run around the house singing that, too. I didn't know or care what any of them were about. Ignorance is bliss.
That was the first Madonna a,bum I had in the early 80s
Good thing my mom never heard that Raspberries tune. All the craziness over lyrics, and then Eric Carmen makes it explicit and no one notices! 😂
I maybe strange, but my fav Donovan tune is "Atlantis", the opening poetry and everything, then that closing sing-along stanza....
WAY DOWN, BELOW THE OCEAN, IS WHERE I WANNA BE!
weeeeee!
But yeah, love most all Donovan's tracks, and ofc, have a dedicated Spotify playlist to him.
Good call.
Great song
I was only 12 when Mellow Yellow came out. I didn’t know (or care) what it was about, but loved it! There’s just a quality of Donovan’s voice that I’ve always loved.
I was the same age ❤Donavan😊
I was the same age too. Big fan too ❤
So you like pedo songs?
I am old enough to have owned the Donovan album Mellow Yellow as well as a couple of others. I was a fan. I graduated HS in 1966 arguably a turning point in music here in the US by virtue of the British Invasion. No, I don't still have the albums. I used to drive around with them in my car trunk with my portable record player -- have party, will travel -- was not good for keeping my collection (Beatles, Stones, Donovan, Animals, and the un-British group, CCR) pristine. It was an amazing time with amazing music playing in the background.
In 1966 I was thirteen. I used to listen to the radio to go to sleep at night and two songs would invade my dreams, Hurdy Gurdy Man, with it's weird vibrato and The Beach Boys, Good Vibrations, with the Theremin.
I had forgotten about Donovan, and back then, I loved all his music 🎶. It's official, I am getting old. Thanks for reminding me and grate information.
Great not grate!
You’re not old, you’re seasoned!
For me the "fourteen" thing was a misheard lyric. I always thought it said "I'm just mad about Fontaine".
Same.
Yes, and unfortunately now I know differently. 🤢
Me too.....all these years!
Me too! In fact, reading your comment is the very first time I have heard otherwise.
I also thought he said I,m just mad about Fontaine ,which I thought was a girl's name.Also have you heard W.A.P. by Cardi B ,now days they can get away with Sexually Suggestive songs.
I learned years ago Steely Dan was named after a device 😂, but when you alluded to Mellow Yellow as being the name of another one, my initial reaction was wait, what? 🤣 To paraphrase Dylan Hollis in one of his baking/cooking videos, our parents are like washing celery: dirtier than what we think. And therefore, so are some of the musical artists I grew up with.
Steely Dan named themselves after an object in a William S. Burroughs novel, Naked Lunch. The “Steely Dan” in question was a steam powered, mechanical dildo. The name suited their music to a T.
Never thought of sex as dirty though I enjoy the premise of your comment.
I really appreciate you calling out the perviness of Donovan and not making excuses for it. You didn’t have to do that, but I’m so happy you did. There was a very good reason all the adults didn’t like their daughters hanging out with musicians. It’s just a shame so many didn’t actually verbalize the risks, although that would mean they would have to confront them in their minds.
I’m an oldies fan because of my mom. Sirius radio is dirt cheap these days, and I’m always listening to the Beatles or other oldies stations.
How about "MY DING-A-LING" ? And don't forget Steely Dan, named after a certain "toy" 😅 . Then there's Cole Porter's "I'VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN" .
I was just 😂about My Ding-A-Ling by the great Chuck Berry. 😂
Koko Taylor: "we gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long"
Taylor later explained that a wang dang doodle is an off-premise after-hours party. But that's not what everyone believed . . .
I loved Donovan's "Gift from a Flower to a Garden" - Mad John's Escape, There Was a Time, Isle of Islay. Great songs. Great songwriter and singer. Donovan lived the life of a true 60's minstrel. I heard another rumor that Electrical Banana was a reference to the Youngbloods' lead guitarist Lowell "Banana" Levinger. Talk about double and even triple entendres. This song has them all!
I saw Donovan live. Always liked him. Hurdey Gurdey man was a great song. Brings back great memories.
The brass section from this song has been my ringtone for over twenty years. Of course my phone rang while watching this!
Thanks, the song's mystery that ate at my soul for almost 6 decades can be put to rest. Thank you...Thank you.
As a young kid in the 1960's, I used to sing along when this song came on the radio. When I got a little older, I was told it was about drugs. That seemed to make sense. But now, to learn it was about a sex toy? Truly disturbing! Especially because I remember my PARENTS also singing along with the chorus. Pretty sure they were clueless too.
