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Highlighting in album tracklistings denotes 'contains Mellotron'. On 'multi-part' tracks I've tried to indicate which parts contain 'Tron, although this isn't always possible.
Ratings:
The * rating (½-5) is my personal, entirely subjective and completely partisan rating of the music.
The 'T' ('Tron, of course...) rating (0-5) is an only slightly more objective indicator of an album's Mellotronness.
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Revolver (1966) ****/½ |
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| Taxman Eleanor Rigby I'm Only Sleeping Love You to Here, There and Everywhere Yellow Submarine She Said She Said Good Day Sunshine |
And Your Bird Can Sing For No One Doctor Robert I Want to Tell You Got to Get You Into My Life Tomorrow Never Knows |
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7" (1967) *****/TTTT Penny Lane Strawberry Fields Forever |
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Magical Mystery Tour |
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EP (1967) ****/T½Magical Mystery TourYour Mother Should Know I am the Walrus The Fool on the Hill Flying Blue Jay Way |
LP (1968) ****/TT½Magical Mystery TourThe Fool on the Hill Flying Blue Jay Way Your Mother Should Know I am the Walrus |
Hello Goodbye Strawberry Fields Forever Penny Lane Baby You're a Rich Man All You Need is Love |
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The Beatles [a.k.a. The White Album] (1968) ***/T |
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| Back in the USSR Dear Prudence Glass Onion Wild Honey Pie The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill While My Guitar Gently Weeps Happiness is a Warm Gun Martha My Dear I'm So Tired Blackbird |
Piggies Rocky Raccoon Don't Pass Me By Why Don't We Do It in the Road? I Will Julia Birthday Yer Blues Mother Nature's Son Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey |
Sexy Sadie Helter Skelter Long Long Long Revolution 1 Honey Pie Savoy Truffle Cry Baby Cry Revolution 9 Good Night |
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Anthology 2 (1996, recorded 1965-68) ****/T½ |
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| Real Love Yes it is I'm Down You've Got to Hide Your Love Away If You've Got Trouble That Means a Lot Yesterday It's Only Love I Feel Fine Ticket to Ride Yesterday Help! Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby |
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) I'm Looking Through You 12-Bar Original Tomorrow Never Knows Got to Get You Into My Life And Your Bird Can Sing Taxman Eleanor Rigby I'm Only Sleeping (rehearsal) I'm Only Sleeping (take 1) Rock and Roll Music She's a Woman Strawberry Fields Forever (demo sequence) |
Strawberry Fields Forever (take 1) Strawberry Fields Forever (take 7 and edit piece) Penny Lane A Day in the Life Good Morning Good Morning Only a Northern Song Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! (takes 1 and 2) Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! (take 7) Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds |
Within You Without You (instrumental) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) I am the Walrus The Fool on the Hill Your Mother Should Know The Fool on the Hill (Take 4) Hello, Goodbye Lady Madonna Across the Universe |
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Current availability:
Mellotron used:
The trouble with The Beatles is that they're generally regarded as above criticism, with the most immense importance assigned to their most insignificant acts. Yes, they were pioneers in many ways; they were one of the first bands to have no obvious 'leader', they broke the songwriting stranglehold of Tin Pan Alley, they popularised long hair for men, they (semi-) legitimised soft drug use, blah blah blah. However, for someone not brought up on their music, while much of it is great pop, there seems to be an awful lot of filler in their canon; hardly surprising given the amount of material they were forced to churn out. I don't personally really connect with the band until their 'psychedelic' period, starting with their second album of '66, Revolver. It sounds to me like an uneasy compromise between their pop past (Taxman, Here, There And Everywhere, Got To Get You Into My Life) and their semi-experimental future (Eleanor Rigby, Tomorrow Never Knows). The only confirmed (if inaudible) Mellotron on the album (from Paul) is during the mini-collage section of Tomorrow, in amongst the sonic maelstrom, so I wouldn't rush out and buy it on that account.
