The second album of Donovan's psychedelic/rock phase (as distinct from his earlier folk phase), Mellow Yellow was always a mystery to British audiences (who never saw the LP, thanks to the nearly year-long lay-off that Donovan's legal woes imposed upon him in his own country), and a kind of... [+] Expand

The second album of Donovan's psychedelic/rock phase (as distinct from his earlier folk phase), Mellow Yellow was always a mystery to British audiences (who never saw the LP, thanks to the nearly year-long lay-off that Donovan's legal woes imposed upon him in his own country), and a kind of vexation to American listeners, available as it was for many years in a wretched "rechanneled stereo" version from Columbia Special Products that offered scratchy sound and not much else. The CD version was a partial improvement, but was done so early that it wasn't even representative of state-of-the-art digital sound at the time it was issued, Columbia Records often being a day late and several dollars short in the audio sweepstakes of the mid- to late '80s. Now this CD, from British EMI, is state-of-the-art down to the last note, taken from the original master tape (in real stereo) and transferred in 24-bit digital, so that even the solo acoustic guitar on "Young Girl Blues" is kind of imposing, to the point where you can almost hear the action on the strings -- with Donovan's voice richer and more resonant than ever in this new transfer, and the arrangements by John Cameron and John Paul Jones now fully exposed and heard in all the timbres that were present in the studio; this is a sonic delight as well a spellbinding mix of psychedelia, blues, folk, Eastern music, and pop like nothing else that Columbia or any other major label -- except EMI and Capitol with the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album -- was releasing in 1967. It's been augmented with ten bonus tracks, three previously released ("Epistle to Dippy," "Preachin' Love," "There Is a Mountain"), but making their debut with truly killer sound so that you can even hear the action on the strings of the acoustic guitar deep in the mix of "There Is a Mountain," and six previously unissued demos, solo acoustic, and some works-in-progress, including early incarnations of evolving songs such as "Good Time" and another attempt at "Superlungs," where Donovan gets into some surprising pop and garage rock grooves, respectively, and there's an alternate arrangement of "Epistle to Dippy" (with violin in lieu of guitar). Any of the bonus features would be worth the price of the CD, and the combination of all of them makes this a must-own piece, and not just for Donovan fans, but anyone who wants a glimpse of the kind of creativity that was bubbling up and over in 1967 and has already run through Sgt. Pepper and the like. It's intense enough that you may find yourself -- no joke -- getting a little bit high at 40 minutes in, with 25 still to go. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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