Ha ha! Crazy right?
Your parents put toys in their greedy loose holes?
One can only hope 😂
I would have never guessed. I thought it was about being high.
I was watching "Minions" with my nephews last night and "Mellow Yellow" played over the credits.
Back in the mid 70's I had a step father who I would listen to a lot of music with and one day he told me that one of his fav singer's was Donavan, well after laughing historically and telling everyone I knew and generally embarrassing him......then some years later after maturing I realized how right he was about Donavan! I still feel bad about the way I acted and wish I could tell him how right he was....😶🌫️
One cool thing about music (or poetry, or art, or any creative endeavor) is that it doesn't really matter where the inspiration came from, or what the creator really had in mind when they use it. Any interpretation ultimately comes from the consumer.
So, really, it's "about" whatever it makes you think of, or feel when you hear it.
I've seen Melanie say that "Brand New Key" is not about sex, I guess I have a dirty mind. Any one else?
LOL I always thought it was obvious when I was i kid even. But yeah, it was a surprisingly popular mainstream song. Many seemed oblivious. I think the majority of people, now, then and always do not listen to lyrics beyond a few words of a chorus. Cool Video. Time to go listen to some Steely Dan.
The timing of this video is so apt. Just yesterday my parents and I were talking about subtle sex references in songs and I was telling them about your channel. Mom’s a fan of Donovan so I had to send this to her!
Just so you know, talking about sex songs with your parents is NOT normal at any age, okay Oedipus?
@@Frankie5Angels150 Are you American? Because you sound like a typical American prude.
Saw " Donovan" open up for "Yes" in 77' or 78". It was a sold out show and it was fantastic fun concert 😅
Unusual combination ..you wouldnt expect donovan to be a part of a yes concert
I was trying to remember when I saw him
Now I remember
I never thought the "quite rightly" asides were done by anyone other than Donovan himself, even with the persistent rumors they had been provided by McCartney. Saw Donovan in concert twice during the 1980s and enjoyed both. Also, he is a consummate name-dropper, constantly alluding to his various famous friends.
Really?
@@ProfessorofRock i saw him in melbourne (in the late 90s i think.) such a chronic name dropper, but we were there for the stories as much as the music. the amazing valie meyers was in the audience and yelled out "hi donny!"
Saw him at Beatlefest in Las Vegas in June of 2008. He was awesome. He was selling his autobiography, which was fascinating, and he signed my copy of the book. I was so happy to have had the opportunity to meet him. Favorite Donovan song?? “Atlantis”…..definitely.
I met him at the Beatlefest in 2014 in NYC and had him sign my copy of his autobiography. He was a very kind man. My favorite song is "Catch the Wind."
OMG. I grew up with Donovan and Beatles and cream and Jimmy…. This was a great episode. Thank you so much. ( And had no idea about the mellow yellow ref.. too funny)🙏🏼👍❤️
I was born in the 80’s but I have always liked the music before me. Mellow Yellow was always a song I would sing to.
I've always been fascinated with Donovan. His music has always been enjoyable when I've heard it, and I've savored the parts of the British rock timeline in which he interacted with The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and other high-profile members of that music scene. I regret that my first taste of "Mellow Yellow" in particular wasn't until The Gap licensed it for one of that early 2000s ad campaigns.
Another fascinating Donovan trivia tidbit, he did guest vocals along with Alice Cooper on the title track from the Billion Dollar Babies album. In the section with the lyrics "We go dancing nightly..." Alice sings while Donovan does the same lyrics spoken. When the section repeats later in the song, Alice does it spoken while Donovan sings.
Yes...!!! True story and awesome music tidbit for sure..!!
After listening to this, I went and listened to Donovan's greatest hits. Wow... what a talent. What a great mix of folk and drug culture, spiritualism. I really liked it. And I love the Mellow Yellow, and it's story. Fantastic. Been listening to Cassandra by ABBA. Which is about Gods and falling empires. What band ever sings about that stuff? Oh wait... Nightwish? Even my 84 yr old mother loves Ghost Love Score.
Reminds me of animated kiddies movies which often have double meanings, one for kids and one for the adults. I treated my daughter's friend to a rewatch of Shrek when she was 23. Now catching the adult bits, she looked at me with her mouth open and said "you guys let us watch this when we were kids?!"😂😂
I'm the same way with movies from the 80s. My mum didn't care about film ratings. Many movies from the 80s wouldn't fly today. Ghostbusters is extremely sexist. Labyrinth has a pee scene and a *wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more* David Bowie. I shouldn't have to explain why Earth Girls Are Easy wouldn't fly with that title. Pretty Woman is 1990, but it's about a prostitute that intrigues Richard Gere's character. A lot of cartoons in the 90s had adult jokes. Of course, there was once a time when people had one TV. Family viewing needed to entertain more age groups.
