Paul McCartney demonstrates the Mellotron
Although the Beatles enjoyed massive success that endures to this day, it can be said that Paul McCartney is the most successful of the fabulous four. His career continued solo and with his rock band “Wings”. He has released 27 albums since the Beatles broke up.
Paul is best known as a singer-songwriter, but in fact, he’s probably one of the most talented musicians on the planet. During his time with the Beatles, he played bass, acoustic and electric guitar, keyboards, and even drums. The most unusual instrument he’s tried his hand at has to be the Mellotron he plays in the intro to Strawberry Fields Forever.
It’s now been over 50 years since that song was recorded, but it seems Paul hasn’t lost his love for the Mellotron. In 2005 Paul recorded a session called Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road at the famous Abbey Road studios in London. In this session he plays the Mellotron and explains what he knows about this unique instrument.
“It’s a mellotron, an instrument from the 60s that was a precursor to the synthesizer, and the idea was that it had its tape loops. It’s like a tape cassette, you play one of the keys , and she would play string sounds or a trumpet or flutes.
Paul goes on to explain that ever since he purchased a Mellotron, he had been trying to figure out what the instrument was designed for. He came to the conclusion that it was intended to be sold to cabarets. If they bought it, they could buy this instrument and save the cost of having a band.
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Paul’s Mellotron has all the tape reels that supply the instruments preloaded from the original manufacturing date in the 60s. After his mini TED talk, Paul proceeds to demonstrate the amazing music this instrument can produce. The song he sings, apparently invented on the spot, is catchy and melodic and makes you want to snap your fingers and dance with him.
It is therefore not surprising that this video has already been viewed more than two million times. Paul’s talent is obvious, but so is his love of music. It is a pleasure to watch.
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