'Sir George Henry Martin'
CBE (born
3 January 1926 in
Highbury,
London,
England) is sometimes referred to as "the
fifth Beatle"—a title that he owes to his work as
producer of almost all of
The Beatles' records.
In recognition of his services to the music industry and
popular culture, he was made a
Knight Bachelor of the
British Empire in 1996. He is also the father of producer
Giles Martin, and actor
Gregory Paul Martin.
Early years
When he was six, Martin's family acquired a piano and that sparked his interest in music.
[1] At eight-years-old, Martin convinced his parents that he should take piano lessons, but those ended after only eight lessons because of a disagreement between his mother and the teacher. After that, Martin explained that he, "just picked it up by myself."
[2] He attended multiple schools as a child, including a "convent school in Holloway", St. Joseph's elementary school in
Highgate, and St. Ignatius College in
Stamford Hill, to which he won a scholarship.
[3] When war broke out and St. Ignatius College students were evacuated to Welwyn Garden City, his family left London and he was enrolled at the Bromley Grammar School.
Despite Martin's continued interest in music, and "fantasies about being the next
Rachmaninov",
[4] he did not initially choose music as a career. He worked briefly as a
quantity surveyor and then for the
War Office as a Temporary Clerk (Grade Three) which meant filing paperwork and making tea.
[5] In 1943, when he was seventeen, he joined the
Fleet Air Arm and became a pilot and a commissioned officer. The war ended before Martin was involved in any combat, and he left the service in 1947.
[6] Encouraged by Sidney Harrison (a member of the Committee for the Promotion of New Music) Martin used his veteran's grant to attend the
Guildhall School of Music, where he studied piano and oboe, and was interested in the music of Rachmaninov and
Ravel, as well as
Cole Porter and
Johnny Dankworth. Martin's oboe teacher was Margaret Asher (the mother of
Jane Asher, who would later have a relationship with
Paul McCartney).
[7][8][9]
Parlophone
Following his graduation, he worked for the
BBC's
classical music department, then joined
EMI in
1950, as an assistant to Oscar Preuss, the head of EMI's
Parlophone Records. Although having been regarded by EMI as a vital German imprint in the past, it was then seen as a joke and only used for EMI's insignificant acts.
[10][7] After taking over Parlophone when Preuss retired in 1955, Martin spent his first years with the
record label recording classical and
Baroque music,
original cast recordings of hit plays, and regional music from around the British Isles.
[12][13] Martin also produced numerous
comedy and
novelty records—working with
Peter Sellers,
Spike Milligan,
Rolf Harris,
Flanders and Swann and
Shirley Abicair[14]. Martin also worked with the
Vipers Skiffle Group, with whom he had a number of hits. In early 1962, under the pseudonym "Ray Cathode", Martin released an early electronic dance single, "
Time Beat", in much the same style as the ''
Doctor Who'' theme tune. As Martin wanted to add
rock and roll to Parlophone's repertoire, he struggled to find a "fireproof",
hitmaking pop artist or group.
As an arranger Martin scored a two-man show featuring
Michael Flanders and
Donald Swann called
At the Drop of a Hat, which sold steadily for twenty-five years, although Martin's breakthrough as an arranger came with the
Beyond the Fringe show, which starred
Peter Cook,
Dudley Moore and
Jonathan Miller. Martin's work transformed the profile of Parlophone from a "sad little company" to a very profitable business.
[15]
The Beatles
Martin previewing a song by McCartney and Lennon.
Martin was contacted by Sid Coleman who told him about the manager of a pop group he had met whom he thought Martin might be interested in, even though the group had been turned down by
Decca Records and most of the major British labels. Until that time Martin had had only minor success with pop music, such as "''Who Could Be Bluer''" by
Jerry Lordan, and singles with
Shane Fenton. After the telephone call by Coleman Martin arranged a meeting on
13 February 1962, with
Brian Epstein.
[16] Martin listened to a tape recorded at Decca, and thought that Epstein's group was "rather unpromising", but liked the sound of McCartney and Lennon's vocals.
