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Wendy
Guest
I did post this on another thread but thought because of the importance of this development it should have it's own thread on, Birmingham History.
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Ann B
Guest
Thanks Wendy,
I'll keep this to show my husband, he's an ex musician. He's in hospital at the moment, but I'm sure he will be interested. I've heard him speak of the mellotron. And as my maiden name is Bradley (all originating from Aston).
Ann
I'll keep this to show my husband, he's an ex musician. He's in hospital at the moment, but I'm sure he will be interested. I've heard him speak of the mellotron. And as my maiden name is Bradley (all originating from Aston).
Ann
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Wendy
Guest
Ann I am sorry to hear your hubby is in hospital I do hope he is home soon. I posted this on another thread.
A couple of years a go I was given some books and post cards from the family of a man who obviously loved Brum. I have given many of the books away to people who I know will treasure them. I have posted many of the postcards here and this was in the collection given to me by the family of Harry Bradley. My only regret is I never met Harry and he only lived a few streets away!
A couple of years a go I was given some books and post cards from the family of a man who obviously loved Brum. I have given many of the books away to people who I know will treasure them. I have posted many of the postcards here and this was in the collection given to me by the family of Harry Bradley. My only regret is I never met Harry and he only lived a few streets away!
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Ann B
Guest
Wendy,
Thank you for your words regarding my husband. He had an operation today and is doing fine. I expect he will be home soon. As we all know, the hospitals keep patients for the shortest time possible these days because of possible infection.
The same as you, I like to give items to people, when you know they are really interested. Nice to know that they have gone to a good home. Out of curiosity, I'll have a look at Leslie, Frank and Norman Bradley.
All the best Ann
Thank you for your words regarding my husband. He had an operation today and is doing fine. I expect he will be home soon. As we all know, the hospitals keep patients for the shortest time possible these days because of possible infection.
The same as you, I like to give items to people, when you know they are really interested. Nice to know that they have gone to a good home. Out of curiosity, I'll have a look at Leslie, Frank and Norman Bradley.
All the best Ann
jennyann
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
Hi Ann. Glad to hear that your husband is making good progress after his op and hope he will be home with you very soon.
Re the Mellotron. I first heard about this instrument through the Moody Blues...Mike Pinder in particular... one of my favourite groups over the years. I looked it up on https://www.brumbeat.net/mellotro.htm and there is some interesting facts that I didn't know.
Re the Mellotron. I first heard about this instrument through the Moody Blues...Mike Pinder in particular... one of my favourite groups over the years. I looked it up on https://www.brumbeat.net/mellotro.htm and there is some interesting facts that I didn't know.
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Ann B
Guest
Thanks Jenny for that link.
Ann
Ann
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Wendy
Guest
Thanks for the link Jennyann. Although I had the cutting I knew little of the history of this invention. Very interesting.
George Wheeler
master brummie
I seem to remember that David Nixon had a financial interest in this project along with Eric Robinson who was his father in law. From 1963 to 1965 I worked for a firm of electrical wholesalers in Perry Barr owned by a family in Sutton Coldfield who had connections with with Nixon and Robinson. I was asked to demonstrate this device but refused on the grounds that it could affect the employment of real musicians.
It was a fairly crude device that supported the tapes rather like sash cords and pulled the tape across the replay heads. Eric Robinson was the leader of an orchestra and I suppose he may well have recorded the tapes used in this device.
George Wheeler.
It was a fairly crude device that supported the tapes rather like sash cords and pulled the tape across the replay heads. Eric Robinson was the leader of an orchestra and I suppose he may well have recorded the tapes used in this device.
George Wheeler.
jennyann
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
Thanks for your post George, very interesting. I had another look around for more info on Eric Robinson and David Nixon's involvement in the Melltron
and came across this link. It's funny as well as informative. I certainly
know more about the history of the Mellotron and also it's connections to Brum. https://www.vemia.co.uk/mellotron/
and came across this link. It's funny as well as informative. I certainly
know more about the history of the Mellotron and also it's connections to Brum. https://www.vemia.co.uk/mellotron/
George Wheeler
master brummie
I forgot to mention that the demise of the Mellotron was a good thing, it's abominations like that that cause unemployment among musicians and others associated with the music industry. The motto of the Musicians Union is "keep music live" objects like the Mellotron do the opposite, I suppose it was personal greed that prompted Eric Robinson to turn his back on proper music.
