Comments on: Adventures Through The Mines Of Mellow Gold 16

By: JT

JT — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 23:26:42 +0000

J - sorry I’m just getting to this fantastic Mellow Gold now! Your playful dissection of "Torn Between Two Lovers" was VERY enjoyable reading. So funny that you wrote that Jess thinks your reading of that line was wrong; I’m with her. :-) It was another brilliant Mellow Gold post by you, great job.

By: mike

mike — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 22:10:30 +0000

"Pilot Of The Airwaves" is on some Play Misty For Me shit. I used to get bizarre callers like her when I did an overnight college radio show, and I’d humor them lest they suddenly turn abusive. I don’t know, is stalking considered "mellow?"

By: jefitoblog

jefitoblog — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 22:30:46 +0000

[...] Jason, as always, tore shit up with his Adventures through the Mines of Mellow Gold and Chart Attack! posts. [...]

By: woofpop

woofpop — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 22:07:54 +0000

David,
Point taken about Carly and songcraft. But, one of her facets definitely was mellow.
I agree on your assessment of mellow vs. pure cheese, and both the songs you cited indeed are more on the cheese side.
Elaine, I’m old. I can timeline it for you. Actually, you are right on, except that Roberta Flack would belong with the first group (the big ole girl JT, Carly and Carole as the forefathers of mellow) - the others were around during that time, too, but not having hits until later on. I think you did a good job with that!

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 20:35:57 +0000

I almost made that "slipped in" joke myself, David, but in the end I decided to pull out.

By: David

David — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 19:39:05 +0000

I’m sure no expert either, Andrew. Last time I checked, this was Jason’s website – mayhap he has an opinion as to the bounds of Mellow Gold (if there are any)? Or, we could ring up that guy at Time/Life to be final arbiter …

(PS: Must … resist … urge … to make “slipped in” joke about James Taylor … Carly Simon …)

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 19:19:23 +0000

I realize Joni Mitchell’s "Help Me" isn’t Mellow Gold, but it’s a great soft rocker from a female artist. Prince even quoted it on "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker."

By: Elaine

Elaine — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 18:50:35 +0000

If Carly figures prominently in Mellow Gold, what about Carole King? Every time I see one of her songs in 70’s concert footage context, I cringe. Is anyone here old enough to describe how that all unfolded in real time? Or anyone who has already gone back and pieced it together. It’s kind of like a history project. You had Carole, Carly, JT, I don’t know who else… Rita Coolidge?, Melissa Manchester, Yvonne Elliman, Roberta Flack… you know what I mean. How did all these mellow ladies interlock? I don’t know. (Notice I slipped James Taylor in the middle of all those female names, and he fits right in.)

By: andrew

andrew — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 17:28:59 +0000

Quite possible (re: mixing the streams). The timeline puts "Pilot" toward the end of the MG era, but I was going on the overall sound (especially the harmonies as I remember them) and sheer passivity of the lyrics. "I’m calling in to request a song, but I don’t care if you play it at all…I really just want to hear your lovely speaking voice because it makes me feel all fuzzy inside" seemed like a rather mellow sentiment to me. However, I’m no expert, by far.Now, if it was a GUY singing this song, I’m guessing all bets would be off…

By: David

David — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 16:38:42 +0000

… And re: Carly, maybe I should’ve said “songcraft” instead of “musicianship,” woofpop. No doubt, most of these guys (’n gals) are great players. I just hear a lot more subtlety in Carly’s songwriting. Like the difference between jazz and smooth jazz*.

*see “Mueller, Lance”