[17]
After another meeting with Epstein on
9 May at the Abbey Road studio, Martin was impressed with Epstein's enthusiasm and agreed to sign the unknown Beatles to a recording contract without having met them or seen them play live. The contract was not what it seemed, however, as Martin would not sign it himself until he had heard an audition, and later said that EMI had "nothing to lose", as it offered one
penny for each record sold, which was split amongst the four members, meaning one
farthing per group member.
[18][19] Martin suggested to EMI (after the release of
From Me to You) that the royalty rate should be doubled without asking for anything in return, which led to Martin being thought of as a "traitor in EMI".
[20]
The Beatles auditioned for Martin on
6 June 1962, in studio three at the Abbey Road studios.
[21] Ron Richards and his engineer
Norman Smith recorded four songs, which Martin (who was not present during the recording) listened to at the end of the session. The verdict was not promising, however, as Richards complained about
Pete Best's drumming, and Martin thought their original songs were simply not good enough. Martin asked the individual Beatles if there was anything they personally didn't like, to which Harrison replied, "I don't like your tie". That was the turning point, according to Smith, as McCartney and Lennon joined in with jokes and comic wordplay that made Martin think that he should sign them to a contract for their wit alone.
[22]
The Beatles' first recording session with Martin was on
4 September, when they recorded "How Do You Do It", which Martin thought was a sure-fire hit even though Lennon and McCartney hated it.
[23] Richards complained about new-member Starr's drumming on the next song,
Love Me Do, and so on 11 September, they re-recorded Love Me Do with
Andy White. Starr was asked to play tambourine and maracas, and although he complied, he was definitely "not pleased".
[24] Love Me Do peaked at #17 in the British charts, so on
26 November 1962 Martin recorded "
Please Please Me", which he only did after Lennon and McCartney had almost begged him to record another of their original songs. After the recording Martin looked over the mixing desk and said, "Gentlemen, you have just made your first number one record".
[25] Martin directed Epstein to find a good publisher—as Ardmore & Beechwood had done nothing to promote Love Me Do—telling Epstein about three publishers who, in Martin's opinion, would be fair and honest.
[26]
As Arranger
Martin's musical expertise helped fill the gaps between the Beatles' raw talent and the sound they wanted to achieve. Most of the
orchestral arrangements and instrumentation (as well as frequent keyboard parts on the early records) on Beatles' records were written or performed by Martin in collaboration with the band. One example is the song "
Penny Lane", which featured a
piccolo trumpet solo. McCartney hummed the melody he wanted, and Martin wrote it down in music notation for David Mason, the classically trained trumpeter.
[27]
Martin's distinctive arranging work appears on multiple Beatles recordings. For "
Eleanor Rigby" he scored and conducted a strings-only accompaniment inspired by
Bernard Herrmann's music for ''
Fahrenheit 451''.
[28][29] On a Canadian speaking tour in 2007, Martin said his "Eleanor Rigby" score was also influenced by the
Alfred Hitchcock thriller,
Psycho. For "
Strawberry Fields Forever", he and
Geoff Emerick turned two very different takes into a single master through careful use of
vari-speed and editing.
[30] For "
I Am the Walrus", he provided a quirky and original arrangement for brass, violins, cellos and choir that effectively complements the surreal imagery of the song's lyrics.
[31][32] On "
In My Life", he played a sped-up
Baroque piano solo.
[33] He worked with McCartney to implement the orchestral 'windup' in "
A Day in the Life" and he and McCartney shared conducting duties the day it was recorded.
[34] He also contributed less-noted but integral parts to other songs, including the piano in "
Lovely Rita",
[35] the circus instrumentation in "
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite",
[36] and the orchestration in "
Good Night".
[37]
The Beatles Anthology
Martin oversaw post-production on ''
The Beatles Anthology'' in 1994 and 1995, working again with
recording engineer Geoff Emerick, but stepped down when it came to producing the two new singles to be included (reuniting McCartney, Harrison and Starr, to overdub two old Lennon demos). Martin had suffered a hearing loss, and left the work to writer/producer
Jeff Lynne of
ELO fame.
Cirque du Soleil and ''Love''
In 2006, Martin and his son,
Giles Martin, remixed 80 minutes of Beatle music for the stage performance ''
Love'', a joint venture between
Cirque du Soleil and the Beatles'
Apple Corps Ltd. A
soundtrack album from the show was also released in
2006.
