MELLOW MY MIND
SIMPLY
RED(BAND)
SONGWRITER: YOUNG NEIL
COUNTRY: U. K.
ALBUM: BLUE
LABEL: EAST WEST
GENRE: POP
YEAR: 1998
Simply Red are a British soul and pop band which formed in Manchester in 1985. The lead vocalist of the band is singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall, who,
by the time the band initially disbanded in 2010, was the only original member
left. Since the release of their debut studio album Picture Book(1985), they have had ten songs reach
top 10 in the UK Singles Chart,
including "Holding
Back the Years" and "If You Don't Know Me by Now", both
of which reached number one on the US Billboard
Hot 100. They have had five number one albums in the UK,
with their 1991 album, Stars, being one of the best-selling albums in UK chart history.
At the 1992 and 1993 Brit Awards, they
received the award for Best British Group. They received three Grammy Award nominations: for Best New Artist in 1987, and
"Holding Back the Years" and "If You Don't Know Me by Now"
for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or
Group with Vocals. The band re-formed in 2015. Simply Red
have sold over 50 million albums.
Blue is the sixth studio album by British band Simply Red. It
was released by East West Records on 19 May 1998 in the United Kingdom. Initially conceived as a cover album, it
features production from lead singer Mick Hucknall as well as Andy Wright, Gota Yashiki, Stevie J, and
Joe "Jake" Carter. Hucknall, Wright, and Yashiki are the only
musicians featured in the Blue CD booklet's photography; this is a first for a
Simply Red album, as all prior albums featured photos of the various band members
credited.
The album includes five cover versions:
"Mellow My Mind" from the 1975 Neil Young album Tonight's the Night; two
versions of the frequently covered "The Air
That I Breathe", written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood; the Gregory Isaacs hit "Night Nurse"; and "Ghetto Girl"
by Dennis Brown, from
whom the band would cover another song in 2003. New versions of previously recorded Simply Red songs
also appear here: "Come Get Me Angel" is a rewritten version of the
1996 single "Angel", and "Broken Man" was first released as
a B-side in 1987. "The Air That I Breathe Reprise" samples
"Jack and Diane"
by John Mellencamp.
"So Jungiful", found on the Japanese edition of the album, is a jungle remix of "So Beautiful" from the band's previous album, Life.
Baby mellow my mind
Make me feel, like a schoolboy on goodtime
Jugglin' nickels and dimes
Satisfied with the fish on the line
I've been down the
road and I've come back
Lonesome whistle on the railroad track
Ain't got nothin' on those feelings that I had
Something so hard to find
A situation, that could casualise your mind
I've been down the
road and I've come back
Lonesome whistle on the railroad track
Ain't got nothin' on those feelings that I had
I've been down the
road and I've come back
Lonesome whistle on the railroad track
Ain't got nothin' on those feelings that I had.
Baby mellow my mind
Make me feel, like a schoolboy on good time
Jugglin' nickels and dimes
Satisfied with a fish on the line.