1960s/1970s songs featuring a Chamberlin keyboard?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by audiodrome, Jan 25, 2014.

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  1. audiodrome

    audiodrome Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Of Boston
    I'm guessing the number of “oldies” featuring the Chamberlin would be pretty low, especially when compared to the Mellotron. First of all, there just weren't that many of them out there and since Harry Chamberlin was not a big fan of rock'n'roll he probably never ventured down that sales route.

    From what I’ve read, back in the mid ‘60s the only place in L.A. with a Chamberlin was Gary Paxton’s home studio. Gary and bassist, Joe Osborn, produced a number of songs featuring the Chamberlin, including country rock artists Gilbeau & Parsons and the Gosdin Brothers, as well as Jan & Dean's Save For A Rainy Day LP. Curt Boettcher made good use of the Chamberlin on many of the Ballroom/Sagittarius/Millennium recordings, most notably the strings "Love's Fatal Way." The Chamberlin female voices" on "St. Nicholas Hall" are a highlight of Judy Henske & Jerry Yester's Farewell Aldebaran LP. Other known users include Emitt Rhodes and Brian Wilson who used the Chamberlin for a few tracks on the Beach Boys 1967 album, Wild Honey. I’m not sure how many of these things were floating around Hollywood at that time but it’s possible that the producers listed above all used the same one.

    That being said, it is also well known that a few celebrities owned Chamberlin keyboards. Bobby Darin had an M-300 while Jerry Lewis had the larger “deluxe” Music Master 600, seen in the following YouTube clip:



    “Song Poem” artist extraordinaire Rodd Keith probably used the Chamberlin better than anyone. His home base, MSR Records, had an in-house Music Master 600 in their studio and because of obvious budget constraints Rodd sometimes resorted to using the Chamberlin as the whole band! There are a few other oddball recordings from the ‘60s, such as A Journey Through A Thousand Meditations by Edmond S. Bordeaux & Norma Jean Nilsson, that are essentially Chamberlin demonstration discs. Here is another incredible YouTube clip demonstrating the amazing Music Master 600:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-pbH-Wtxs

    Moving on to the ’70s, some people may be surprised to hear that the string sound on the studio version of Bob Seger’s “Turn The Page” was a Chamberlin not a Mellotron. Stevie Wonder fell in love with the Chamberlin after an in-studio demo and purchased one on the spot to use on his 1979 LP, The Secret Life Of Plants. If anyone else can add to this list I’d be much obliged!
     
  2. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, US
    It is on "I'm Just A Singer In A Rock'n'Roll Band" by the Moody Blues.
     
  3. Pinstripedclips

    Pinstripedclips Forum Resident

    Location:
    Aberdeen, Scotland
    Stuff by Three Dog Night.

     
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  4. 3rd Uncle Bob

    3rd Uncle Bob Forum Resident

    Isn't it featured heavily on Bowie's Low album?
     
  5. 3rd Uncle Bob

    3rd Uncle Bob Forum Resident

  6. drasil

    drasil Former Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    yes, definitely--'warszawa' is all chamberlin, plus 'speed of life,' 'always crashing in the same car,' 'a new career in a new town,' and 'art decade.'

    Bowie picked up a chamberlin M1 in the states on his diamond dogs tour and professed to prefer it to the mellotron because it sounded 'more natural.' (I think he was right; the playback system is more stable and the tapes were recorded without compression--and performed by Lawrence Welk's band, to boot.)

    it first shows up on station to station, on 'stay' and 'word on a wing,' and he used it on every record thereafter until scary monsters. he even plays it live himself on stage.
     
  7. Pinstripedclips

    Pinstripedclips Forum Resident

    Location:
    Aberdeen, Scotland
    Higher quality and more natural sound, but less distinctive.
     
  8. I recall a story by engineer Steve Desper about how Brian Wilson asked him to capture various water-related noises (including field recordings of a mountain stream) in the late 1960s for Cool, Cool Water, which he intended to play using a modified Chamberlin. However, the "drops" heard on the final song were instead generated through a Moog synthesiser. Although the source tapes supposedly existed for a while, I've no idea if any Chamberlin was ever prepared or tested for this ill-fated project.
     
