Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker with Graham Bond, Dick Heckstall Smith

[grrg63]

Found some nice vids of young Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker playing with the Graham Bond Organisation around 1965.

 

[grrg63]

Graham Bond later played organ and sax and sang in Ginger Baker's Air Force in the early 70s.

 

[brianrost]

That clip of “Harmonica" from a best-forgotten English movie always cracks me up. What’s with the Mellotron?

For the die-hards, 4 CDs (and it’s not even complete!). A lot of it has Jack on DB.

 

[Michedelic]

That clip of “Harmonica" from a best-forgotten English movie always cracks me up. What’s with the Mellotron?

For the die-hards, 4 CDs (and it’s not even complete!). A lot of it has Jack on DB.

View attachment 5240298

A level of absurdity to equal Frankie and Annette beach movies.
That’s not a Mellotron, but a Vox Continental combo organ, a mainstay(along with the Farfisa)of many beat/garage bands of the time period, before the bright idea of hauling a Hammond B-3 around came along.
To play it properly, you have to put some elbow grease into it…

 

[Michedelic]

Here’s some Bond/Baker trivia, although it doesn’t involve Bruce, concerning a Who single B-side that wasn’t The Who….

Substitute - The Who

 

[Michedelic]

Here’s a rare shot of Jack(in the GBO)after he acquired the Fender VI…

The entirety of the band emerged from an outfit, Blues Incorporated, that was, even before Mayall, the clearinghouse for young players in the developing London blues scene. You can see the quartet, among others, here…


Another line-up with Jack and Heckstall-Smith, plus an obscured Charlie Watts, and this new kid, Mick, singing…


Quite a Who’s Who passed through the ranks:
Blues Incorporated

 

[dougjwray]

Jack bought the 6-string bass after John McLaughlin left the band. He wanted to be able to cover some of the same ground.

 

[brianrost]

That’s not a Mellotron, but a Vox Continental combo organ

Been a long while since I saw that, I remembered it had the Mellotron in it. My bad.

Of course Graham Bond didn’t play a Vox anyway, he was a B3 man.

Luckily that movie in it’s entirety seems to be unavailable, which is a good thing!

 

[Michedelic]

Been a long while since I saw that, I remembered it had the Mellotron in it. My bad.

Of course Graham Bond didn’t play a Vox anyway, he was a B3 man.

Luckily that movie in it’s entirety seems to be unavailable, which is a good thing!

It looks pretty dumb, but there was so much stuff like that in those days.
The Mellotron was pretty under the radar at point, maybe still under development. John Lennon didn’t get one until late ‘66(inspiring “SFF”). Mike Pinder worked for the inventors(as I understand it) that’s why the Moody Blues got early access to it.

 

[brianrost]

The Mellotron was pretty under the radar at point, maybe still under development.

Graham Bond did have one and used it both live and on some of the recordings while Jack was still in the band (Ginger fired him from the band and stayed with Graham for a while longer).

Sitting at the Hammond with Mellotron to his right:

 

[Bob_Ross]

View attachment 5243185

What model Mellotron is that? I've only ever seen the classic white 400D.

 

[Michedelic]

What model Mellotron is that? I've only ever seen the classic white 400D.

I guess originally they were going to pitch it to the granny with the organ in the corner of the parlor market.

 

[brianrost]

What model Mellotron is that? I've only ever seen the classic white 400D.

It’s probably a MkII. The left keyboard plays rhythm loops and sound effects, the right keyboard plays the instrument sounds. The single keyboard 400 came along in 1970, smaller and more suitable for touring. None of the Mellotrons were sold in large quantities.

From Wikipedia:

• Mk I (1963) – double manual (35 notes on each). Very similar to the Chamberlin Music Master 600. About 10 were made.[19]
• Mk II (1964) – double manual. 18 sounds on each manual. Organ-style cabinet, two 12-inch internal speakers and amp. Weight 160 kg.[12] About 160 were made.[19]
• FX console (1965) – double manual with sound effects. Designed to be quieter than the Mk II, with a different DC motor and a solid-state power amplifier.[8]
• M300 (1968) – 52-note single manual, some with pitch wheel-control, and some without. About 60 were made.[19]
• M400 (1970) – 35-note single manual. The most common and portable model. About 1,800 units were made. It has three different sounds per frame.[12]

Here’s Graham Bond using one in 1965. Jack and Ginger don’t play until after the sax solo.