The other abomination is of course the "disco", here they pirate other peoples music and never pay royalties. As a musician I always find it rewarding when at the end of the evening people come up and say "how nice to hear proper music instead of those awful discos"
The other abomination is of course the "disco", here they pirate other peoples music and never pay royalties. As a musician I always find it rewarding when at the end of the evening people come up and say "how nice to hear proper music instead of those awful discos"
silhouette53
master brummie
'Keep music live' - I couldn't agree more, but, as an aside, whenever I hear the Mellotron mentioned I always think of a 60s band from Wolverhampton who used one - I always thought they deserved more successs than they managed to acheive - does anyone remember them? The Montanas
sospiri
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
As an ex-musician and a member of the M.U. for many years, I feel I must chip in on this thread.
The mellotron has been replaced by umpteem other electronic devices using sampled music and doing a far better job, but the M.U. was never going to win this one, purely on economic grounds. One could argue that the Hammond organ, which pre-dates the Mellotron by 30 years, (and many other makes since) did bass players out of a job because they had pedalboards. Discos became popular because the kids wanted to hear their favourites exactly as they were on the record.
In the end it was pure economics that finished off a lot of live music. Even people like Basie, Ellington and Kenton found it a struggle to keep big bands on the road. Today artists like Sedaka find they cannot afford to play the smaller venues. Admittedly a lot of middlemen are getting a considerable rake off, but that's life I'm afraid!
Maurice
The mellotron has been replaced by umpteem other electronic devices using sampled music and doing a far better job, but the M.U. was never going to win this one, purely on economic grounds. One could argue that the Hammond organ, which pre-dates the Mellotron by 30 years, (and many other makes since) did bass players out of a job because they had pedalboards. Discos became popular because the kids wanted to hear their favourites exactly as they were on the record.
In the end it was pure economics that finished off a lot of live music. Even people like Basie, Ellington and Kenton found it a struggle to keep big bands on the road. Today artists like Sedaka find they cannot afford to play the smaller venues. Admittedly a lot of middlemen are getting a considerable rake off, but that's life I'm afraid!
Maurice
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Ann B
Guest
Sospiri,
I saw Count Basie, when he was at The Opposite Lock. It was great to see him in such an intimate venue.
There seems to be a bit of a resurgence of live music venues in Brum at the moment. We had stopped going, as the places closed down. Next Sunday we are going to try The Scarlet Pimpernel in Tennal Rd. Harborne. They have live jazz every Sunday afternoon. Next week it's Jim (Sinatra) McAllister with his trio and guests. And looking at the Jazz West Midlands website, there seems to be quite a lot going on again. Bit far for you though!
Ann
I saw Count Basie, when he was at The Opposite Lock. It was great to see him in such an intimate venue.
There seems to be a bit of a resurgence of live music venues in Brum at the moment. We had stopped going, as the places closed down. Next Sunday we are going to try The Scarlet Pimpernel in Tennal Rd. Harborne. They have live jazz every Sunday afternoon. Next week it's Jim (Sinatra) McAllister with his trio and guests. And looking at the Jazz West Midlands website, there seems to be quite a lot going on again. Bit far for you though!
Ann
sospiri
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Hello Ann,
I saw the Basie (revival) Band led by Bill Harris at Symphony Hall just over two years ago, but as good as they were, I missed seeing Bill Basie's smiling face.
Birmingham has always been fairly lucky in that it has both the population and the venues to support these bands. I made several visits to the Jazz Festival a couple of years back, mainly because Mike Burney, John Gibson & Johnny Patrick (all friends from my playing days) were performing.
I also understand Brian Newton was/is [/] still running a big band once a month out at some pub in Kings Norton. And, of course, my old friend Andy Hamilton was still blowing into his 80s last time I heard! It's good news and Brum is lucky to have these guys around still.
Maurice
I saw the Basie (revival) Band led by Bill Harris at Symphony Hall just over two years ago, but as good as they were, I missed seeing Bill Basie's smiling face.
Birmingham has always been fairly lucky in that it has both the population and the venues to support these bands. I made several visits to the Jazz Festival a couple of years back, mainly because Mike Burney, John Gibson & Johnny Patrick (all friends from my playing days) were performing.
I also understand Brian Newton was/is [/] still running a big band once a month out at some pub in Kings Norton. And, of course, my old friend Andy Hamilton was still blowing into his 80s last time I heard! It's good news and Brum is lucky to have these guys around still.
Maurice
The Mellotron lives on! Have a look at www.mellotronics.com and see for yourselves.