  9. MarkTwo

    MarkTwo Forum Resident

    Interesting subject! Here's some favorites:
    Bobby Darin talking Chamberlin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JMUGlQE-HE
    A reliable source told me that the Beach Boys had a MkII. It's still in LA. It actually sounds like MkII brass on Country Air.. with a little grounding issue. Maybe that's why they didn't use it that much.
     
  10. audiodrome

    audiodrome Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Of Boston
    Thanks for the Bobby Darin clip - cool!
    Regarding Brian Wilson and the Mellotron, in the documentary Mellodrama doesn't Rick Neilsen state that in 1968 he was the first person to import a Mellotron (a Mark II) into the United States for his family's music store? I'm just going on memory but I think that's what he said.
    I also remember reading an interview with Beach Boys engineer, Stephen Desper, where he says he could not find a Mellotron for Brian’s studio after the Beach Boys requested one, so instead he got two models of the Chamberlin (equipment budgets didn‘t seem to be a problem for the Boys in the late 60‘s, so it seems to be more an issue of the Mellotron just not being available in the US).
     
  11. MarkTwo

    MarkTwo Forum Resident

    That's really interesting and I also found the interview! It's a pity BB didn't use them more..
    There were more MkII's in the US by the late 60's. Jac Holzman/Elektra had one for example.
     
  12. Cassiel

    Cassiel Sonic Reducer

    Location:
    NYC, USA
    Tom Waits uses one on several of his albums, although not until his '80's releases.

    As an aside, Harry Chamberlin developed what may have been the first drum machine, the Chamberlin Rhythmate, using the same technology as his keyboard - users could switch the tape head inside the machine to choose from a selection of recorded percussion loops, and the tempo (i.e.; tape speed) was also adjustable.
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2014
  13. audiodrome

    audiodrome Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Of Boston
    Well it turns out that Rick Neilsen definitely did not import the first Mellotron in the states. Apparently, Bill Fransen brought a Mark I to the 1964 NAMM show in California. This is where Harry Chamberlin first saw the resemblance between his invention and the Mellotron, resulting in a $50,000 reparations check from Streetly Electronics!

    I highly recommend the soundtrack CD for the Mellodrama documentary. You get the intro theme and all of that cool background music that was played during the historical segments. It also includes Harry Chamberlin's demonstration disc for the deluxe four-manual Chamberlin (the "Riviera 800" shown in my avatar). Only two Riviera models were built and today you can see one at the Cantos Music Foundation in Calgary, Alberta:

    [​IMG]

    and the other one at the Bomb Factory in Los Angeles:

    [​IMG]
     
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  14. Jeni Kaybee

    Jeni Kaybee New Member

    Location:
    La Grande, Oregon
    What about the song on Jefferson Airplane's "Bark" called "Never Argue..."? That's got some serious looping vocals that sounds like it was taped...a little fluttering flute, too.
     
  15. Logan S

    Logan S Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Pretty sure the whole album (Seventh Sojourn) featured Chamberlin instead of mellotron. Pretty prominent in just about all the songs, too.
     
  16. gregorya

    gregorya I approve of this message

    Michael Penn has used the Chamberlin pretty heavily over the years, well worth checking out.
     
  17. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, US
    I've read that the single mix of their 1973 song "Let Me Serenade You" had Chamberlin added, but am not sure where (or maybe I haven't heard the right version).
     
  18. audiodrome

    audiodrome Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Of Boston
    I recently found out that the female choir on Bobby Goldsboro's 1968 hit "Honey" was played on a Chamberlin - imagine that!
     
  19. Platterpus

    Platterpus Senior Member

    The liner notes from my Sundazed CD state it was a Mellotron IIRC. Also, allmusic.com lists Larry Knechtel as the player. So what's the truth? Also, I read that the technology for the Mellotron was borrowed from the Chamberlin as this instrument was around decades prior to the Mellotron.

