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Michel Polnareff Legendary Marvin Pontiac Poor Richard |
Iggy Pop Pop Five Music Inc Popol Vuh (Norway) |
André Popp Posies Possum Dixon |
Risa Potters Powderfinger Daniel Powter |
Brendan Pollard (UK) see: |
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Pollard/Daniel/Booth (UK) see: |
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7" (1969) **½/½ Tous les Bateaux, Tous les Oiseaux Tout, Tout Pour Ma Chérie |
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Polnareff's (1971, 37.27) **/½ |
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| Voyages Né dans un Ice-cream Petite, Petite Computer's Dream Le Désert N'est Plus en Afrique Nos Mots d'Amour ...Mais Encore |
Qui a Tué Grand'maman? Monsieur l'Abbé Hey You Woman À Minuit, à Midi |
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Michel Polnareff has had a somewhat erratic career, shifting between periods of fame at home and exile abroad, making releases rather on the sporadic side. 1969's Tous Les Bateaux, Tous Les Oiseaux (All the Boats, All the Birds) seems to be a pretty typical single of his '60s period, in the French chanson style, although its flip, Tout, Tout Pour Ma Chérie is rather more upbeat, featuring a ridiculously brief (and poorly-played) Mellotron string run halfway through. Blink and you'll miss it.
1971's Polnareff's was his third album, an outrageous concoction of psychedelic soul/pop, guaranteed to irritate anyone not into overblown French pop, typified by brassy opener Voyages and closer À Minuit, À Midi, while Qui A Tué Grand'maman? is probably about the best thing here. Polnareff plays Mellotron himself, with flute chords on Le Désert N'est Plus En Afrique and À Minuit, À Midi, as far as I can ascertain. Not something for the prog lover in your life, then, more the Stereolab fan who's adventurous enough to want to find out where they got it from. Next to no Mellotron either way.
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Greatest Hits (2000, 51.37) ***/T |
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| I'm a Doggy Small Car Now I'm Happy Power Runnin' Round Pancakes Bring Me Rocks Rubin |
Wanna Wanna Sleep at Night Arms & Legs She Ain't Going Home Little Fly No Kids |
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'The Legendary' Marvin Pontiac was a previously-unknown Chicagoan bluesman of Malian and Jewish parentage, born 1932, died 1977, who began recording in the early '50s, although his descent into mental illness a few years prior to his death stymied any attempts at later work. OK, he wasn't and he didn't. 'Legendary' is spot-on, as Marvin Pontiac never existed. He's the invention of New York avant-gardist John Lurie, aided and abetted by his friends, including the genuinely legendary John Medeski; it's an amusing project, although no-one with the slightest musical knowledge will be taken in for a second, despite the (relatively) authentic blues harp playing. Opener I'm A Doggy was supposedly recorded in 1952, but sounds like exactly what it is: a late-'90s spoof. Actually, most of the album's contents have little to do with either the blues or Malian music, despite the occasional Africanesque rhythms and chanting, which doesn't detract from their enjoyment factor one iota.
Medeski plays Mellotron, along with Hammond and Clavinet, although only on one track, Power opening with a few choir notes, with a flute part later on. Overall, this is a Medeski-style album of NYC avant-er, something, done with plenty of attention to detail, though ultimately unable to keep up the pretence. Definitely amusing, actually not bad, but quite certainly not by a long-dead one-man cultural melting-pot.
(I) Pooh (Italy) see: |
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Place of the Sun (1978, 31.45) ***/TTimeThe Gulls The Ax of Good-By One Two Three Four As I Walk Funky Honky Series Finish |
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Vietnam vet 'Poor' Richard Smyrnios' sole LP, 1978's privately-pressed Place of the Sun is sometimes listed as being from seven years earlier, which makes sense when you hear it; a psych/folk effort that could easily date from the turn of the '70s, typified by tracks such as The Gulls or The Ax Of Good-By. It's not bad at what it does, if rather dated for the time, although when it tries to rock out on the duff Funky Honky, it works nowhere near as well.
Producer Bryce "Uncle Dirty" Roberson (why doesn't anyone give themselves that kind of nickname any more?) plays Mellotron on the album's epic (and best track), the twelve-minute Series, with string and flute parts that enhance the song's eerie anti-war message. You're not going to find an original of this for anything you're prepared to pay, but it's, er, 'available' on the 'Net and who knows, may even gain an official re-release at some point.