I hated the damn thing - especially after Elton John's "Goodbye Yellowbrick Road". I suppose I'll earn the undying hatred of most forum users when I state here and now that I could not, can not, and never will STAND Elton John...
Big Gee
I hated the damn thing - especially after Elton John's "Goodbye Yellowbrick Road". I suppose I'll earn the undying hatred of most forum users when I state here and now that I could not, can not, and never will STAND Elton John...
Big Gee
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Ann B
Guest
Hi Maurice,
The list for The Scarlet Pimpernel for May included the John Patrick Quartet, John's ex wife, Brenda Scott, who I used to know, and also Mike Alexander, who used to be resident at The Opposite Lock, and then became M.D. for Shirley Bassey. And also an old friend of mine, Paul Sawtell. Neil Sedaka has used Paul as his keyboard player on some of his British tours. As you say, it's good that so many are still going strong.
We did used to go to the Jazz Festival, when they were using The Thistle and The Fiddle and Bone. We must get back up there this year.
Ann
The list for The Scarlet Pimpernel for May included the John Patrick Quartet, John's ex wife, Brenda Scott, who I used to know, and also Mike Alexander, who used to be resident at The Opposite Lock, and then became M.D. for Shirley Bassey. And also an old friend of mine, Paul Sawtell. Neil Sedaka has used Paul as his keyboard player on some of his British tours. As you say, it's good that so many are still going strong.
We did used to go to the Jazz Festival, when they were using The Thistle and The Fiddle and Bone. We must get back up there this year.
Ann
sospiri
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Hi Ann,
I've just been taking a scan through jazzwestmidlands and a few other sites and I'm pleased to see that all of the names I've mentioned are still playing. Brian Newton's Big Band at the Bulls Head, Kings Norton TONIGHT! - Andy Hamilton, Mike Burney, Trevor Emeny (who I'd forgotten to mention) and Johnny Patrick. Johnny Patrick was still a single man when I left Birmingham in 1961, so I never knew Brenda. Paul Sawtell looks to be quite a bit younger than me, so probably came on the scene long after I'd left.
Obviously a very vibrant scene that you have there. Count yourselves very lucky and I can only echo the words of several small businesses - Use us or lose us!
Maurice
I've just been taking a scan through jazzwestmidlands and a few other sites and I'm pleased to see that all of the names I've mentioned are still playing. Brian Newton's Big Band at the Bulls Head, Kings Norton TONIGHT! - Andy Hamilton, Mike Burney, Trevor Emeny (who I'd forgotten to mention) and Johnny Patrick. Johnny Patrick was still a single man when I left Birmingham in 1961, so I never knew Brenda. Paul Sawtell looks to be quite a bit younger than me, so probably came on the scene long after I'd left.
Obviously a very vibrant scene that you have there. Count yourselves very lucky and I can only echo the words of several small businesses - Use us or lose us!
Maurice
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Ann B
Guest
Hi Maurice,
I'm glad you've looked at the Jazz West Midlands site. I came across it, when I was looking for Jim McAllister gigs. I'm glad I did. After certain venues closed, we didn't bother, but you can't beat live music for that feel good factor. So we'll be trying out some of those listed on the site.
No you wouldn't have known Paul. He was born not long before you left! I think he's about fifty. He came up through the Midland Youth Jazz Orchestra, a brilliant player, very well respected by the older musicians.
I don't know all the names you have mentioned, but I've probably seen them.
Ann
I'm glad you've looked at the Jazz West Midlands site. I came across it, when I was looking for Jim McAllister gigs. I'm glad I did. After certain venues closed, we didn't bother, but you can't beat live music for that feel good factor. So we'll be trying out some of those listed on the site.
No you wouldn't have known Paul. He was born not long before you left! I think he's about fifty. He came up through the Midland Youth Jazz Orchestra, a brilliant player, very well respected by the older musicians.
I don't know all the names you have mentioned, but I've probably seen them.
Ann
Dennis Williams
Gone but not forgotten
The philosophy that truth and talent will out….if you wait long enough…and the old adage one thing leads to another amply demonstrated when I read this fascinating interview in UNCUT this week…
It starts with my love of Brum History and love of one of its favourite bands the Moody Blues…
JOHN LODGE: I don't think there were any bookings when I joined, except in Belgium. We realised we
wanted to write our own music. The era of coloured suits was over.
JUSTIN HAYWARD:
I'm not sure that any of us could see a way forward for the group.
RAY THOMAS: We played some cabaret dates in the Northern clubs, and halfway through the set you'd hear, "Scampi and chips twice." One night, Justin burst into tears. So we said, "Let's write our own stuff." We called it sh-t or bust. If they don't like
it, we're knackered.
