Mellow Madness

Mellow Madness
Studio album by Quincy Jones
Released	August 1975
Recorded	1975 Record Plant, Los Angeles and Westlake Audio
Genre	Jazz, R&B
Length	44:07
Label	A&M
Producer	Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones chronology
Body Heat (1974) Mellow Madness (1975) I Heard That!! (1976)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[2]

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. ^[3]

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 (track 10)
• Dennis Budimir – guitar (track 7)
• Louis Johnson – bass guitar
• Chuck Rainey – bass guitar (track 10)
• Max Bennett – bass guitar (track 7)
• Don Grusin, Dave Grusin, Jerry Peters – keyboards
• Mike Melvoin – keyboards (track 7)
• 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 (track 7)
• Tommy Morgan – bass harmonica (track 6)
• Harvey Mason – drums
• Grady Tate – drums (track 10)
• 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 (track 7)

Technical personnel

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

Charts

Year	Album	Chart positions [4]
		US	US R&B	US Jazz
1975	Mellow Madness	16	3	1

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions [5]
		US	US R&B	US Dance
1975	"Is It Love That We're Missing?"	70	18	—
1976	"Mellow Madness"	—	82	—

References

1. AllMusic review
2. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide . USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p.  114. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.
3. Mellow Madness at AllMusic
4. "Quincy Jones US albums chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
5. "Quincy Jones US singles chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved May 30, 2011.