This was a fascinating history lesson. I loved Donovan growing up. I had NO IDEA the song Mellow Yellow had any real meaning at all😂😂😂. I just loved listening to him & the memories of that time. My mom enjoyed listening to him as well...crazy times. Thank you for all of the background information. It blows my mind to hear the history of some musicians. ❤ New subscriber!
For anyone familiar with Alice Cooper, the song "Billion Dollar Babies" had a co-vocalist on that track. It was Donovan.
Wow
I know this.
I knew it in 1966.
When I was 10 years old.
I LAUGHED MY ASS OFF WHEN I FIRST HEARD THIS SONG, playing on the car radio.
And then I had to explain it to my mother.
Who then almost wrecked the car, laughing so hard.
If you knew this at age10, it sounds like someone was abusing you
@@knielson1201 No, Darling, I grew up on a farm, and I do not ever remember a time when I did NOT know what sex was.
I knew this because I was a voracious reader, and I also listened to what was said around me.
"Little Pitchers have Big Ears," combined with "Children do not grow up in a vacuum."
It has been ny experience that the people who want most to keep children totally ignorant of sex and sexuality, are THE VERY PEOPLE WHO WANT TO VICTIMIZE THEM.
Now, go ponder upon your motives. Because I already have.
Another 10 year old all grown up here. I loved this song then too but I was clueless as to the true meaning. I liked it better when I didn’t know! 🤣
@@suescherdel6278 I will confess, I would have, if I had not.
Donovan was one strange cat, but his music was fun and enjoyable. My elementary school music teacher had us singing a few of his songs. Sunny Day, There is a Mountain, and Wear Your Love Like Heaven.
His songs were most certainly catchy and fun to sing along with.
Very cool!
What a wonderful music teacher!
I loved my elementary school music teacher too. She was kind of a hippy, and taught us protest songs by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, and one by Dylan, but I can't remember which one now. The song that stayed me most was "Poor Wayfaring Stranger", which is a Gospel hymn, but she had us sing a rather dark, spooky folk version that sounded less "churchy hymnal".
The kids who couldn't remember lyrics sang the background vocals of, "Oooohh, Ooooh, Ooooohh, OOOHH, Ooooh-ooooooh", which sounded extra creepy in our little kid voices.
She should have recorded us and sent it to Universal Studios to use in monster movies!👻
@@LazyIRanch have you heard Jack White's version of Wayfaring Stranger? It is the best I've heard. It's bluegrass.
Or to jam along to for half an hour if you were the Allman Brothers.
Loved Donovan in the 60s when I saw and bought several of his records and still enjoy his music now. When I was twelve I was coming home from school on the bus to Hatfield in Hertfordshire (pronounced Hartfordsheer by anyone who lives there by the way ;-) ) when the bus conductor asked me if I were Donovan’s brother. My long dark hair looked very similar I suppose and I was heading for the same part of town where his family lived. I saw Donovan play in 2018 (I think) and mentioned this to him after the show. He didn’t look as impressed as I felt at the time or since, if I’m honest. Of course, we could never have been mistaken for brothers if we were standing side by side. He is much shorter than I am and I could never manage any kind of Scots accent!
I'm Donovan and was named after him! I was so influenced by my name sake, I too got into meditation and Hinduism which I still practice today! Love the guy - obviously
Since everyone thought back then that Mellow Yellow was about smoking banana peels, my uncle figured that saffron must also be a natural high. So he smoked some, and surprise!, nothing happend.
Saffron is known for making you mellow
I always figured it was about yellow barrel acid.
Considering how expensive and rare saffron is that was a mistake.
Mellow Yellow album is a little time capsule of the sixties just before the 'scene' became a parody of itself in '67. The cross over between coffee bar jazz hipsterness and the coming tide of psychadelia. Mellow Yellow is the least consequential, most 'throw away' song on the album but its great ear candy. Have seen Donovan a number of times over the years. He never fails to entertain his audience.
Hurdy Gurdy man in the film Zodiac was perfect. Really creepy.
Great movie
Donovan's music back in the 60's was fantastic and hold so many great memories of being young and free to explore life with no hangups! I would love to go back and experience it aĺl over again!!
