4 Songs Featuring the Once-Neglected Chamberlin Keyboard

The 1970s just wouldn’t have been the same without the Mellotron. The keyboard’s otherworldly sounds helped to define that decade’s progressive rock, and it made its way into others as well. While the instrument is most strongly associated with prog bands like King Crimson, Genesis, and Yes, its roots can be traced back to 1949 with the invention of the Chamberlin.

The keyboard instrument—developed by Harry Chamberlin—was designed to reproduce the sounds of other instruments, which would be recorded onto tapes. When pressed, the keys would trigger the recordings. Bobby Darin was one of the first musicians to purchase a Chamberlin, and by the ‘60s the instrument had caught on with artists such as The Beach Boys, Marvin Gaye, and Bobby Goldsboro. By the early ‘70s, it had been widely supplanted by the Mellotron.

Though it’s largely forgotten, the groundbreaking instrument has had its devotees even after its popularity waned. If you’re still listening to any of the following four songs, you’re doing your part to keep the legacy of the Chamberlin alive.

“I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)” by The Moody Blues from Seventh Sojourn (1972)

Fans of The Moody Blues might assume keyboardist Mike Pinder played the dreamy string sounds that permeate Seventh Sojourn on a Mellotron. After all, that’s what Pinder had played on the Moodies’ albums going back to Days of Future Passed (1967). But on Seventh Sojourn, Pinder replaced the Mellotron with its predecessor. As vocalist/guitarist Justin Hayward explained for the liner notes of the album’s 2007 edition, the Chamberlin “had much better quality sounds—great brass, strings, and cello, and so on.” On the biggest hit from Seventh Sojourn, “I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band),” the Chamberlin is responsible for the song’s distinctive horn sounds.

After touring for Seventh Sojourn, The Moody Blues took a three-year hiatus. By the time they recorded Octave in late 1977 and early 1978, Pinder had moved on from the Chamberlin. That would be Pinder’s last album with the band, so Seventh Sojourn would be the only Moody Blues album to feature the instrument.

“Dying” by XTC from Skylarking (1986)

By the time XTC recorded Skylarking in 1986, Mellotrons were rarely heard on rock records, and Chamberlins were an even more distant memory. XTC’s producer Todd Rundgren had a Chamberlin in his Woodstock, New York, studio that was every bit as neglected as the instrument was in the recording world more generally. According to XTC frontman Andy Partridge, keyboardist Dave Gregory had to remove a nest of mice from the Chamberlin (along with their droppings) before he could play it.

The clarinet solo at the end of Skylarking’s penultimate track “Dying” is not actually played on a clarinet. That’s Gregory playing the mouse-free Chamberlin, which is doing a remarkable impersonation of the wind instrument.

“No Myth” by Michael Penn from March (1989)

How motivated was Michael Penn to use a Chamberlin in his music? In a 2002 interview, he divulged he went to the trouble of finding Harry Chamberlin, and he bought a keyboard from him directly. Not only did Penn’s keyboardist Patrick Warren play Chamberlin all over Penn’s debut album March, but Warren is shown playing the Chamberlin throughout the official video for Penn’s signature hit, “No Myth.” Given the centrality of guitar, drums, and Penn’s vocals to the song, it’s notable how much screen time is devoted to the Chamberlin. While it’s far from the most notable part of the song musically, it produces the Farfisa organ-like sound that adds texture to the choruses.

“Leon’s Space Song” by Helium from The Magic City (1997)

Few songs feature a Chamberlin as prominently as “Leon’s Space Song” does. Mary Timony, best known for her guitar prowess, played all of the keyboards on Helium’s second and final album, and her Chamberlain part on “Leon’s Space Song” is a highlight. The hooky melody is one of the most memorable moments of The Magic City—and of the entire Helium catalog.

Playing Chamberlin was not initially in Timony’s plans for The Magic City. As she explains to American Songwriter via email, “[Co-producer Mitch Easter] owned a Chamberlin, and I got really obsessed and started changing our songs around and writing parts just for it. I loved the sound of it. I think in the back of my mind anything you played on it sounded vaguely like The Moody Blues, and that made me really love it.”

Timony characterizes Easter’s Chamberlin as “the star of the show,” and it certainly goes a long way toward making “Leon’s Space Song” one of the best-sounding songs from her entire discography. She still includes the song in her solo live sets, though she plays the hook on guitar instead of Chamberlin.

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Photo via Electronic Music Education and Preservation Project