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7" (1979) ***/T Five Foot One Pretty Flamingo |
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The Ig on Planet Mellotron? You're no-one if you're not here, baby... Iggy Pop's 1979 album, New Values, was his first post-David Bowie collaboration release, involving two other Stooges, with James Williamson in the producer's chair and Scott Thurston playing guitar and keys. One of its better tracks, the self-deprecating Five Foot One, appeared as a picture-disc single, backed, bizarrely, with Iggy's version of Manfred Mann's 1966 hit, Pretty Flamingo. Is it any good? Hmmm. Given the Ig's style at the time, it's probably not atypical, but it's not really something you're going to go out of your way to hear.
Someone (surely not Bowie??) plays what sounds like Chamberlin on the flip, with low-end strings and female voices (and brass and/or vibes?) scattered across the track (thanks, Mattias). This is available on the expanded edition of New Values, but it's neither the most exciting Iggy or Chamby track you're likely to hear.
See: David Bowie
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7" (1971) ****/TT½ Orange Mission Impossible |
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I can't tell you an awful lot about Pop Five Music Inc(orporated), although they released loads of singles and a couple (?) of albums in their native Portugal between the late '60s and early '70s. 1970's Page One is a little dull, although its flip, Aria, is an excellent, Procol-esque take on Bach. The following year's Orange is a great, late-period psych piece, backed with a killer, brass-driven take on the Mission Impossible theme. Sadly, none of these tracks appear to be officially available, which is why unofficial channels exist.
Someone (David Ferreira?) slaps loads of Mellotron string stabs and unfeasibly fast arpeggios all over the 'A', with flutes on the intro, making this a minor Mellotron classic, especially due to its obscurity. If you're hellbent on finding an original, this seems to crop up on eBay every now and again, but if I were you, I'd go for the (cough) download.
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Popol Vuh (1972, 34.19) ***½/TTT½HunchbackJoy & Pleasure All We Have is the Past Leavin' Chicago For Eternity Sucklin' Pig Medicine |
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Quiché Maya (1973, 39.31) ***½/TT½Queen of All QueensDark Nights Mrs. Randalie Music Box Yesterday Milk-White Satin-Dressed Departure Between You and Me Get Up |
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Stolen From Time [as Popol Ace] (1975, 49.20) ***½/TT½Bury Me DeadToday Another Day Jester Soft Shoe Dancer Mr. Bigalow Sweet Tune Sleepwalker I Can See Tears Suicide |
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Named for the Mayan creation myth, Norway's Popol Vuh released two albums before deciding on a name-change to the less atmospheric Popol Ace to avoid clashing with Florian Fricke's better-known project. After seeing the song titles on Popol Vuh, I expected them to be quite in-your-face, but much of the album is quiet, reflective progressive rock, although Leavin' Chicago is, unsurprisingly, a bad blues. When the band played to their strengths, they were a pretty good proto-prog outfit, with accentless English-language vocals, although I'd be lying if I said the music was especially complex. The way to get the best out of the album is, basically, to play the Mellotron tracks, although the first half of Medicine is a bit suspect, until it suddenly turns into the proggiest track on the album. Pete Knutsen does a good job on the Mellotron, mainly strings, but cellos and flutes on a track apiece, alongside Pjokken Eide's real flute.
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Their follow-up, Quiché Maya, reinforces the Mayan connection, although it's pretty much 'no change' on the musical front, although the titles made me think that maybe they'd dropped the bad blues-rock stuff. To be fair, there's probably less of that and a (slightly) more experimental progressive air to the album, though it doesn't open particularly well. There's a block of Mellotron tracks in the middle of the record, largely strings, with some fucked-up pitchbend work on closer Get Up, too, but there's probably less Mellotron work than on its predecessor overall.
