An interesting angle on Rick Wakeman

[David Emm]

This is a fun read that added a few new gems to what I already knew. Leave it to Rick to get a Mellotron on the first bounce, eh?

 

 "One afternoon he dropped by a local recording studio, where he spotted an odd little keyboard in the corner. The manager of the studio, Tony Visconti, told him it was a Mellotron, the spooky-sounding, electro-mechanical instrument made famous by the Beatles on “Strawberry Fields Forever.” But it was so difficult to play that nobody in the studio could figure out how to use it. 'Mind if I have a go?' asked Wakeman. Visconti and his recording crew watched in awe as the gawky kid made the Mellotron sing.

 

'How’d you do that?' an engineer asked.

 

'Don’t tell him,' Visconti told Wakeman. 'It’ll make you a fortune!'”

 

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-stranger-than-fiction-secret-history-of-prog-rock-icon-rick-wakeman?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

[Finale]

Good read, thanks for sharing. One of my favorite works from RW is his King Arthur album and it's interesting to know the details about when he composed it.  

[Baldwin Funster]

Tales of topographical keyboards.

[stoken6]

3 hours ago, Baldwin Funster said:

Tales of topographical keyboards.

Tape-ographical, surely?

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Tusker]

Great article 👍 

 

What is this keyboard?

 

[AUSSIEKEYS]

2 hours ago, Tusker said:

Great article 👍 

 

What is this keyboard?

 

 

Looks like a Korg Trident. I had one back in the day.

[SMcD]

6 hours ago, Tusker said:

Great article 👍 

 

What is this keyboard?

 

It appears to be a piano of some sort.

 

 

...I'll show myself out.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

What a great read.

[David Emm]

Just BTW, the article features a nice shot of Rick at his rig. You can gear-spot a probable early digital Hammond, a JD-800, several Korgs (I spy the telltale joysticks) and the classic pair of Minimoogs. I don't know exactly what he may have used for Mellotron, but by that point, probably not a real one. Too much potential grief. I enjoyed seeing him demo G-Force's M-Tron and laughing about the absence of tape snarls. Science!

[wineandkeyz]

If you want to read further, pick up Wakeman's "Grumpy Old Rock Star: and Other Wondrous Stories" and "Further Adventures of a Grumpy Old Rock Star." I've read them both many times, and every time I laugh at the same bits!

[Ivan May]

Rick Wakeman also helped play and develop the birotron, which was also a tape loop operated keyboard, which was his response to the Mellotron. It was used primarily on the album Rick Wakeman’s Criminal Record and the Yes album Tormato, but has since been discontinued.

[Baldwin Funster]

Ah Tormato. I think that  album was released direct to the cut out bin. I remember having that on cassette. 

I actually like it.

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

On 11/8/2023 at 3:52 PM, Baldwin Funster said:

Ah Tormato. I think that  album was released direct to the cut out bin. I remember having that on cassette. 

I actually like it.

Years ago....   Well, close to forty....  radio station WWCT in Peoria IL had a contest where listeners had to keep track of 106 album names (because it was 106 FM - get it?) announced at random at various times of the day, and then send in their lists for a chance to win a Cobra sports car replica.  I've forgotten most of what was on the list but "Tormato" will probably remain in my memory forever, mainly because I didn't know how to spell it and had to check at the music store so I would know what to write on the list.  Looking back, the contrarian in me would have chosen "Drama" instead, but whatever; at any rate I think it was the only Yes album on the list.  At any rate, I didn't win the car, and neither did my friend.  But we did try to improve our odds by hand-delivering our lists to the studio and they were nice enough to roll out the red carpet to us and give us a tour of the place.  I miss that station.