RIP Mike Pinder

[wjwilcox]

https://www.loudersound.com/news/moody-blues-founding-member-mike-pinder-dead-at-82

[Baldwin Funster]

I'm going to have to play a mellotron dirge. RIP Mr Pinder.

[Outkaster]

Oh wow that's too bad. 

[Dave Bryce]

Another one of rock/prog's seminal keyboard players has left the building. 😞

 

dB

[AWkeys]

Truly a one-of-a-kind icon.  Was there ever anyone else more involved as a technician and player of the Mellotron? RIP, Mr. Pinder.

[Bill H.]

I saw the Moody Blues only once -  in the 1990s. Alas by then Mr. Pinder and his Mellotrons were gone. I didn't stick around for the whole thing. RIP good sir. 

[David Emm]

Lucky me, as the Moody Blues were the first serious pro band I got to see live. The volume left my ears ringing for 2 days (I learned the ear plug lesson right away), but the Mellotron still sticks with me. I owe Mike something beyond just his band work, because he's the one who brought the 'tron to life for me. That's a prominent part of my rig now. Thanks, Mike.

[Ivan May]

RIP Mike Pinder, he was pretty much the last surviving member of the group (Justin Hayward and John Lodge were not founding members of the Moodies, having replaced Denny Laine and Clint Warwick respecitvely after their 1965 debut The Magnificant Moodies.)

 

He was not only a Mellotron player, I think Mike Pinder also used a Chamberlin starting on the Seventh Sojourn album (an updated Mellotron which works on the same principle, made by the same company and, yes, sounds the same). That said, Mike Pinder was an excellent keyboard player for Moody Blues, he definitely introduced the Mellotron to a larger audience.

[Shamanzarek]

Mike Pinder was the leader both musically and spiritually who influenced the direction of The Moody Blues. Mike's songs were of high quality although often overshadowed by Justin and John's. Some of Mike's most notable songs were "The Sunset", "So Deep Within You", "Have You Heard/The Voyage", "Melancholy Man", "Out and In"(co-written w/Lodge), and "A Simple Game". The latter song was a hit for The Four Tops in England and they also covered "So Deep Within You". The Moody Blues only completely instrumental piece "Beyond" was composed by Pinder though he generously gave the credit to Edge. Mike considered himself to be the musical arranger on most recordings done while he was in the band.

 

Mike was also known for his voice-over talent. He is heard reciting most of drummer Graeme Edge's poems on Moody Blues albums. Pinder is heard on "The Day Begins", "Late Lament", "The Word", "The Dream", "Higher and Higher", and "The Balance". In concert Edge would recite most of his own poetry. Mike did some additional spoken word narration recordings in the 1980s.

 

While employed by Mellotron manufacturer Streetly Electronics Mike turned The Beatles on to the instrument which they most famously used on "Strawberry Fields Forever". Pinder along with fellow band member Ray Thomas was involved in the recording sessions for "The Fool on the Hill" and "I Am the Walrus" playing Harmonica on the former and singing backing vocals on the latter. Pinder was going to play Mellotron on John Lennon's "I Don't Want to be a Soldier" but the machine malfunctioned so he ended up playing Tambourine on that and "Jealous Guy" from the "Imagine" album. Pinder prided himself on being able keep a rock solid tempo on Tambourine which he sometimes played on Moody Blues basic tracks to establish the feel of the song.

 

Pinder had one of the first modular Moog synthesizers in England. It was first used on "In Search of the Lost Chord" and later albums for sound effects as its's tuning wasn't stable enough to play musical parts. Mike received one of the earliest Minimoogs which can be heard playing playing background patterns on "How is it We are Here" from the "Question of Balance" album and also put to good use on "Melancholy Man" from the same album.

 

For the "Seventh Sojourn" album Mike used a Chamberlin keyboard on a few songs. "For My Lady" is almost all Chamberlin backing and it was likely used on "Isn't Life Strange" and Mike's song "Lost in a Lost World". Some Mellotron sounds were derived from the Chamberlin but the Chamberlin had better fidelity and stereo outputs.

 

Mike also had an RMI Keyboard Computer which may have seen some use on Mike's solo album "The Promise" and The Moody Blues "Octave " album. There is no Mellotron on "Octave" but it has their first use of a Yamaha polysynth probably a CS80. Real strings and Brass were used on some of the songs. "Octave" was Mike's last album with The Moody Blues.

 

 Mike and the band helped originate the extended song form as well many of the stylistic instrumental and vocal sounds of what later became Prog Rock. Mike was first to develop an "Orchestra Hit" type sound as heard on the song "Question". He did this by layering Mellotron strings and brass with percussion sounds.

 

In the late 80s Mike and several other prominent musicians had a brief association with Atari Computers and promoted the ST series.

 

[HammondDave]

4 hours ago, Ivan May said:

RIP Mike Pinder, he was pretty much the last surviving member of the group (Justin Hayward and John Lodge were not founding members of the Moodies, having replaced Denny Laine and Clint Warwick respecitvely after their 1965 debut The Magnificant Moodies.)

 

He was not only a Mellotron player, I think Mike Pinder also used a Chamberlin starting on the Seventh Sojourn album (an updated Mellotron which works on the same principle, made by the same company and, yes, sounds the same). That said, Mike Pinder was an excellent keyboard player for Moody Blues, he definitely introduced the Mellotron to a larger audience.

The Mellotron community is truly mourning tonight.  Prog would not be the same without Mike Pinder. I will go home tonight and play Legend of a Mind on my M300. 
 

Here is the link to the NY Times obit. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/25/arts/music/mike-pinder-moody-blues-dead.html
 

Speaking of the M300, just to set the record straight, Pinder also played an M300 on the Seventh Sojourn album, (There is a photo of him playing one on that album, I think)

[dodonnell]

I was fortunate to see the Moody Blues in November 1968 at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago.  I thought that the Gibson G101 organ I played  at the time was the best to be had.  Mike and his Mellotron blew me away.

 

Duane Odonnell

[HammondDave]

The Gibson is pretty good… but the Mellotron sort of put things in perspective.  

[Shamanzarek]

Mike first used the 300 on "Never Comes the Day" from On the Threshold of a dream. On "Watching and Waiting" it was layered with a pipe organ so it is not purely Mellotron.

 

Here is a list of Mellotron 300 sounds and songs it can be heard on:

https://www.gforcesoftware.com/products/the-streetly-tapes-m3000-for-m-tron-pro/

 

Mike had custom string sounds made for his Mellotron Mark II which are first heard on Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. Before that album they would typically triple-track the Mellotron strings with staggered start times to smooth warbling in the stock 3 Violins sound.

[HammondDave]

I have a mint M300 with many of these tapes. The M300 strings are vastly superior to the Mark II (IMHO) 

[HammondDave]

Found this great video of Mike Performing his song “Have You Heard” from the 60’s.  Here he displays his Mellotron Prowess using flutes, organ, strings, and brass along with some pitch bends.