Mellow Yellow Mellow Yellow "Mellow Yellow" is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. In the US it reached No. 2 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in 1966, (Both Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys and Winchester Cathedral by The New Vaudeville Band kept it from hitting No. 1). Outside the US, "Mellow Yellow" peaked at No. 8 in the UK in early 1967. The song was rumoured to be about smoking dried banana skins, which was believed to be a hallucinogenic drug in the 1960s, though this aspect of bananas has since been debunked. According to Donovan's notes, accompanying
This Could Be the Night (1966 song) concert film "The Big TNT Show". Other than the film, MFQ's recording went unissued until 1976, when it appeared on a Spector compilation album. Nilsson recorded the song several times, but only a solo demo has been issued. In 1995, Wilson recorded it for a Nilsson tribute album. Several other musicians have recorded their versions of the song. According to Spector biographer Mick Brown, Nilsson wrote "This Could Be the Night" as a tribute to Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. Nilsson brought it to Spector, whose productions Wilson greatly admired. Nilsson and Spector are often listed as the songwriters,