Mellow Madness Explained

Mellow Madness is a 1975 studio album by Quincy Jones. It was Jones's first album recorded since treatment for a cerebral aneurysm. The album introduced the R&B public to The Brothers Johnson, who co-wrote four of the album tracks.

Track listing

1. "Is It Love That We're Missing?" (George Johnson, Debbie Smith) (3:52)
   • Lead vocals: George Johnson
2. "Paranoid" (Joe Green) (2:55)
   • Lead vocals: Leon Ware
3. "Mellow Madness" (Quincy Jones, Tom Bahler, Paulette McWilliams, Al Ciner) (3:27)
   • Lead vocals: Paulette McWilliams
4. "Beautiful Black Girl" (Jones, Otis Smith) (6:12)
   • Poetry recitation: The Watts Prophets
5. "Listen (What It Is)" (George Johnson, Louis Johnson) (4:16)
   • Lead vocals: George Johnson and Paulette McWilliams
6. "Just a Little Taste of Me" (George Johnson, Louis Johnson) (3:28)
   • Lead vocals: George Johnson
7. "My Cherie Amour" (Stevie Wonder, Henry Cosby, Sylvia Moy) (5:25)
   • Flute: Hubert Laws
   • Lead vocals: Leon Ware, Minnie Riperton, and Paulette McWilliams
8. "Tryin' to Find Out About You" (George Johnson, Louis Johnson) (3:02)
   • Drums: Harvey Mason
9. "Cry Baby" (Quincy Jones, Wah Wah Watson, Robert Bryant) (4:29)
   • Guitar, voice bag, and lead vocals: Wah Wah Watson
10. "Bluesette" (Norman Gimbel, Jean "Toots" Thielemans) (7:01)
    • Whistling and guitar solo: Toots Thielemans
    • Trombone solo: Frank Rosolino

Personnel

• Quincy Jones - producer, arranger, keyboards, trumpet, background vocals

Musicians

• Wah Wah Watson, George Johnson – guitars
• Toots Thielemans – guitar
• Dennis Budimir – guitar
• Louis Johnson – bass guitar
• Chuck Rainey – bass guitar
• Max Bennett – bass guitar
• Don Grusin, Dave Grusin, Jerry Peters – keyboards
• Mike Melvoin – keyboards
• Bill Lamb, Chuck Findley – trumpets
• Tom Bahler – trumpet, background vocals
• Frank Rosolino, George Bohanon – trombones
• Ernie Krivda, Sahib Shihab, Jerome Richardson – saxophones
• Hubert Laws – flute
• Tommy Morgan – bass harmonica
• Harvey Mason – drums
• Grady Tate – drums
• Ralph MacDonald – conga, percussion
• Ian Underwood - synthesizer programming
• Paulette McWilliams, Jim Gilstrap, Joe Green, Jesse Kirkland, Myrna Matthews, Carolyn Willis, Leon Ware – background vocals
• Minnie Riperton – background vocals

Technical personnel

• Tom Bahler – assistant arranging
• Paul Riser – assistant arranging
• Phil Schier – engineer
• Joan DeCola – assistant engineer

Charts

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions[2]
		US	US R&B	US Dance
1975	"Is It Love That We're Missing?"	70	18	—
1976	"Mellow Madness"	—	82	—

Notes and References

1. Web site: [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p6851/charts-awards/billboard-albums|pure_url=yes}} Quincy Jones US albums chart history]. allmusic.com. 2011-05-30.
2. Web site: [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p6851/charts-awards/billboard-singles|pure_url=yes}} Quincy Jones US singles chart history]. allmusic.com. 2011-05-30.