Two years on, Stolen From Time was their first release as Popol Ace and seems, maybe surprisingly, to be nearly as progressive as its predecessors, with Sweet Tune reminding the listener of Focus and several other tracks having a distinctly progressive bent to them. Knutsen was still using his Mellotron, though largely for choirs by this point. Background ones can be heard on opener Bury Me Dead, with more of the same and some heavily-effected strings, which may actually not be tape-generated, on Today Another Day. A heavy flute part on Soft Shoe Dancer proves to be the only use of the sound on the album, with more of those background choirs on Sweet Tune and Sleepwalker, plus what have to actually be Mellotron strings on the latter.
So; three decent enough, if formative albums, with reasonable helpings of Mellotron, particularly on their debut. Despite rumours, there's nothing on the last Popol Ace album, '78's Curly Sounds (**), which sounds exactly like what happens when a Norwegian band attempts to sound like Steely Dan; the influence of vocalist Jahn Teigen's blooming solo career is overwhelming.
See: Jahn Teigen | Prucel
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Piccolo et Saxo à Music City (1972, 37.55) ****/T½ |
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| Introduction Arrivée de Jimmy et des Guitares Duo de la Guitare Classique et de la Guitare Électrique Duo de la Basse à Cordes et de la Guitare Basse Guitare Wahwah, Distorsion, Improvisation Pop Music Guitare Vibrato Guitare 12 Cordes Banjo, Guimbarde, Guitare Steel, Dobro Tutti Harmonica, Musique Western |
Sitar Orgue Électrique Accordeon Électronique Synthétiseur Le Mellotron Les Orgues de Cristal Les Ondes Martenot Bronté |
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Noted French orchestral composer and arranger André Popp has been making albums since the late '50s, including several volumes of his Aventures de Piccolo Saxo series, designed to introduce the orchestra to children, not dissimilar in concept to Prokofiev's Peter & the Wolf or Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. Titles include 1958's Piccolo Saxo et Compagnie and Passeport pour Piccolo, Saxo et Compagnie, but it's his 1972 release, Piccolo et Saxo à Music City (originally a 10" LP), that interests us here.
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As its cover amply demonstrates, unlike many of his contemporaries, Popp had moved with the times, combining traditional instruments with modern ones, often juxtaposing them within the same piece (the self-explanatory Duo De La Guitare Classique Et De La Guitare Électrique or Duo De La Basse À Cordes Et De La Guitare Basse). Although my French isn't good enough to follow the story (understatement), French actor François Périer's narration clearly concerns the meeting of instruments from two very different backgrounds and (presumably) their new-found friendship. Well, it is a kids' record... As you'd expect, the composition and playing are superb, with excellent Hammond, sitar and synth (ARP 2600?) parts sitting cheek-by-jowl with harmonica, ondes martenot, accordion and classical guitar parts, not to mention the orchestra.
Fred Farrugia plays Mellotron on (you guessed it) Le Mellotron, demonstrating its ability to replicate string section, flute and brass parts against real ones, eventually combining them in a way you'll be lucky to find anywhere else (well, I haven't and I must've heard more 'Mellotron albums' than most...) Although difficult to recommend as a 'regular' listen, this (now available on Universal's Les Aventures de Piccolo Saxo, Vol. 2) is quite superb in its own way, worth hearing for more than just its Mellotronic contributions.
Porcupine Tree (UK) see: |
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Amazing Disgrace (1996, 53.28) ****/T½ |
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| Daily Mutilation Ontario Throwaway Please Return it Hate Song Precious Moments Fight it (if You Want) Everybody is a Fucking Liar |
World Grant Hart Broken Record The Certainty Song #1 ¿Will You Ever Ease Your Mind? |
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CDS (1996) ***½/T Please Return it Sad to Be Aware Terrorized |
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Every Kind of Light (2005, 49.54) ***½/TT½ |
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| It's Great to Be Here Again! Conversations All in a Day's Work I Guess You're Right Anything and Everything Second Time Around Last Crawl Could He Treat You Better? |
Love Comes I Finally Found a Jungle I Like!!! That Don't Fly Sweethearts of Rodeo Drive |
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From Washington State, the Posies specialise(d) in high-energy powerpop, falling somewhere between Big Star and Hüsker Dü. Despite supposedly splitting in 1998, I believe there's still activity somewhere in their camp; in fact, I met them around 2001, when they used my brother's studio for a quick pre-gig rehearsal while in London. Ken Stringfellow (I think) confirmed for me that they'd actually owned a rare Mark V Mellotron in the late '90s, but had since sold it; he told me it was 'all over' '96's Amazing Disgrace, though I have to say that the audio evidence somewhat contradicts him.
