MELLODRAMA
Dianna Dilworth
Music Documentary
USA, 2008, 75 min.

Fri., May 22, 2:30 PM, at Carswell Hall, Wake Forest University
Q & A with the filmmaker via Skype

Synopsis from the Filmmaker:

"Mellodrama" explores the rising and falling fortunes of the Mellotron the first musical keyboard to sample the sounds of other instruments from its birth in a California garage in the 1950s, through its dominance on concert stages in the 1970s, through its almost religious cult of followers in the 2000s.

Through the music of the Beatles, the Zombies, and the Moody Blues, the Mellotron became the "instant magic sound." In the 1970s, the Mellotron defined the sound of progressive rock bands like King Crimson, Roxy Music, and Genesis. Though forgotten during the 1980s, when digital synthesizers hijacked pop music, the Mellotron is today again a highly desired and sought-after device, a connection for artists like Radiohead and Kanye West to the mystical lost world of invention and possibility.

"Mellodrama" chronicles the fascinating fifty-year history using interviews with Brian Wilson (Beach Boys), Mike Pinder (Moody Blues), Rod Argent (The Zombies), Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick), Ian McDonald (King Crimson), Brian Kehew (Author, Recording the Beatles), Jon Brion, Richard Chamberlin (The Chamberlin Company), and many more.

The Mellotron is a curious musical instrument which uses tape recorder technology to play back recordings of actual instruments. It sounds real, but not quite, and it's been on thousands of well-known recordings. Originally conceived in the USA by Harry Chamberlin, the English version, called the Mellotron, became popular in the psychedelic era and everybody knows the instrument's most famous moment, the haunting intro to The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever." A must-see for fans of 1960s pop music. -ME