I became 9 in 1966. What I remember of Donovan’s songs was that they were ear candy that you didn’t have to think about. They were just coherent pieces unto themselves, like an architecturally significant building, or a well-styled car. When his songs came on the radio, you didn’t have to change the station: you didn’t want to.
Also, about the 14 year-old girl thing. If you do some light research about Teeny Boppers, you’ll get an impression of what the zeitgeist was regarding swinging Lolitas. They most predatory animals pursuing young girls were on Madison Avenue. They were mad to sell them stuff. And now we arrive at the topic of Bubblegum Music. And there you go.
Wait a minute. Mellow Yellow is a vibrator. Mellow Yellow is the speaker. So Saffron and 14 can have right at it without running afoul of the law. In fact, a 14 year-old girl would get things from Mellow Yellow that boys won’t be inclined to achieve until they are 23 or 25…if they are the conscientious sort. So…the song would actually be timely in that light. In poetry and lyrics it is not always the case that the singer is the speaker. Mick Jagger isn’t Lucifer…most of the time.
Absolutely. I’m a fifty five model and I love the sound. Hurry Gurdy Man too.
My sister would listen to the radio while cleaning. So many of his songs ❤❤❤
I was in grade school, great songs. In 1966, 1967, hit songs came out every week.
Thanks Cherrie!
@@nighthiker8872 I was just starting kindergarten in 1966.
damn, never heard that Donovan taught Paul & John those picking techs, (that are a right pain in the a$$ if I do say myself). Always learning something new here, Thanks Prof!
Thanks!
I got to hear Donovan perform live back in ‘77 as the warmup band at a YES concert at MSG…great show…i also heard stories that both Lennon and Harrison were schooled by Donovan while they were in India…it was said, the two of them were blown away by both his picking style and chord progressions…
I was at that show! I remember Donovan getting booed.sad.
@@shauljanes3779 …i love donovan…definitely sad…🤷🏻♂️
The good ol days!
I grew up in the 70s and 80s. I enjoy hearing your commentary on music that came before my time.
I always thought it was Donavan whispering “Quite Rightly.” Sounds like him to me.
Donovan provided an important part of the soundtrack of my youth. In an earlier time, popular poets would have done much to shape the public mind. In our day it’s the singer-songwriters, much like the troubadours.
I always liked Hurdy Gurdy Man. Now I’m wonder what meanings might be hidden in there.
That song is so cool.
My fave Donovan song. I’ve always wondered what the meaning of that song was but never took the time to ponder it that deep.
Apparently a hurdy gurdy is an old-time instrument. So the song seems to be about a minstrel.
I'm still wondering why they featured it in "Zodiac." Since seeing that movie, that's the visual I have every time I listen to "Hurdy Gurdy Man." I wish I didn't.
Because it was a huge hit right around the time the killings were going on@@sharonjensen3016
MELLOW YELLOW!! I remember the soda! My friends and I used to refer to the soda as “Florida’s answer to water”! LOL… I lived in Clearwater FL back in 1990 and EVERYBODY was drinking the soda like it was water (no wonder)… I never did figure out WHY.
I wonder if that's what inspired "Brawndo", from the -movie- (now) documentary, "Idiocracy".
"Brawndo! It has electrolytes! It's got what plants NEED!" 🤪
They have that in our college dining hall.
I was 14, traveling with my family by car from Miami to New York for the World's Fair. I had a copy of an small British mag (name slips m mind, but it mainly covered the Beatles) with Donovan on the cover. "Catch the Wind" was on the radio and he was being touted as the 'new Dylan'. Years later I saw him on a documentary where he and Dylan met and played self-penned tunes for each other. Donovan was warm and respectful, but Dylan couldn't hide his contempt and patronizing praise of Donovan. Never forgot that. I got to see Donovan in Peekskill in the mid 2000s. To me he has always been brilliant and under-appreciated.
I saw Donovan at Leeds University Student Union refectory in about 1972.
The set was just a bean bag on the stage and Donovan just walked on, sat on that with acoustic guitar and harmonica, and entranced the audience for 2 hours. Magical artist.
My favorite 2 Donovan tracks are the longer recordings of 'Catch the Wind' and 'Colours' on the Greatest Hits LP. Those two cuts showed that he was a key figure in folk rock going through psychedelia as its best, most well rooted, wing then became country rock.
Catch the wind is one of the most beautiful tunes, ever, imho. ☺️