 Mike Pinder worked at Streetly Electronics for 18 months in the early 1960s as a tester, and was immediately excited by the possibilities of the instrument. After trying piano and Hammond organ, he settled on the Mellotron as the instrument of choice for his band, The Moody Blues, purchasing a second-hand model from Fort Dunlop Working Men's Club in Birmingham and using it extensively on every album from Days of Future Passed (1967) to Octave (1978). Pinder claims to have introduced John Lennon and Paul McCartney to the Mellotron, and convinced each of them to buy one. The Beatles hired a machine and used it on their single "Strawberry Fields Forever", recorded in various takes between November and December 1966. Though producer George Martin was unconvinced by the instrument, describing it "as if a Neanderthal piano had impregnated a primitive electronic keyboard", they continued to compose and record with various Mellotrons for the albums Magical Mystery Tour (1967) and The Beatles (1968, The White Album). McCartney used the Mellotron sporadically in his solo career, and his wife Linda played one while touring with Wings. The Rolling Stones' Brian Jones played a Mellotron on some studio tracks, including "She's a Rainbow" and "Jigsaw Puzzle".
