Gladys Mills, known as Mrs. Mills, was a honky-tonk pianist who recorded many albums. She frequently recorded her albums at Abbey Road studios and the distinct sound of her piano found it's way to many famous 60s songs.
You'll probably recognize it best from Penny Lane or With A Little Help From My Friends.
Spitfire Audio sampled the piano recently and made it available for measly 29 e. I bought it out of curiosity. When FAWM was getting closer, I made a template to my DAW with some good vocal setups and a midi piano. For some reason I chose the Mrs. Mills piano for this.
I've now used that particular piano sound to compose most of my stuff during this FAWM. I thought I would need to switch around to other more expensive piano libraries but it seems like it always was a perfect match for everything. So I just left it there.
In a nutshell: because Mrs. Mills was a pianist and had her piano in the Abbey Road studio, the piano was used for great Beatles hits. That's why the instrument became a classic and it was sampled. And it made me really succeed in this FAWM.
So thanks, Mrs. Mills. I couldn't have done it without you.
***
On production:
I wanted to hit the four-chord loop challenge so I just sat down with the piano and played something that looped. Then I played the other instruments in, wrote the lyrics and sang it.
This song only has four chords and they always come in the same order. I'm going to say it counts.
Edit: just realized that both the piano and the pianist are called Mrs. Mills, so I get to check the Week 3 challenge!
Thanks for all, Mrs. Mills
Thanks for all, Mrs. Mills
Steinway never had such brand
as your 1905 Vertegrand
Thanks for all, Mrs. Mills
Kudos to you, Mrs. Mills
Kudos to you Mrs. Mills
We’re all so lucky that you showed
how to record songs at Abbey Road
Kudos to you Mrs. Mills
Hats off to you, Mrs. Mills
Hats off to you, Mrs Mills
Penny Lane would not have been so
beautiful without your piano
Hats off to you, Mrs. Mills
Slow clap to you, Mrs. Mills
Slow clap to you, Mrs. Mills
they honoured your legacy
and now I got to play with it
Slow clap to you, Mrs. Mills
@gm7 Mar 2022
Great tribute to a great pianist and a history lesson for me. Well done.
I love that upbeat tempo and great piano playing .
@kahlo2013 Feb 2022
What a happy song of gratitude that paints such a vivid portrait of a wonderful charterer! Love the catchy feel and the wonderful piano!
@leka Feb 2022
Hiton hyvä. Hienosti soitettu myös.
@ajna1960 Feb 2022
OMG I remember my Dad playing something of hers on record. My Nan actually played in pubs just like Mrs Mills, same style too !
This is a perfect way to honour her :) Love it :)