Did Paul McCartney really appear on Mello Yellow?
-
All these years I presumed this to be factual common knowledge - but Donovan claims it's a false rumor based on the fact that they were in the same studio on the same day and left together. Has Paul himself ever commented on it?
-
I've read this before, too. Can't recall where or what exactly was said or who said it, other than that he sang background on this.
-
I can't remember details, but I once did research into the subject, and to my knowledge Paul did NOT perform on the track
-
We all know Wikipedia is notoriously wrong, and of course in this they say that Paul sang in the background. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellow_Yellow
-
I know Donovan was friends with all The Beatles, so I would not be surprised if this were true. However, I have never heard or read this anywhere else.
-
beatlesfanrandy:
I know Donovan was friends with all The Beatles, so I would not be surprised if this were true. However, I have never heard or read this anywhere else.
Yeah, Donovon was in India with them, but I'd never heard that rumor before either. Hey, somebody should submit that as a question to Paul (You Gave Me The Answer)
-
Donovan taught John & Paul how to do Travis-style guitar finger picking while on that India trip which was used on several songs on the White Album (Julia, Blackbird, etc.). I suppose it's possible that Paul appeared on that single as an uncredited artist though I know little about it. Record company contractual obligations made things complicated regarding guest appearances and often the artist simple appeared as a guest and was uncredited to avoid the legal hassles. This is the reason why Eric Clapton is largely uncredited for his work on All Things Must Pass.
-
My understanding was that Donovan taught John the guitar picking that he used in Julia. Paul already knew finger picking (e.g. Yesterday) Can someone else verify this for me? ETA: You know what, I was misinformed. I had always heard that it was just John, but Donovan's Wikipedia page says he taught both. Interesting! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donovan
-
OK, I'm gonna quote the best expert in that matter, Mr. Kristofer Engelhardt, the author of "The Beatles Undercover", a guide to Beatles collaborations on other artists' records: Paul McCartney: dialogue on LP Troubadour The Definite Collection/1964-1976 (released 1992). I don't have that LP, but I have the recording "Mellow Yellow" on which there is no McCartney dialogue. Apparently, the dialogue must merely precede or follow the track (but is NOT part of it) on that 1992 album. The musicians on "Mellow Yellow" are: Donovan Leitch (lead vocals and acoustic gtr); John Paul Jones (bass gtr); Bobby Or (drums); Danny Moss (horns); Ronnie Ross (horns) Then, Paul does appear on some other Donovan tracks, which come from an unauthorised release by Vigotone in 1993 "No. 3 Abbey Road NW 8" which quotes Paul as the producer. Paul plays guitar and does some vocals on two songs: "Good Morning Mister Wind", and "Lalena". I guess the tracks from the above mentioned boot come from exactly the same session (late 1968/early 1969) during which Paul and Donovan recorded among other tracks
, heavily bootlegged for Beatles fans. ---------------------------------------------- I've bumped into another McCartney/Donovan track . You can actually hear other Beatles on it too, I can clearly hear George's voice. -
I think Paul is simply part of the party noises you hear in the record "Mellow Yellow" but not singing. Some of the "whoops" sound like Paul. On Donovan's "Atlantis" I hear Paul singing "she may, she may."
-
Nancy R:
We all know Wikipedia is notoriously wrong, and of course in this they say that Paul sang in the background. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellow_Yellow
I would say that if he sang in "the background", he was doing so somewhere in the parking lot. I mean, there's the background and then there's THE BACKGROUND!!
