Mellotronists

Makes one wonder who the first bands and musicians were that actually 
bought the pricey cumbersome units & called them their own. The 
majority of them in the mid 1960's went to recording studios and 
never really were marketed as music instrument store items, am I 
correct? Some early records by the Hollies, Bee Gees, Rolling Stones, 
Eyes Of Blue, Pretty Things, etc. were only a year or two after 
Strawberry Fields Forever...but it seems The Beatles used 'tron a 
time or two prior to SFF...????