{"id":6929,"date":"2025-04-10T13:13:45","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T12:13:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=6929"},"modified":"2025-04-10T13:19:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T12:19:50","slug":"exclusive-shindig-qobuz-playlist-22-painting-colours-with-the-mellotron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=6929","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive Shindig! Qobuz playlist #22: Painting Colours With The&#8230; Mellotron"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>We\u2019re very excited to be media partners with the truly unique online streaming platform and download store <a href=\"http:\/\/www.qobuz.com\">Qobuz<\/a>. This month, the 22nd of our monthly bespoke playlists, which take in all manner of genres and sub-genres, scenes and beyond, then and now, looks at the role of the Mellotron in \u201960s and \u201970s music<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6930\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Qobuz-placeholder-Mellotron.tif\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Play <a href=\"https:\/\/open.qobuz.com\/playlist\/31394428\">here<\/a> or use the scrollable frame with track list below. You can sign up for a free trial today. Plans start from \u00a310.83 per month. For more on Qobuz read our interview with MD Dan Mackta <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shindig-magazine.com\/?p=5784\">here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.qobuz.com\/playlist\/31394428?zone=GB-en\" width=\"378\" height=\"390\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span>\ufeff<\/span><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\"><\/span><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\"><\/span>Your browser does not support iframes.<span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span>&lt;\/ifram<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1949, the American inventor Harry Chamberlin patented a self-named electro-mechanical keyboard instrument. In essence it was a rudimentary proto-sampler. Each key triggered a tape of an instrument, which would play when the key was pressed. The impact this basic technology would later have on the music of the \u201960s and \u201970s would be remarkable, but Chamberlin was strictly a big band guy who detested the emerging rock \u2019n\u2019 roll music. An early adopter of cosmic sounds he was not. Skip forward to 1962, after business partner, ex window cleaner Bill Franson, had disappeared from America, rebranded the instrument under his own name and did \u201cbusiness\u201d the UK. Hence the arrival of the Mellotron, manufactured by Streetly Electronics in Birmingham. After much legal discussion, Harry Chamberlin entered the picture and made a settlement for the instrument to be made and sold in the UK under its new name the Mellotron. America production would continue under the Chamberlin moniker.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For anyone interested to see how this quirky instrument was marketed, even in 1965, should head to YouTube and search for a British Path\u00e8 newsreel titled \u2018The Mellotron: A Keyboard with the Power of an Orchestra\u2019. It\u2019s hilarious. This pioneering, but already unreliable beast of an instrument, or \u201ca computer\u201d as it was called here, was marketed as an early foray into the type of entertainment system that would follow a decade later: the electronic home organ. A great emphasis was made on how you did not have to be a musician to make orchestral music.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the same year, jazz and blues musician Graham Bond utilised the instrument in a somewhat straight blues song, \u2018Baby Can It Be True\u2019 from The Graham Bond Organization\u2019s second album <em>A Bond Between Us<\/em>, released that December. On this, the mk1 model was used for orchestral backing, creating a somewhat ghostly, but fairly accurate representation. As the \u201960s reached its middle the whiff of psychedelia was already in the air. The Beatles \u2018Strawberry Fields Forever\u2019, recorded in the November and December of 1966, and released in February 1967, may have been the definite signifier of the Mellotron becoming the <em>de facto <\/em>psychedelic instrument, but Manfred Mann beat them to it with \u2018Semi-Detached Suburban Mr Jones\u2019, which was released in late October 1966. The sprightly pop song echoed Ray Davies suburban realism, with the Mann\u2019s mk2 \u2018tron doing exactly what many psych-pop records that followed would do, making use of the integral flute setting.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This playlist follows songs that employed the Mellotron from the mid-60s into the mid-70s. I have primarily chosen shorter pieces that loosely fit within the \u201cpop framework\u201d rather than solely experimental pieces, mirrored by the \u201cPainting Colours With\u2026\u201d subtitle. Whilst the flute and reed settings supply tone and hue to numerous pieces, more daring musicians, especially as time went on, did more and more with this fantastic box of tricks. That it was notoriously unreliable, just consider all of those moving parts, and practically impossible to use in the live setting, it still peppered so many imaginative recordings made across the psychedelic and progressive eras, appearing on everything from bubblegum pop singles to deep cuts on funk and soul albums. All areas are covered on this epic 110 track playlist, from Bond\u2019s 1965 debut to Illusion and Harry Nilssons\u2019 very different approaches in 1977. Tintern Abbey, Art, and Bill Fay are all here, as are Hearts &amp; Flowers, The Steve Miller Band, Leigh Stephens, and Dragonwyck. While Britain and American are the most represented, we also offer European diversions from Los Brincos, St Giles System, Le Orme and various others.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With 1977 as the cut off for this instalment, there\u2019s more than enough scope to cover all of the great records that made further use of the instrument across the synth-pop era onwards. The Mellotron is still made to this day, as the M4000D, whilst digital samples and software versions are even more popular. Digital samples of an instrument built on the principals of analogue tape samples, with all of the hiss and flutter that go with it, however, does seem something of a misnomer, so let\u2019s enjoy the real deal here. Ten hours\u2019 worth.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>With thanks to Andy Morten<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>Jon \u2018Mojo\u2019\u2019 Mills \/<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em>Shindig!\u00a0<em>Magazine<\/em><\/p>\n<span class=\"synved-social-container synved-social-container-share\"><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F6929&#038;t=Exclusive%20Shindig%21%20Qobuz%20playlist%20%2322%3A%20Painting%20Colours%20With%20The%E2%80%A6%20Mellotron&#038;s=100&#038;p&#091;url&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F6929&#038;p&#091;images&#093;&#091;0&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F04%2FScreenshot-2025-04-10-at-10.44.40-2.png&#038;p&#091;title&#093;=Exclusive%20Shindig%21%20Qobuz%20playlist%20%2322%3A%20Painting%20Colours%20With%20The%E2%80%A6%20Mellotron\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F6929&#038;text=New%20post%20on%20our%20site\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share by email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Exclusive%20Shindig%21%20Qobuz%20playlist%20%2322%3A%20Painting%20Colours%20With%20The%E2%80%A6%20Mellotron&#038;body=New%20post%20on%20our%20site:%20https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F6929\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Share by email\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/mail.png\" \/><\/a><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019re very excited to be media partners with the truly unique online streaming platform and download store Qobuz. This month, the 22nd of our monthly bespoke playlists, which take in all manner of genres and sub-genres, scenes and beyond, then and now, looks at the role of the Mellotron in \u201960s and \u201970s music Play [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6933,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-qobuz"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6929"}],"version-history":[{"count":-4,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}