It's a really good album, actually, with plenty of wit (Everybody Is A Fucking Liar, Grant Hart, referencing Hüsker Dü's drummer) and stacks of great songs, although they're not quite up to Big Star standards, to be honest. Ironically, Stringfellow and fellow guitarist Jon Auer played guitar and bass in the sporadically-reformed version of that band, backing Alex Chilton. Anyway, on the Mellotron front (played by both guitarists, apparently), Precious Moments opens with cellos before the strings kick in, still running under the heavier guitar parts, World has a reasonable string part, but The Certainty is top Mellotron moment here; a slower number with dirty great slabs of pitchbent strings all over it. It's possible that there's other bits of Mellotron dotted around, buried in the mix, but I wouldn't like to say for sure. For those of you lucky enough to own a copy of the Australian issue's bonus EP, none of the extra four songs (three of which are late '60s covers, including The Zombies' Leave Me Be and The Hollies' King Midas In Reverse) contain Mellotron, even their take on The Bee Gees' Every Christian Lionhearted Man Will Show You.
Incidentally, although Please Return It is Mellotron-free, it can be heard on both its b-sides, Sad to Be Aware and Terrorized, with a background string melody on the former and a few seconds of flute at the end of the latter (also available as a bonus track on some versions of the album and on 2000's four-disc At Least, at Last).
After various splits, reformations and nebulous, in-between states, the band released Every Kind of Light in 2005. Yes, it's a Posies album, but something's changed: their innocence? A ridiculous statement, maybe, but the music sounds slightly wearier this time round, slightly less joyous. Don't get me wrong, it's a great album, but Amazing Disgrace's joie de vivre seems to be missing in action. Presumably either Stringfellow or Auer plays fairly real-sounding Mellotron (their MkV having long since been sold, I believe), with strings on opener It's Great To Be Here Again! and Second Time Around, a near-solo string melody on Conversations and a pitchbent part on I Guess You're Right, making this actually a more Mellotronic release than Amazing Disgrace, maybe surprisingly.
There's supposed to be some Mellotron on compilation giveaway Limitless Expressions, but I have to say I can't hear it, while their (supposed) swansong, Success (***½) sounds Mellotron-free, too, which isn't to say that there aren't any more relevant tracks scattered around their discography. So; I haven't heard their earlier material, but '93's Frosting on the Beater is supposed to be excellent and I can heartily recommend Amazing Disgrace and Every Kind of Light, though more for the music than the Mellotron. But then, isn't that how it should be?
See: Jon Auer | Orange Humble Band | Beautiful Escape: The Songs of The Posies Revisited
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Star Maps (1996, 42.25) **½/½ |
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| Go West In Her Disc Radio Comets Party Tonight Emergency's About to End General Electric Crashing Your Planet Personals |
Reds Skid Marks Artificial Sunlight Apartment Song |
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Possum Dixon were an L.A.-based 'alt.rock' outfit, revered by their fans for their Farfisa-driven indie stance and apparent ear for a hook. Can't say I hear it myself, at least going by their second album (of three), 1996's Star Maps. OK, it's a passable slightly '60s-ish record, but I've heard so much better in this area; the only track that stands out in any way is lengthy closer Apartment Song and then only because it isn't a rapid-fire burst of Standells-esque speed-freakery.
Robert O'Sullivan plays Mellotron on Reds, with a brief string part that was hardly worth the effort of hauling what sounds like a real M400 into the studio. Not that exciting, then, unless you're an aficionado of Possum Dixon's brand of pop, with one so-so Mellotron track.
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Take Me Away (1972, 50.07) **½/T½ |
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| Take Me Away Too Many People Second Choice Birds Moving Love Song It Must Have Been Hard My Mistake |
I Think I Always Knew Traveling Man If I Could Sing |
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Risa Potters' debut, 1970's Half Woman/Half Child, was a rather twee singer-songwriter effort, very much of its time, but her follow-up, '72's surprisingly lengthy Take Me Away, saw her backed by Brit prog-lite crew Capability Brown, who managed to inject a little energy into the proceedings. Saying that, it's still a fairly bland proposition, rather insipid efforts such as Second Choice and Love Song letting the side down a little, better tracks including the moving, er, Moving and Traveling Man (why the American spelling?).
