The Mellotron Group

Cool thread.

 

The first time I ever heard a Mellotron was listening to the Moody Blues in
the 1960's at my friend's house. His mom was pretty cool and she loved the
Moody's, so that is what we listened to. I had no idea that I was listening
to a tron, and there were few popular groups back then with such an
orchestral sound.

 

Then it was the Beatles' Strawberry Fields. I thought it was just another
George Martin sonic re-creation of flutes. Then it was the Rolling Stones'
2000 Light Years from Home. I started to recognize the similar sound.

 

Then my life changed. August 1969. As a 14-year-old I was sitting in the mud
on a rainy Friday night at the West Palm Beach Festival. After a series of
amazing sets by Vanilla Fudge, Janis Joplin, and Sweetwater, and a few dozen
joints. I heard the most magical sound I have ever heard. King Crimson had
taken the stage and opened with Court of the Crimson King. (This was one
week before the famous Crimson performance recorded at the Fillmore West.)  

 

Well, I swore I saw a symphony orchestra on stage with them, but I was
wrong. What I saw was Ian McDonald playing a large wooden organ, but what
type of organ makes that sound? I had no idea. He even had a reverb unit on
top of the Mark II that he smashed on the top of his tron during Mars. I was
completely blown away! 

 

To my (and the other 50,000+ people in attendance) pleasure, Crimson played
all three days of the festival. Among the many stars who performed there
(Rolling Stones, Canned Heat, Vanilla Fudge, Sweetwater, Janis Joplin,
Jefferson Airplane, Johnny and Edgar Winters, Grand Funk Railroad, and many
more), Crimson was the star of the festival, and I was an instant fan. 

 

Who would imagine that only a couple of weeks later this amazing band would
split up? But I was one of the lucky few who saw these guys play, and three
days in a row! I consider myself very fortunate. And it changed my musical
direction.

 

I did my research and found a lot of information about the Mellotron, but it
was impossible to get one in the states. And even if they were available,
good luck trying to afford one. I was performing with a Hammond C3,
Clavinet, and Wurlie. No way could I afford a tron.

 

A few years later the Model 400 was introduced and became available in the
US. But that was way out of my price range. I did have a schoolmate who
bought one and I played it at his house. What an unruly beast. But it was
strangely magical. and I loved it. He was doing some sessions and could not
make one. I replaced him and played his Mellotron. A few days later I was
called onto the carpet from my union, The American Federation of Musicians.
Uh oh.

 

It was pretty funny going before a "jury" of old Miami Beach musicians
lecturing this long-haired hack keyboardist that my playing a Mellotron was
putting musicians out of work. So they fined me $100 and I continued
playing.

 

In the 80's I saw an ad for a SM400 in a Miami paper. I went to the guy's
house and saw the most beat-up tron I had ever seen. There were tapes
unraveled all over the place and the keyboard was all messed up. He wanted
$500 for it and I turned it down. On my way to my car he said "$100"!  Well,
I was a dumb kid. and turned him down again. 

 

Fast forward 30 years. Call me crazy, but I found this list and my tron lust
returned. One day I received an email from this guy in Texas who said that
he heard I was looking for one for my collection.  He said that it lived its
life in a Dallas recording studio and that he owned it for only a few years.
He wanted $2000 for it. The pictures he sent displayed a very nice tron in
very good condition. I figured $2000 is not bad and even if I had to spend
another $1500 for new tapes and a motor upgrade, why not?

 

I purchased it and he shipped it to me from East Texas. A few days after he
shipped it a chicken truck pulls up to my house with a crated Mellotron
inside. After uncrating it I opened up the back and discovered the upgraded
motor controller. The tapes looked very clean. I plugged it in and it played
beautifully! Amazing.

 

One of the first things I did was sample it onto my Motif ES so that I could
play its wonderful sounds live at my gigs.  You can hear samples from this
tron at my website www.vintagekeyboardsounds.com
<http://www.vintagekeyboardsounds.com/>  . 

 

My tron sits in my studio protected from all danger. I play it occasionally,
and its voice sends me back to my days as a 14-year-old musician hearing
something that would change my musical destiny.