--- In
newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, "Ms. Janet Strauss"
<jandjstrz@...> wrote:
>
> A.) What is your favorite song that uses the Mellotron (or Chamberelin)
> .the one that really hooked you.
> Old or new.doesn't matter.
As regards songs containing Mellotron that got me hooked on the
instrument in the first place, there was a bunch of (mainly) sixties
pop singles that did it for me at a very young age, long before I knew
what it was creating 'those weird sounds', and longer still before I
discovered that it was the same instrument responsible for all of them...
As well as the usual suspects 'Strawberry Fields' and 'Nights in White
Satin', these were the other tracks from that period that really stood
out for me:
Traffic - 'Hole In My Shoe'
Manfred Mann - 'Semi Detached, Suburban Mr. James' and 'Ha Ha Said The
Clown'
Rolling Stones - 'We Love You' and '2000 Light Years From Home'
Flowerpot Men - 'Let's Go To San Francisco' (not keen on the song but
it had 'that sound' again so at the time that was good enough for me)
Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity - 'This Wheel's On Fire'
The Kinks - 'Autumn Almanac' and 'Days'
David Bowie - 'Space Oddity'
Simon Dupree and The Big Sound - 'Kites'
Alice Cooper - 'Hello Hooray'
At the time I thought there was 'tron (or Chamberlin) on The Box Tops'
'The Letter' as well, but to this day I'm still not entirely sure if
it is or not.
> B.) What is your favorite Mellotron riff.the one you just had to learn
> how to play - or , would love to play?
>
At first it was all the usual 'tron riffs which have now
unfortunately gained 'cliché' status ('Strawberry Fields..' and
'Watcher..' etc) - admittedly I do still indulge those from time to
time - along with various other Moodies / King Crimson / Yes / Bowie /
Roxy Music / Sparks / other early Genesis...
Now, when I'm not trying to make up songs of my own, it's largely
songs featuring 'tron by Kevin Ayers, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull,
Caravan, Hawkwind, The Cardiacs, Matching Mole, Fairfield Parlour,
'S.F. Sorrow'-era Pretty Things and 'Odessey and Oracle'-period Zombies.
Oh yes, and not forgetting some of the tracks from George Harrison's
"Wonderwall" soundtrack, and the Mellotron outings by the Small Faces
during their 'Immediate label' years.
"The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society" has some
interesting Mellotron moments on it as well.
I've never tried 'Free Bird' though, and I don't have the inclination
to start!
Tony
M400S #581