Other artists
Martin has also produced recordings for many other artists, including contemporaries of
the Beatles such as
Cilla Black and
Gerry and the Pacemakers, as well as the band
America,
[38] guitarist
Jeff Beck, sixties duo
Edwards Hand,
Ultravox and country singer
Kenny Rogers. He arranged the score for the Beatles' film ''
Yellow Submarine''
[39] and the
James Bond film ''
Live and Let Die'', for which
Paul McCartney wrote and sang the title song.
[40] He also worked with
Yoshiki Hayashi.
Martin has worked with the
Mahavishnu Orchestra and
Gary Glitter. He worked with Glitter before he was famous, and recorded several songs with him in the 1960s under the name of "Paul Raven". Though none of these were major hits, they later became collectible after Glitter became a star in the
1970s. He also produced the 1974 album
The Man In The Bowler Hat for the eccentric British folk-rock group
Stackridge.
In 1990, Martin accepted an offer to produce an original artist,
Andy Leek (formerly of
Dexy's Midnight Runners). The album, ''Say Something'', was released by
Atlantic Records.
[41]
Associated Independent Recording (AIR)
Within the recording industry, Martin is noted for going independent at a time when many producers were still salaried staff A+R men — which he was until the Beatles' success gave him the leverage to start, in 1965, Associated Independent Recording, and hire out his own services to artists who requested him. This arrangement not only demonstrated how important Martin's talents were considered to be by his artists, but it also allowed him to take part in the share of record royalties on his hits.
[42] Today, Martin's
AIR Studios[1] remains one of the world's preeminent recording studios. Many
Academy Award–winning film scores and
Grammy-winning songs have been recorded at AIR.
Books and audio retrospective
In 1979, he published a memoir, ''
All You Need is Ears'' (co-written with Jeremy Hornsby), that described his work with the Beatles and other artists (including
Peter Sellers,
Sophia Loren,
Shirley Bassey,
Flanders and Swann,
Matt Monro, and
Dudley Moore), and gave an informal introduction to the art and science of
sound recording.
[43] In 1993 Martin published ''With a Little Help from My Friends: The Making of Sgt Pepper'' (published in UK as ''Summer of Love: The Making of Sgt Pepper'', co-authored with William Pearson).
[44] Martin also edited a 1983 book called ''Making Music: The Guide to Writing, Performing and Recording''.
In 2001, he released ''
Produced by George Martin: 50 Years In Recording'', a 6-CD retrospective of his entire studio career.
In 2002, Martin launched ''Playback'', his limited-edition illustrated autobiography, published by
Genesis Publications.
Awards and recognition
★
Grammy Award 1967 - Best Contemporary Album (as producer of ''
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'')
[45]
★
Grammy Award 1967 - Album Of The Year (as producer of ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'')
★
Grammy Award 1973 - Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) (as arranger of 'Live and Let Die')
★
BRIT Awards 1977 - Best British Producer (of the past 25 years)
★
BRIT Awards 1984 - Outstanding Contribution To Music
[46]
★
Grammy Award 1993 - Best Musical Show Album (as producer of '
The Who's Tommy')
★ Martin was named the British Phonographic Industry's "Man of the Year" for 1998.
★ He was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 15 March 1999
[47] and into the
UK Music Hall of Fame on 14 November 2006.
★ Martin has also been honoured with a Gold Medal for Services to the Arts from the CISAC (the World Federation of Authors and Composers) and the Lifetime Achievement Award for Services to Film at Belgium's Flanders Film Festival.
★ In November 2006, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music by
Leeds Metropolitan University[48]
★ He was granted his own Coat of Arms in March 2004 by the College of Arms. His shield features three beetles.