HAYWARD: A couple of days after that, Mike rediscovered an instrument called the Mellotron, and I went with him to the Dunlop factory social club in Birmingham, and bought it for about £25.
MIKE PINDER:I remember paying £300 for it. I used to work at the factory in Birmingham that made them. This one had tapes hanging out the back of the LSO moonlighting, which were triggered by a keyboard. What came out of that was "Nights In White Satin".
HAYWARD: Graeme and I were sharing two rooms with our girlfriends in Bayswater, and we came back very late at night. They were all asleep, and I sat on the side of the bed with my old 12-string I was remodeling for Lonnie Donegan…..
LODGE: We got a phone call from England and it was No 19 , and selling 20,000 copies a day.
EDGE: They said this is going to be a hit, and we'll pull it off as a single, so go and cut it down to three minutes, and we said, "No, it's four minutes, 20 seconds." That became the reason it was a hit in America. It was big on FM radio in Seattle first. We found out years later that the DJ picked the longest record so he could go out the back and smoke his bong! The second time he did it, the switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree.
HAYWARD: Then in '72 it was No 2 in the US, and in '79 it came back in the UK, thanks to Jonathan King. But I get very little financially from it, because when I was 18, I innocently and stupidly signed away my copyrights 'til I was 26 to Lonnie Donegan and his family for life, a deal a judge later described as "onerous". He was a deeply unpleasant man, and he became a parasite on the Moodies. He even sent someone to take the guitar I'd written "Nights" on while I was out, which was bizarre. But I'm the only person who has the joy to sing it, and for the audience to go, "That guy did that, and he's singing it for us."
EDGE: It's the last but one song in the set when we play it now. By then, I've picked my people to play it to. It brings old emotions back to the surface for some of them. It brushes the cobwebs off. When we were making an album later, Justin was
a little quiet and depressed. I said, "Don't worry, Justin. 'Nights In White Satin' is way too good to disappear."
"The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England, in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music. The concept of the Chamberlin was itself modeled after the Laff Box invented by engineer Charlie Douglass in order to insert prerecorded laughs into television and radio programs more easily in the then-developing field of post-production.
Although tape samplers had been explored in research studios, the first commercially available keyboard-driven tape instruments were built and sold by California-based Harry Chamberlin.
The origin of the Mellotron can be traced to when Chamberlin's sales agent, Bill Fransen, brought two of Chamberlin's Musicmaster 600 instruments to England in 1962 to search for someone who could manufacture 70 matching tape heads for future Chamberlins. He met Frank, Norm and Lesley Bradley of tape engineering company Bradmatic Ltd, who said they could improve on the original design. Harry Chamberlin was unhappy with the fact that someone overseas was copying his idea, and that one of his own people was the reason for this, but a deal was eventually struck between Chamberlin and the Bradley brothers. This resulted in the formation of a subsidiary company named Mellotronics, which produced the first Mellotrons in Aston, Birmingham, England.
The music sessions for Mellotrons were recorded by the Eric Robinson Organisation at IBC Studios, 35 Portland Place in London. Mellotronics had offices there and the recordings were made using a customized 9 into 3 recording desk built by IBC's Denis King. Magician David Nixon partly funded it. Manufacturing company Bradmatic later took on the name Streetly Electronics. By the early 1970s 100 of the instruments were assembled and sold by EMI under exclusive license. Many years later, following financial and trademark troubles through a U.S. distribution agreement, the Mellotron name became unavailable and resided with the American based Sound Sales, and later manufactured by Bomar Fabricating Ltd. while Streetly-manufactured instruments after 1976 were sold under the name Novatron.
Throughout the 1970s, the Mellotron had a major impact on rock music, particularly the 35 note (G-F) model M400. The M400 version was released in 1970 and sold over 1800 units, becoming a trademark sound of the era's progressive bands. The earlier 1960s MK II units were made for the home and the characteristics of the instrument attracted a number of celebrities. Among the early Mellotron owners were Princess Margaret, Peter Sellers,King Hussein of Jordan, and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. According to Robin Douglas-Home, Princess Margaret "adored it; he (Lord Snowdon) positively loathed it, and was supremely bored whenever she went near it."
It starts with my love of Brum History and love of one of its favourite bands the Moody Blues…
JOHN LODGE: I don't think there were any bookings when I joined, except in Belgium. We realised we
wanted to write our own music. The era of coloured suits was over.
