Information AboutGeorge Martin |
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 ). Spitz 2005. p296 Spitz 2005. p4387 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.8 Spitz 2005. p296 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 Recording s of hit plays, and regional music from around the British Isles.910 Martin also produced numerous Comedy and Novelty records—working with Peter Sellers , Spike Milligan , Rolf Harris , Flanders And Swann and Shirley Abicair 11. 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. Spitz 2005. p297 THE BEATLES 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 . Spitz 2005. pp297-298 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. Spitz 2005. p301 After another meeting with Epstein on ) 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". Spitz 2005. p414 The Beatles auditioned for Martin on 6 June 1962 , in studio three at the Abbey Road studios.12 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. Spitz 2005. pp318-319 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. Lewisohn - “The Beatles Recording Sessions” - 1990. p7 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". Spitz 2005. p353 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". Spitz 2005. p360 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. Spitz 2005. p364 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 Orchestra l 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. Lewisohn - “The Beatles Recording Sessions” - 1990. p93 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 ''. Lewisohn - “The Beatles Recording Sessions” - 1990. p7713 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. Lewisohn - “The Beatles Recording Sessions” - 1990. pp90-91 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. Lewisohn - “The Beatles Recording Sessions” - 1990. p12714 On " In My Life ", he played a sped-up Baroque Piano solo. Lewisohn - “The Beatles Recording Sessions” - 1990. p65 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.15 He also contributed less-noted but integral parts to other songs, including the piano in " Lovely Rita ",16 the circus instrumentation in " Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite ", Lewisohn - “The Beatles Recording Sessions” - 1990. p99 and the orchestration in " Good Night ". Lewisohn - “The Beatles Recording Sessions” - 1990. p144 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 ,17 guitarist Jeff Beck , sixties duo Edwards Hand , Ultravox and country singer Kenny Rogers . He arranged the score for the Beatles' film '' Yellow Submarine ''18 and the James Bond film '' Live And Let Die '', for which Paul McCartney wrote and sang the title song.19 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 . Andy Leek website andyleek.com - Retrieved: 20 June 2007 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.20 Today, Martin's –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 .21 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).22 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
HIT RECORDS PRODUCED OR CO-PRODUCED BY GEORGE MARTIN See Also: The Beatles discography
DISCOGRAPHY
SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY (AS PRODUCER) See Also: The Beatles discography
NOTES REFERENCES
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