[49]
Hit records produced or co-produced by George Martin
Main articles: The Beatles discography Main articles: Paul McCartney discography
★ “My Kind of Girl,â€
Matt Monro (7/31/61, #18)
★ “My Boomerang Won’t Come Back,â€
Charlie Drake (3/17/62, #21)
★ “Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport,†Rolf Harris (7/13/63, #3)
★ “Little Children,â€
Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas (6/13/64, #7)
★ “Bad to Me,†Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas (6/27/64, #9)
★ “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying,â€
Gerry & The Pacemakers (7/04/64, #4)
★ “You’re My World,â€
Cilla Black (8/01/64, #26)
★ “I’ll Keep You Satisfied,†Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas (8/22/64, #30)
★ “How Do You Do It?,†Gerry and The Pacemakers (9/05/64, #9)
★ “From a Window,†Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas (10/03/64, #23)
★ “I Like It,†Gerry and The Pacemakers (11/07/64, #17)
★ “Walk Away,†Matt Monro (1/09/65, #23)
★ “I’ll Be There,†Gerry and The Pacemakers (1/30/65, #14)
★ “Ferry Across the Mersey,†Gerry and the Pacemakers (3/20/65, #6)
★ “Goldfinger,â€
Shirley Bassey (3/27/65, #8)
★ “It’s Gonna Be Alright,†Gerry and The Pacemakers (5/08/65, #23)
★ “You’ll Never Walk Alone,†Gerry and the Pacemakers (7/03/65, #48)
★ “Trains and Boats and Planes,†Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas (7/31/65, #47)
★ “Michelle,â€
David and Jonathan (2/12/66, #18)
★ “Alfie,†Cilla Black (9/10/66, #95)
★ “Girl on a Swing,†Gerry and The Pacemakers (10/22/66, #28)
★ “Tin Man,â€
America (11/09/74, #4)
★ “Lonely People,†America (3/08/75, #5)
★ “Sister Golden Hair,†America (6/14/75, #1)
★ “Daisy Jane,†America (9/27/75, #23)
★ “Today’s the Day,†America (7/10/76, #23)
★ “Got to Get You into My Life,â€
Earth, Wind and Fire (9/16/78, #9)
★ “Oh! Darling,â€
Robin Gibb (10/07/78, #15)
★ “Candle in the Wind 1997,â€
Elton John (10/11/97, #1)
Discography
★ ''
Off The Beatle Track'' (1964)
★ ''
Help!'' (1965)
★ ''
George Martin Instrumentally Salutes The Beatle Girls'' (1966)
★ ''
Yellow Submarine'' (side one:
The Beatles, side two: The George Martin Orchestra) (1969)
★ ''
Live and Let Die'' (producer for Paul McCartney's song and composer of musical score) (1973)
★ ''
In My Life'' (1998)
★ ''
Produced by George Martin'' (2001)
★ ''The Family Way'' (2003)
Selected discography (as producer)
Main articles: The Beatles discography Main articles: Paul McCartney discography
★
The Action (several singles) (1960s)
★
Flanders and Swann — ''
At the Drop of a Hat'' (1960)
★
Flanders and Swann — ''
At the Drop of Another Hat'' (1964)
★
Flanders and Swann — ''
Bestiary of Flanders & Swann'' (1964)
★
Gerry and the Pacemakers — ''
Ferry Cross the Mersey'' (1965)
★
Ivor Cutler Trio — ''
Ludo'' (1967)
★
Edwards Hand — ''Edwards Hand'' (1969)
★
Edwards Hand — ''Stranded'' (1970)
★
Ringo Starr — ''
Sentimental Journey'' (1970)
★
Paul Winter Consort — ''
Icarus'' (1973)
★
Stackridge — ''
The Man In The Bowler Hat'' (released as ''
Pinafore Days'' in the U.S. and Canada) (1974)
★
Mahavishnu Orchestra — ''
Apocalypse'' (1974)
★
America — ''
Holiday'' (1974)
★
Jeff Beck — ''
Blow by Blow'' (1975)
★
America — ''
Hearts'' (1975)
★
America — ''
Hideaway'' (1976)
★
Jeff Beck — ''
Wired'' (1976)
★
Jimmy Webb — ''
El Mirage'' (1977)
★
America — ''
Harbor'' (1977)
★
Gary Brooker — ''
No More Fear of Flying'' (1979)
★
Cheap Trick — ''
All Shook Up'' (1980)
★
UFO — ''
No Place to Run'' (1980)
★
Little River Band — ''
Time Exposure'' (1981)
★
Ultravox — ''
Quartet'' (1982)
★
Laurie London — ''
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands'' (1984)
★
Andy Leek — ''
Say Something'' (1990)
★
3D Picnic — ''
New Wave Party'' (1991)
★ ''
Tommy'' (Original Cast Recording) (1993)
★
Matt Monro — ''
Softly, As I Leave You'' (1995)
