Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Mellotronists

Chris made a great point above about including many details previously unwritten.     Unfortunately, in today's world of instant marketing/sales, I'm afraid that such a definitive undertaking would never reap huge profits.......or even return on investment (R.O.I.).... A new Mellotron book sounds wonderful in principle, gang. But would it appeal to the masses or just to a special-interest group such as ourselves??   What factors these days creates a "best-seller?" Rick, your experience with bookwriting and sales  is invited.....

Hi, gang.

 

I would certainly welcome a new book with a different perspective, but Jerry does also raise a good point, which was part of the limitation of the original book.  A lot of technical details were omitted on the advice of my agent, publisher, Streetly, etc., as detracting from its appeal.  Even then, it was viewed as a niche book, with limited overall appeal.  The text itself had been revised to make it more "consumer-friendly" as it neared publication, but I was told it was "too late to make any changes" by the publisher.  And I was disappointed that the pics were not in color, as submitted.

 

As far as interviews, a good number of those artists listed were included in the original book; some others listed were contacted but either refused or did not respond (i.e., Fripp, Weaver).  The Italian artists and other more obscure proggers would be a great addition, but would that just appeal to our select group of troniacs.  I did interview Tony Clarke during my visit to England last summer, which was to be included in a revised version of "The Mellotron Book", which has been on hold due, perhaps never to surface, to the non-response of contemporary artists that were contacted but never responded (i.e., Wallflowers, Tim Christiansen, Tory Amos, Nelly Furtado, to name a few).  Also, during my two weeks in England, I was in contact every other day with McCartney's publicist, Geoff Baker, to try and secure an interview, but was told Paul was recording at his Sussex studio at that time.  Yes, definitely more Chamberlin, Birotron (although Rick was rather mum on the subject), and Orchestron, (even Optigan) stuff would be welcome that is more comprehensive than the rather passing references in the original book (which was intentional).  Derek Varnals and even George Martin interviews would be nice too.

 

It's a hard road writing any sort of book, especially a non-fiction work that requires reliance on others as source/corroborative material.  The Mellotron Book was a labor of love, a decent first effort, I think, in a world where there were NO other Mellotron books at all and the only real mention was the 2-page blurb in Vail's book.  I might also mention that permission was secured to use all material, even verbatim, from every source used, including pics (Streetly's underhanded sniping notwithstanding), including John Bradley contributing details via phone after reading the original draft of the text.  Bill Eberline and Jim McNeely were particuloarly helpful in providing information regarding the Sounds Sales/Kean gap, for which there were no other known source(s) at the time.

 

I'll be first in line for a new book if/when it comes out.

 

Frank Samagaio

San Diego CA

MkII #134 / M400 #908

author, The Mellotron Book