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While this site normally concentrates on official releases, it seems there is room for a page detailing Mellotron-related bootlegs. Official live releases cover a lot of Mellotronic ground, but unless they're by King Crimson, they're unlikely to cover everything (well, nearly), so here are some less-than-completely-legal albums, some only available through the trading community on CD-R, others pressed up commercially. And before you ask, no, I don't sell bootlegs.
Of course, the more popular bands are likely to have many boots available from the same tour, so I've concentrated on the best I've heard, or those with rare performances. Expect regular additions to this page as I expand my collection. You may notice that I've listed releases slightly differently to those on my 'regular' pages; the same concert is often released under a multitude of titles, or none at all, so unless it's a specific collection (usually of studio material), I've listed venue/date, rather than title. To avoid the inevitable continentally-induced confusion, performance dates are written in full. Since sleeve art is a rather moveable feast in bootleg circles, I've tended not to bother putting anything at all, unless one very specific sleeve is generally used.
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.
| Ragnarok |
Änglagård (Sweden) see: |
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Black Sabbath (UK) see: |
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Kaipa (Sweden) see: |
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Live (1977, 55.01) ****/TTTT½RagaButterfly Sky Rainbow Bridge I Fall Apart Pink Floyd Medley Led Zeppelin Medley |
Mellotron used:
While Ragnarok's Live is often sold as an official release, it seems highly likely that it's actually a bootleg. It opens with a 'test tone', then a radio announcer giving some spiel about the band, with the audience cheering in the background; he even mentions some of their gear, including the Moog and Mellotron. Although plenty of radio broadcasts have been released officially, this one seems unlikely; I don't even know for certain that it appeared in '77; I'm just going by the info I've been given. What I can say is that it must've been recorded in '76, as the announcer refers to their 'forthcoming' album, Nooks, which was recorded late that year. The first three tracks are all from their debut, and are slightly stripped-back versions, without the studio gloss, although Butterfly Sky features the same phased 'Tron as its studio counterpart. They betray their pub scene roots with a decent version of Rory Gallagher's I Fall Apart, and their Pink Floyd and Zeppelin medleys, though, making the album well over half covers.
Loads of 'Tron throughout, of course (keys man André Jayet would've been largely silent, otherwise), mostly strings, but with choir on Raga and flutes on Rainbow Bridge, with the highlight being on the Pink Floyd Medley. Ever wondered what Dark Side of the Moon would've sounded like had Rick Wright used a Mellotron? (You haven't?). Wonder no more. Ragnarok play from Us And Them to the end of the album, and as the cliché goes, it's absolutely 'Tron-drenched, mostly strings with a bit of choir, with the odd bit of synth emulating the original. Wonderful.
See: Ragnarok