★
The Vipers Skiffle Group — ''
10,000 Years Ago'' (1996)
★
Celine Dion — ''
Let's Talk About Love'' (1997)
★ George Martin — ''
In My Life'' (1998)
★
The Beatles — ''
Love'' (2006)
Notes
1. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin with Jeremy Hornsby, , , St. Martin's Press, 1994,
2. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin, , , , 1994,
3. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin, , , , 1994,
4. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin, , , , 1994,
5. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin, , , , 1994,
6. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin, , , , 1994,
7. Spitz 2005. p296
8. Spitz 2005. p438
9. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin, , , , 1994,
10. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin, , , , 1994,
11. Spitz 2005. p296
12. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin, , , , 1994,
13. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin, , , , 1994,
14. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin, , , , 1994,
15. Spitz 2005. p297
16. Spitz 2005. pp297-298
17. Spitz 2005. p301
18. Spitz 2005. p312
19. George Martin and money beatlemoney.com. Retrieved: 11 March 2007
20. Spitz 2005. p414
21. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin, , , , 1994,
22. Spitz 2005. pp318-319
23. Lewisohn - “The Beatles Recording Sessions†- 1990. p7
24. Spitz 2005. p353
25. Spitz 2005. p360
26. Spitz 2005. p364
27. Lewisohn - “The Beatles Recording Sessions†- 1990. p93
28. Lewisohn - “The Beatles Recording Sessions†- 1990. p77
29. Revolution in the Head: the Beatles' Records and the Sixties, Ian MacDonald, , , Henry Holt and Company, 1994,
30. Lewisohn - “The Beatles Recording Sessions†- 1990. pp90-91
31. Lewisohn - “The Beatles Recording Sessions†- 1990. p127
32. Revolution in the Head: the Beatles' Records and the Sixties, Ian MacDonald, , , , 1994,
33. Lewisohn - “The Beatles Recording Sessions†- 1990. p65
34. With a Little Help from My Friends: The Making of Sgt. Pepper, George Martin with William Pearson, , , Little, Brown, 1994,
35. Revolution in the Head: the Beatles' Records and the Sixties, Ian MacDonald, , , , 1994,
36. Lewisohn - “The Beatles Recording Sessions†- 1990. p99
37. Lewisohn - “The Beatles Recording Sessions†- 1990. p144
38. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin, , , , 1994,
39. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin, , , , 1994,
40. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin, , , , 1994,
41. Andy Leek website andyleek.com - Retrieved: 20 June 2007
42. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin, , , , 1994,
43. All You Need Is Ears, George Martin, , , , 1994,
44. With a Little Help from My Friends, George Martin, , , , 1994,
45. GRAMMY.com
46. The BRIT Awards 1984
47. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
48. Leeds Metropolitan University Winter Graduation 2006
49. College of Arms
References
★
''The Beatles: Recording Sessions '', Lewisohn, Mark, , , Three Rivers Press; Reprint edition, 1990, ISBN 978-0517581827
★
''All You Need Is Ears'', Martin, George, , , St. Martin's Griffin (New York), 1994, ISBN 978-0312114824
★
★
''The Beatles: The Biography'', Spitz, Bob, , , Little, Brown and Company (New York), 2005, ISBN 1-84513-160-6
See also
★
External links
★
Management biography
★
Sir George Martin
★
College of Arms - The Arms of Sir George Martin, Kt., C.B.E.
★
Biography on AIR Studios website
★
November 2006 interview about 'Love' remix album
★
Official Website of Andy Leek - the last original artist to be produced by Sir George Martin OBE
★
Summer of Love: The Making of Sgt Pepper by Sir George Martin & William Pearson
العربية
ä¸å›½
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिनà¥à¤¦à¥€
Italiano
日本語
Português
РуÑÑкий
Español
