The Yellow Album

This article is about The Simpsons album. For the Zebrahead album known by the same name, see Zebrahead (album). For other uses, see The Yellow Album (disambiguation).

The Yellow Album
The album cover which parodies Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Studio album by
The Simpsons
ReleasedNovember 24, 1998
RecordedJanuary 1992 – December 1997
Genre
Length46:35[1]
LabelGeffen
Producer
The Simpsons chronology
Songs in the Key of Springfield
(1997) 		The Yellow Album
(1998) 		Go Simpsonic with The Simpsons
(1999)

The Yellow Album is The Simpsons' second album of originally recorded songs, released as a follow-up to the 1990 album The Simpsons Sing the Blues. Though it was released in 1998, it had been recorded years earlier, after the success of the first album. The title is a play on the name of the Beatles' self-titled 1968 album, commonly known as "The White Album", with the skin color of the characters of The Simpsons. In addition, the cover is a parody of the Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The parody was also used for a couch gag in Season 8 Simpsons episodes "Bart After Dark" and "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" (until it was replaced in reruns of the latter episode with the couch gag from "Kamp Krusty", where the Simpsons find the Flintstones on their couch and Fred invites Homer to sit with him). A similar version of it is on the inside of the United Kingdom version of The Simpsons Season 9 DVD. An outtake named "My Name Is Bart" is a parody of musician Prince's 1992 single "My Name Is Prince".[2] In 1993, it was also reported that Matt Groening had penned a rap song to be performed by Bart.[2]

James L. Brooks, producer of the show, wanted to produce a follow-up album based on the popular reception of the debut, but creator Matt Groening was against it. The cast then recorded The Yellow Album, but it was not released until 1998, at which time it suffered poor reception.[3] The album was to be released in February 1993 and feature Prince, Linda Ronstadt, and C+C Music Factory.[4] Plans were in the works for music videos to accompany The Yellow Album.[5]

  1. ^ Review (November 24, 1998). "The Yellow Album - The Simpsons | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Bart Me Up". SPIN. 8 (10). SPIN Media LLC: 23. February 1993. ISSN 0886-3032.
  3. ^ Ortved, John (2009). The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-86547-988-3.
  4. ^ "Archives #124". Nl.newsbank.com (Dallas Morning News, dallasnews.com). October 29, 1992. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  5. ^ Stephanie DuBois (December 15, 1992). "Prince will sing with Bart Simpson". Rome News-Tribune. Retrieved April 23, 2011.