When 'classic' Mellotron tracks are mentioned, an ever-present example is one side of their early-'67 double-A single, Strawberry Fields Forever. A classic piece of psychedelia, it was recorded in November 1966 over several sessions, where the band and producer George Martin tried recording it with several different treatments. The final, released version is an edit composed of two takes played in keys a semitone apart, the first by the band and the second by a brass band brought in for the occasion. The first take is sped up slightly, and the second is slowed down, which matched up both their keys and tempos. Serendipity, eh? It has to be said that this is not only The Beatles' Mellotron classic, but one of the all-time greats, and the Mellotron flutes (McCartney again) on the intro have defined a style. How often have you heard that sound played that way?
However, the Beatles' reputation as Mellotron users relies almost solely on Strawberry Fields; they only (obviously) used one on three more tracks in their oeuvre, and those are usually only referred to by aficionados. It's a rather moot point as to whether or not there's any 'Tron on the band's psychedelic milestone, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (****), which appears to contain no Mellotron whatsoever; some listeners claim they can hear it, but there's no written evidence in the volumes of Beatles' studio logs available. Nonetheless, I'm willing to be proven wrong on this one.
Later that year, the band released a six-track EP (actually a double 45) to accompany their ill-fated celluloid venture, Magical Mystery Tour. It was shown on TV at Christmas '67, but its wild, psychedelic look was hideously muted by the black-and-white sets still resident in 98+% of British households. A cursory listen makes it sound as if there's 'Tron all over the six track EP, but most of the 'sightings' are actually acoustic instruments, often played in a 'Tron-like manner (see: Blue Jay Way). The only actual use (probably) is on the instrumental Flying, which most definitely has some 'Tron flutes right at the front of the mix, along with background strings and trombones, this time from John.
Like many other bands, The Beatles turned away from '67's psychedelia the following year, and the results are, well, rather prosaic in comparison, sad to say. Their sprawling double album, The Beatles, forever to be known as The White Album, featured 'Tron on at least two tracks; many fans regard it as their most enduring work, but I'm afraid I just can't see it myself. That isn't to say there's no good material on the album, but there's far too much messing about, and half-formed sketches that have ended up being treated as if they were the Holy Grail. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill has the Spanish guitar run from the left-hand manual, with some woodwinds later in the song, I believe from engineer Chris Thomas. This has brought up an interesting point; although the guitar part is a prerecorded tape, once the Beatles recorded it, do they then hold copyright on the sound? Someone (brave) needs to put this to the test... I wouldn't fancy trying to explain to their lawyers why this wasn't a sample from Bungalow Bill... John also plays Mellotron on the highly experimental (read: near unlistenable) Revolution 9; nine minutes of impenetrable sound collage put together by John and an engineer, including some backwards 'Tron strings amongst all the other sonic debris of the piece. I've heard rumours that some of the Mellotron sound effects are also used on the album, not least the plane landing at the beginning of Back in the USSR, but without hearing the original FX, it's hard to say.
In the '90s, fifteen years after Lennon's death, the vast Anthology series appeared; ten hours of video, three double CDs. A huge Beatles propaganda exercise, no less. Among the 'work in progress' scattered among the (roughly) chronologically-sequenced discs are two of the many takes of Strawberry Fields, although one of these is a new edit of two other takes. Both versions give a new perspective on the song, but whether that makes the whole set worth buying has to be up to you.
There are several other possible Mellotronic sightings in the band's oeuvre, although none are confirmed. The 'songtrack' of 1969's Yellow Submarine, remixed and released in 1999, apparently exposes some previously unheard Mellotron on Hey Bulldog, and there are supposed to be several other examples, not least the aforementioned Pepper stuff. Although the band were reputedly so impressed with the 'Tron that all four members bought one, George and John were the only ones to use theirs on their solo work while the band were still extant; George on his soundtrack for Wonderwall, Wonderwall Music (he never apparently recorded with it again) and John on the frankly bizarre Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins, in a somewhat lesser musical context, to be brutally honest. Paul used his on at least one solo LP, while Ringo never apparently used his, only finally using a little M400 in the last few years.
There are artists who have used the Mellotron on multiple releases, often to little real effect (see: any number of second-rate central European electronic musicians), and the Beatles only ever (obviously) used it on a handful of tracks. Who are better known? For that matter, who are better? The Beatles probably prove the old adage that it's not how much that counts, but what you do with it. So; for the 'Tron work, get the Magical Mystery Tour CD, but the rest of their stuff doesn't really make the outlay worthwhile.
