Mike Pinder and The Mellotron

Mike Pinder was a founding member, and once the keyboardist, of the band The Moody Blues.  Pinder passed recently.  Mr. Pinder was an acolyte of the weird instrument, The Mellotron.  

What was The Mellotron?  I asked ChatGPT to provide some illumination.  Here is what they said:

A Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in the early 1960s. It works by triggering prerecorded sounds stored on magnetic tape when a musician presses the keys on its keyboard. Each key on the Mellotron is connected to a tape playing a recording of an instrument, such as strings, flutes, or choirs, allowing musicians to produce orchestral sounds and effects that were difficult or impossible to recreate in live performances at the time. The Mellotron became famous for its distinctive sound and was prominently used by bands like The Beatles, The Moody Blues, and King Crimson, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s, adding a unique, ethereal quality to rock and progressive music.

Mike Pinder adopted the instrument to create some unique and memorable passages for the Mellotron.  Witness his use of the instrument on "Nights in White Satin", "Tuesday Afternoon", and "Legend of a Mind".  Symphonic, atmospheric, haunting.  Awesome work!  RIP, Mr. Pinder.

View the very interesting documentary on The Mellotron by clicking on the link below.

A Brief History of The Mellotron 

A Royal Affair Concert Event (2019)

Two of the latter day descendants of progressive rock royalty, Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy and Yes, perform at A Royal Affair.  Other acts on this bill included the John (Moody Blues) Lodge Band and Asia.  This event was held in Saratoga, California at the Mountain Winery concert venue.  Lovely afternoon concert. 

Roger Dean Was At "A Royal Affair"!

Genius artist Roger Dean had a booth at "A Royal Affair" music event at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, California.

 Classic progressive music reigned on July 28th, 2019 at the Mountain Winery music venue.  Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy, Arthur Brown, the John Lodge Band, Asia and Yes all performed.

It was great to see Roger and his magnificent paintings and artwork.  Dean has designed album covers for the likes of Greenslade, Budgie, Asia and Yes.  A beautiful thing indeed!  It was an honor to see him there.

Adventures in HD Music Selections

We got a 1080p plasma for the house. I was watching Comcast HD music channel. Regrouped Asia and Yes - Pathetic. Steve Howe is basically a skeleton holding a guitar. Also carried Royal Albert Hall clips of the Who in 2007. Roger's voice is godawful. The Seeker is already sounding well tired. Bright spot in group is Simon Townsend. Handling the high vocal parts and looking like he is actually enjoying being onstage. The rest are stiffs. Pete Townsend,too. Deep Purple - a train wreck. Only decent sounding band is Rush in a Frankfurt concert. But they are obviously only going through the motions. Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart are middle aged in appearance and spiritually fat. Geedy Lee always looked bad and that is nothing new here. Bryan Adams doing some solo guitar performance at some peace festival. Looks like hell but has a surprisingly strong and decent voice. Haven't watched old Joe Strummer video yet. More ugh for sure.