JUSTIN HAYWARD:
I'm not sure that any of us could see a way forward for the group.
RAY THOMAS: We played some cabaret dates in the Northern clubs, and halfway through the set you'd hear, "Scampi and chips twice." One night, Justin burst into tears. So we said, "Let's write our own stuff." We called it sh-t or bust. If they don't like
it, we're knackered.
HAYWARD: A couple of days after that, Mike rediscovered an instrument called the Mellotron, and I went with him to the Dunlop factory social club in Birmingham, and bought it for about £25.
MIKE PINDER:I remember paying £300 for it. I used to work at the factory in Birmingham that made them. This one had tapes hanging out the back of the LSO moonlighting, which were triggered by a keyboard. What came out of that was "Nights In White Satin".
HAYWARD: Graeme and I were sharing two rooms with our girlfriends in Bayswater, and we came back very late at night. They were all asleep, and I sat on the side of the bed with my old 12-string I was remodeling for Lonnie Donegan…..
LODGE: We got a phone call from England and it was No 19 , and selling 20,000 copies a day.
EDGE: They said this is going to be a hit, and we'll pull it off as a single, so go and cut it down to three minutes, and we said, "No, it's four minutes, 20 seconds." That became the reason it was a hit in America. It was big on FM radio in Seattle first. We found out years later that the DJ picked the longest record so he could go out the back and smoke his bong! The second time he did it, the switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree.
HAYWARD: Then in '72 it was No 2 in the US, and in '79 it came back in the UK, thanks to Jonathan King. But I get very little financially from it, because when I was 18, I innocently and stupidly signed away my copyrights 'til I was 26 to Lonnie Donegan and his family for life, a deal a judge later described as "onerous". He was a deeply unpleasant man, and he became a parasite on the Moodies. He even sent someone to take the guitar I'd written "Nights" on while I was out, which was bizarre. But I'm the only person who has the joy to sing it, and for the audience to go, "That guy did that, and he's singing it for us."
EDGE: It's the last but one song in the set when we play it now. By then, I've picked my people to play it to. It brings old emotions back to the surface for some of them. It brushes the cobwebs off. When we were making an album later, Justin was
a little quiet and depressed. I said, "Don't worry, Justin. 'Nights In White Satin' is way too good to disappear."
"The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England, in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music. The concept of the Chamberlin was itself modeled after the Laff Box invented by engineer Charlie Douglass in order to insert prerecorded laughs into television and radio programs more easily in the then-developing field of post-production.
Although tape samplers had been explored in research studios, the first commercially available keyboard-driven tape instruments were built and sold by California-based Harry Chamberlin.
The origin of the Mellotron can be traced to when Chamberlin's sales agent, Bill Fransen, brought two of Chamberlin's Musicmaster 600 instruments to England in 1962 to search for someone who could manufacture 70 matching tape heads for future Chamberlins. He met Frank, Norm and Lesley Bradley of tape engineering company Bradmatic Ltd, who said they could improve on the original design. Harry Chamberlin was unhappy with the fact that someone overseas was copying his idea, and that one of his own people was the reason for this, but a deal was eventually struck between Chamberlin and the Bradley brothers. This resulted in the formation of a subsidiary company named Mellotronics, which produced the first Mellotrons in Aston, Birmingham, England.
The music sessions for Mellotrons were recorded by the Eric Robinson Organisation at IBC Studios, 35 Portland Place in London. Mellotronics had offices there and the recordings were made using a customized 9 into 3 recording desk built by IBC's Denis King. Magician David Nixon partly funded it. Manufacturing company Bradmatic later took on the name Streetly Electronics. By the early 1970s 100 of the instruments were assembled and sold by EMI under exclusive license. Many years later, following financial and trademark troubles through a U.S. distribution agreement, the Mellotron name became unavailable and resided with the American based Sound Sales, and later manufactured by Bomar Fabricating Ltd. while Streetly-manufactured instruments after 1976 were sold under the name Novatron.
Throughout the 1970s, the Mellotron had a major impact on rock music, particularly the 35 note (G-F) model M400. The M400 version was released in 1970 and sold over 1800 units, becoming a trademark sound of the era's progressive bands. The earlier 1960s MK II units were made for the home and the characteristics of the instrument attracted a number of celebrities. Among the early Mellotron owners were Princess Margaret, Peter Sellers,King Hussein of Jordan, and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. According to Robin Douglas-Home, Princess Margaret "adored it; he (Lord Snowdon) positively loathed it, and was supremely bored whenever she went near it."