    From wiki:

    "It is important to note that Chamberlin instruments were never distributed for sale outside North America (USA / Canada markets). This also is helpful in determining Chamberlin and Mellotron use on records".



    So was it a Chamberlin or a Mellotron used on the Jan & Dean "Save For A Rainy Day" album?
     
  20. mfp

    mfp Senior Member

    Location:
    Paris, France
    I'm pretty sure there's Chamberlin on some of Johnny Cash's American Recordings.

    I know Tom Waits used it too in some early 90s songs.
     
  21. audiodrome

    audiodrome Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Of Boston
    It was unquestionably a Chamberlin but I'm not sure which model. Whenever you hear this "sound" on a record made in LA in the mid-1960s it's more than likely that Joe Osborn, Gary Paxton and their small circle of friends, were somehow involved. The first Mellotron (a Mark II model) came to the US in 1968 via Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen. He bought a used Mark II in England and had it shipped back home to use in his band, Fuse (you can hear this Mellotron on their 1970 LP). When other musicians and studios found out about it he decided to import a few more to his family-owned a music store, American Beauty Music, in Rockford, Illinois. Apparently this was a huge undertaking at the time because Streetly Electronics had no system in place for international distribution. With the introduction of the model M400 in 1970 Streetly was finally able to legitimately export Mellotrons to the US through a wider distribution network. Now I wonder where those original Rick Nielsen-imported Mellotrons are today and what records they appeared on?
     
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  22. MarkTwo

    MarkTwo Forum Resident

    Before 1970 it's probably a MusicMaster 600. The only sound that Mellotrons and Chamberlins have in common is the violins. If other sounds are used it's quite easy to tell which keyboard it is. For example "Pocket full of rainbows" have the the characteristic Chamberlin flutes and the female voice.

    The female voice on Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey" is not Chamberlin because you can't do glissandos on a Chamberlin. It's very close in timbre though.
     
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  23. audiodrome

    audiodrome Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Of Boston
    The MusicMaster 300, being a single manual keyboard, was much cheaper than the 600, so it's reasonable to assume that many "working" musicians and smaller studios would have opted for this model. The MusicMaster 600 had an additional keyboard with rhythm/accompaniment tapes but the main "lead" sounds were essentially the same for both. The 300 and the 600 each sold around 200 units and so it could have been either.
    I actually listened to "Honey" last night to refresh my memory and now I'm not sure what the story is. The female voice at the beginning of the songs has a very similar timbre to the Chamberlin female voice but it's obvious that each note is joined with a glissando. For a second I thought that maybe it was a "pitch wheel" effect but it sounds too real. However at 1:32 when the female voice enters singing the sustained high notes with heavy vibrato it definitely sounds like a Chamberlin to my ears. I knew right away that I've heard that exact sound many times before and I've used that exact sound many times before so it sticks out like a sore thumb. Also, the notes in this particular section are not connected with glissandos and each note starts dead on pitch. But why would they use a real female vocalist for the intro and the Chamberlin for another part? It doesn't make much sense. It's possible that they had recorded the strings and choir and later decided that the chorus needed sweetening with a high "angelic" voice so they brought in the Chamberlin. The session was done in Nashville at RCA Studio B with Bobby, the band, the strings and choir all recorded live in two takes. There is no mention of any overdubs so I guess I was probably hallucinating but that's my take on it for now... :cool:
     
  24. MarkTwo

    MarkTwo Forum Resident

    Yes, these figures are confusing to me. The 600 pop up from time to time but the 300/350 (keyboard and tapes in two different cabinets) and the custom 35 key half 600, never does. Not to mention the 550 and 560 Hammond style models. Not even a picture of these on the web..

    The same timbre with glissandos from 1:32. :)
     
  25. geo50000

    geo50000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canon City, CO.
    The weird looking dude playing the Chamberlin in 3 Dog Night is more visible here:
     
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