Good day, and welcome back to Mellotron Monday, where we sing the praises of the wacky analog tape-based keyboard instrument that changed the shape of popular music.
Familiar but alien sounding, it’s no surprise it ended up flavoring some of the Beatles’ most mind-expanding productions, which at least in the US appeared on opposite LP sides on Magical Mystery Tour. That intro to “Strawberry Fields Forever” is classic mellotron, probably the 10 seconds in recorded history that people most often point to when trying to describe the instrument to someone else. The superb instrumental “Flying” also takes advantage of the instrument’s perspective-warping potential.
