Your (Admittedly
Very Basically Designed At The Moment) Local Mellotron Resource Centre
- celebrating music inspired by the Mellotron and Chamberlin
SCROLL DOWN FOR MELLOTRON LINKS!
Watch
this space for soon-to-come reports, pix and other links from the 2ND INTERNATIONAL
MELLOFEST 2009 took place on MAY 2 at the Luminaire in Kilburn, North London.
MELLOFEST 2 was the next step of our new festival series celebrating the Mellotron keyboard and the music it inspires. Onstage on May 2 were three Mellotrons (two white and one black) plus a guest list of classic rock and contemporary artists. The 'unplugged' night featured more music and less talk than MelloFest 1..
The FIRST INTERNATIONAL MELLOFEST 2008 [CLICK HERE FOR THE JAPANESE VERSION] proved to be the unique experience it had promised. After all, how often do you find a brace of Mellotron 400s nestling onstage plus such an august gathering of keyboard players (amongst so many other great musicians)? The event featured discussions and live Mellotron-inspired music from very special guests plus the official launch of Nick Awde's new book 'Mellotron: The Machine and the Musicians that Revolutionised Rock'. Talking about their music and in some cases also playing it were: David Cross (King Crimson), Nick Magnus (Steve Hackett Band), Martin Orford (IQ), Jakko Jakszyk (21st Century Schizoid Band/Tangent), Dave Cousins (Strawbs) & Robert Kirby (Strawbs), Robert Webb (England), and Tony Clarke (Moody Blues).
*****
M ELLOFEST 1 INTERVIEWS AND PIX HERE! *****
For further details on "Mellotron" the Book, email: mellotron@deserthearts.com or call +44-(0)7961 154590.
To buy the book go to: www.deserthearts.com/mellotron.html or from Amazon.co.uk.
SOME NICK AWDE BOOK REVIEWS & MENTIONS...
One from Sid Smith, author of rock biography 'In The Court of King Crimson' (amongst other things), on his Postcards From The Yellow Room - and why not take the time to browse the rest of Sid's insights on music on his blog site?
Here's one we're especially proud of – Mellotron pioneer Geoff Unwin in the Liverpool Echo ("I gave Lennon a few rock tips...").
ESSENTIAL MELLOTRON LINKS...
Planet Mellotron - the first stop for any serious Tron browser, packed to the gills with reviews and lists of albums and bands that used the Mellotron, all courtesy of the pen (and ears) of Andy Thompson.
Mike Dickson (where you can download his new Tron album "mellotronworks" for free).
Streetly Electronics - home of the original Mellotron and now making the M4000, courtesy of John Bradley and Martin Smith. And still based in the UK's rockin' MIdlands!
Mellotron Archives - the US home of the Mellotron (and Chamberlin), run by David Kean, and linked to Sweden's Markus Resch - makers of the MkVI.
Mike Pinder - site of the Moody Blues' Meistermellotronist - what more can we say?!
Don Tillman - a site with many facets... start with 'Don's Mellotron Page'.
Rick Blechta's aptly named Rick's Mellotron Page - enjoy browsing the rest of a remarkable site, including the fabled "Mellotron Recording Society of Torontoª".
Perhaps my favourite of all: King Crimon's Mellotrons, Robert Cervero's visit to the King Crimson treasure trove of Trons used on all the classic albums (and his mini-site on Fruupp [Ian McDonald-produced 70s UK band] - see below).
Two pages from the IEEE (and no, I have no idea what it stands for either) Virtual Museum: one in general on The Mellotron, complete with video clip of Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones onstage doing the intro to 'Stairway to Heaven', plus a series of short linked articles entitled 'Songs in the Key of E', the last being 'Digital to the Forefront: Synthesizers, the Mellotron, and the Fairlight CMI'.
Hirofumi Takamiya’s Tokyo Mellotron Studio.
Robert Webb of England delivers a double whammy on the Garden Shed Music site with his Mellotron Information page, featuring links to 'The Mellotron on "Garden Shed" by Robert Webb 2005' and 'History of the Mellotron'.
A personal history of the Beast, My Mellotron Special, at Erik's Prog Corner - and you'll also find a rewarding trove of links to Erik Neuteboom's thoughts on prog rock in general and proggers in Europe in particular.
An eclectic yet informative list of albums on Mellotron, the Music, and the Albums That Use It at www.hippy.com - very short but nuggets abound, such as one reader's comment: "The only country recording I can think of that includes a Mellotron, is Freddy Fender''s 'Wasted Days and Wasted Nights'."
The 'Other Mellotron
Book' is Frank Samagaio's pioneering (and appropriately named) 'The Mellotron
Book' - it takes a more technical look and makes the perfect complement to
Nick Awde's 'Mellotron' - if you can't own two Trons, then surely two books
on them is some compensation! Buy it from Amazon
or contact Frank for
more details.
INTERNATIONAL GAZEETER (handy when your tapes gop AWOL in foreign climes)
[A LIST OF MELLOTRON EXPERTS PER COUNTRY SLOWLY BEING COMPILED... WATCH THIS SPACE]
THOSE ALL-IMPORTANT MELLOTRON-RELATED LINKS...
the Memotron
the Optigan...!
King Crimson lyricist extraordinaire Pete Sinfield's verbal Mellotron experience.
Amazing YouTube orchestral demo of the Ondes Martenot
AND THE FIRST
OF MANY ESSENTIAL LINKS TO MELLOTRON-RELATED MUSICIANS...
Geoff Unwin's awesome YouTube 60s demo!
Robert Cervero's fansite for Fruupp - 70s UK band produced by King Crimson's Ian McDonald
LINKS FOR MUSICIANS
Call Dan at
Elbow Productions if
you're a serious up-and-coming musician in search of gigs in London.
Mellotron progressive rock prog rock British invasion Tony Banks (Genesis), Mike Pinder (Moody Blues), Ian McDonald (King Crimson, Foreigner), Woolly Wolstenholme (Barclay James Harvest), Greg Lake (King Crimson, Emerson Lake & Palmer), John Wetton (King Crimson, UK, Asia), Nick Magnus (Autumn, Steve Hackett Band), Martin Orford (IQ, Jadis), Roine Stolt (Flower Kings, Transatlantic, Tangent), Jakko Jakszyk (Level 42, 21st Century Schizoid Band, Tangent), John Hawken (Renaissance, Strawbs), Doug Rayburn (Pavlov's Dog), Tony Clarke (Moody Blues), David Cross (King Crimson), Dave Cousins (Strawbs), Blue Weaver (Strawbs, Bee Gees), Robert Kirby (Strawbs), Robert Webb (England), Dave Gregory (XTC), Andy McCluskey (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark). Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson) provides a drummer's view of working with four classic Mellotron bands, and there are perspectives from Geoff Unwin, the first Mellotronics demonstrator, John Bradley & Martin Smith of Streetly Electronics, the original makers of the Mellotron, and Planet Mellotron's Andy Thompson Nick Awde