Tony Cox plays Mellotron, with a pseudo-orchestral string part on Too Many People and My Mistake, with flutes, in a counterpart to the piano, on the latter, although the strings on Second Choice, I Think I Always Knew and Traveling Man are real. This has never been issued on CD, but I couldn't, in all honesty, really recommend it anyway; harmless enough, but with too many mournful ballads and too little Mellotron.
See: Capability Brown
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Dream Days at the Hotel Existence (2007, 44.12) **½/T |
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| Head Up in the Clouds I Don't Remember Lost and Running Wishing on the Same Moon Who Really Cares (feat. The Sound of Insanity) Nobody Sees Surviving Long Way to Go |
Black Tears Ballad of a Dead Man Drifting Further Away |
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Named for the Neil Young classic, Powderfinger were one of Australia's top live draws through the '90s and 2000s, their indie take on roots-rock striking a chord with many of their countrymen. Their sixth (and second last) album, 2007's Dream Days at the Hotel Existence, is designed to be heard drifting from car windows on intercontinental highway roadtrips, at its least bland on Lost And Running, which isn't saying much.
Benmont Tench (Tom Petty, of course) plays 'piano and keyboards', including what may well be Chamberlin, with a well-arranged strings part on Wishing On The Same Moon. Powderfinger were very worthy, but, as with so many other 'worthy' artists, also rather dull.
See: Bernard Fanning
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Daniel Powter (2005, 40.26) *½/TTT½ |
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| Song 6 Free Loop Bad Day Suspect Lie to Me Jimmy Gets High Styrofoam Hollywood |
Lost on the Stoop Give Me Life [bonus track: Stupid Like This] |
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Under the Radar (2008, 45.02) **/TT |
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| Best of Me Not Coming Back Whole World Around Next Plane Home Am I Still the One? Negative Fashion Don't Give Up on Me Fly Away |
Beauty Queen My So Called Life Love You Lately (remix) Bad Day (live) |
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Late starter Daniel Powter (born 1971) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who had the commercial good fortune to find his way onto the US version of the UK's Pop Idol, irritatingly renamed American Idol (why does everything have to be 'American'? Why?), although he's, er, Canadian. Admittedly, he wasn't a contestant; they used his horrible song Bad Day (non-partisan? Moi?) in the series, for some unknown, doubtless nefarious purpose. He released his eponymous debut in 2005, featuring that vile cheesefest and some other vaguely similar stuff, none of it quite as offensive, largely due to being less catchy. There's no such thing as a 'best track' here, although Hollywood is possibly the least nasty; the only spot of light on the horizon is that it's only 'vinyl length'. God, this is loathsome. To my great surprise, the album's laden with Mellotron and possibly Chamberlin. Powter and Chamby hero Mitchell Froom both play unspecified keys, so my guess is it's the latter who splatters tape-replay instruments all over the place here, with strings on the first six tracks, plus choir on the filthy Bad Day, making for this site's first (ta da!) *½/TTT½ rating.
Powter released his follow-up, Under the Radar, in 2008 and it's fair to say that he hasn't noticeably developed his style in the intervening three years. Nothing here's as all-out infuriating as Bad Day, which actually gives the album an extra half star. Linda Perry (4 Non Blondes, many others) produces and plays Mellotron, with strings and flutes on Best Of Me, flutes on Negative Fashion and strings on Don't Give Up On Me, plus a choir part on the remixed version of his hit, Love You Lately. This is also available on some versions of Daniel Powter, as its opening track, so whether Perry plays the Mellotron, or Froom, or someone else entirely is unknown. Amusing to note that Warners presumably didn't have quite enough faith in the album's abilities to sell under its own steam, so a live version of Bad fucking Day is stuck on the end.
Well, if you want to hear loads of well-played Mellotron, you might just go for Daniel Powter, although Under the Radar is rather less in that department. However, unless your cheesometer's been completely disabled, you're going to have more than a little trouble with the horrible music on offer here. You have been warned.
