--- In
Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com, lsf5275@... wrote:
>
>
> In a message dated 2/3/2006 9:12:49 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> mellomancinci@... writes:
>
> Sandy Salisbury who was in both the Millenium and The Ballroom
confirmed
> with me that Curt Boettcher used a chamberlin, not a tron, on all
of the
> recordings he produced. There is also chamberlin on the "Save It
For a Rainy Day"
> (1966) album by Jan & Dean, "Tanyet" by the Ceyleib People,
and "Don't It Make
> You Wanna Go Home" (1969) by Joe South. The chamberlin string
sound is
> nearly identical to that of the MK II mellotron. The earliest MK
II tron
> recordings which were made in the United States were by the Tokens
on their
> "Intercourse" album of 1968 (they confirmed via email they did
order a Mark II from
> England late in 1967) followed by the Fuse album
> with Rick Nielsen later of Cheap Trick playing mellotron. The
very first
> M400 recordings in the United States were on Big Star's eponoymous
first album,
> Ardent Studios in Memphis bought the first white M400 sold in the
United
> States (verified from Terry Manning, engineer on both of Big Star's
first two
> albums and the one who played tron on Big Star's "Give Me Another
Chance.")
>
> Mike Pinder supposedly donated one of his MK II's from the
Moodies to the
> Beach Boys in the mid Seventies. I listened to all of their
albums and
> there is no audio evidence it was ever used by them on record.
However, Elton
> John did record a track off his "Blue Moves" album at the Beach
Boys Brother
> Studios in 1977 which probably features this tron.
>
> Finally, I did obtain a copy of the Graham Dalley Dozen
lp "Sounds
> International" and the only keyboard instrument on that record is
an organ. The
> liner notes on the back mentioned he did play "mellotrone" on a
BBC Radio Music
> Show. Thus the first recordings featuring the MK II are most
certainly
> those by Graham Bond in 1965 (although these recordings are flawed
as the tron
> was not hooked up to an amplifier and you can only hear it way in
the back
> ground). Both of Graham Bond's later albums recorded later in the
United States
> in 1967 and 1968 do feature one tron sounding track each. Being
that these
> were recorded in California, and that Graham Bond's mellotron was
later used
> by Czar in England in 1969, it is a mystery whether the two USA
Graham Bond
> albums feature either chamberlin or tron. The earliest act to use
the MK II
> tron most effectively was Mandred Mann commencing with his "As Is"
lp in late
> 1966. The recent compilation "Ascent of Mann" contains 23 tron
tracks,
> including several which use the rarely heard jazz rhythms of the
MK II.
>
> Hope all this info helps.
>
> Chris Haley
>
>
>
>
> WOW!
>
Yea! DOUBLE WOW! Thanks for clearing that up. I was wondering
where Boettcher might have heard of the Mellotron that early
but it was a Chamberlin. Cool.
phil