Thank you for that introduction and welcome to Rock & Roll Flashback! I'm Jumpin' John, and we'll be looking back at some of Rock and Roll's greatest artists, songs, and stories. In this episode I will review the career of the Fifth Beatle! No, I am not referring to Beatles friend and New York City disc jockey, Murray "the K" Kaufman. Nor am not referring to Stuart Sutcliffe, who briefly played bass for the band. Nor am I referring to Pete Best, who played drums for three years with the band. This podcast is instead about the innovative and prolific music producer, Sir George Henry Martin. The Fifth Beatle!
George Henry Martin was born on January 3rd, 1926 in London, England. Martin learned to play piano during his youth, and while at Bromley Grammar School, he led and played piano in a local dance band, the Four Tune Tellers. With money earned from playing dances, Martin resumed formal piano lessons and learned musical notation and theory.
In 1943, George Martin volunteered to join the Royal Navy. World War II ended before he was involved in any combat, and he left the service in January 1947. Martin used his veteran's grant to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1947 to 1950. There he studied piano as his main instrument. He also studied oboe and took courses in music composition and orchestration. Interestingly, his oboe teacher was Margaret Eliot Asher. Margaret was the mother of Peter and Jane. Peter Asher was one half of the pop duo Peter and Gordon and later became a successful music producer. Jane Asher had a five-year relationship with Beatle Paul McCartney. Margaret would later teach Paul McCartney how to play the recorder, which he used on the Beatles song "The Fool On the Hill."
George Martin worked briefly for the BBC's classical music department, and then in November 1950 he joined EMI, as assistant to Parlophone Records head Oscar Preuss. Among Martin's early duties at EMI was managing Parlophone's classical records catalog. In April 1955, Oscar Preuss retired. Martin took over the Parlophone label and, at 29 years of age, he was the youngest label chief in the company's history. With limited funds available, he concentrated on non-musical performers and tapped into a small but profitable niche in comedy records.
George Martin had joined the record industry just as it was going through a vast technological transition, from 78's to LP's and 45's. While EMI was slow to transition, Martin grasped the importance of these innovations, especially magnetic tape, and what they could mean to the recording process. Many of George Martin's experimental recording techniques that he later used in recording the Beatles - such as tape loops, slowing down tapes, and so on - were started on his earlier comedy recordings. For example, in 1955 he recorded comedian Peter Ustinov in a series of overdubbed recordings of Ustinov's voice and instruments in a satirical piece called Mock Mozart. Among the other comedy acts that George Martin worked with in the 1950's were the team of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann, Bernard Cribbins, Spike Milligan and his fellow BBC radio comedy stars called the Goons, and - after the Goons left Parlophone for Decca - Peter Sellers. In 1961 Martin produced the Beyond the Fringe show cast album, which starred Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, and Jonathan Miller. In 1962 he produced a Goon Show album called Bridge on the River Wye (spelled W - Y - E), featuring Milligan, Sellers, Jonathan Miller, and Peter Cook, playing various characters. In early 1963, he produced the accompanying soundtrack album for David Frost's satirical BBC TV show That Was the Week That Was, recorded in front of a live audience.
On the music side of Parlophone, George Martin started by recording classical and Baroque music, original cast recordings, jazz, and regional music from around Britain and Ireland. Martin then became the first British A&R man to capitalize on the 1956 skiffle boom when he signed the Vipers Skiffle Group. The Vipers reached #10 on the UK Singles Chart in 1957 with "Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O." Wanting to add rock and roll to Parlophone's repertoire, in 1957 George Martin signed teen idol Jim Dale. Dale reached #2 on the chart with "Be My Girl". Martin's first British #1 hit came in May 1961, with the Temperance Seven's "You're Driving Me Crazy". By late 1962, Martin began working with Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager. In addition to working with the Beatles, Martin also recorded other Epstein-managed "Merseybeat" music acts from Liverpool. Gerry and the Pacemakers, with Martin's production, had their first #1 in the UK with their version of "How Do You Do It?" in April 1963. The group's next two Martin-produced singles, "I Like It" and "You'll Never Walk Alone", also reached #1, earning the group the distinction of being the first British act to have their first three singles top the British charts. Martin also produced Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas. Their first single was a cover of the Beatles' "Do You Want to Know a Secret", which hit #2 on the UK chart. Kramer and Martin had two UK #1's in 1963 and 1964: "Bad To Me" and "Little Children". Martin's chart success also included producing songs for the Fourmost and Cilla Black. Between the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Martin-produced and Epstein-managed acts were responsible for 37 weeks of #1 singles in 1963. In December 1964, Gerry and the Pacemakers released "Ferry Cross the Mersey." The soundtrack album featured music by Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Fourmost, Cilla Black, and George Martin-orchestrated instrumental music.
In 1955, EMI purchased Capitol Records. Unfortunately, Capitol's head of international A&R, Dave Dexter Jr., chose to issue very few British records in America. Dexter passed on issuing the Beatles' first four singles in the US. This upset Martin and forced him to issue "She Loves You" on the small, independent Swan label in the US. It was only after orders from EMI chairman Sir Joseph Lockwood that Capitol finally agreed to release a Beatles single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand", in November 1963. Martin and the Beatles also resented Capitol's practice of issuing different records in the US from what was released in the UK. These changes often included the album title, cover art, and songs included. In addition, Dexter frequently altered Martin's mixes of Beatles tracks by processing them through Capitol's Duophonic mock stereo system. This would continue until the Beatles signed a new contract with EMI in January 1967 that forbade such alterations. After his repeated clashes over salary terms with EMI management, Martin informed them in June 1964 that he would not renew his EMI contract without receiving a commission on record sales. In August 1965, he left EMI and formed his own production company, Associated Independent Recording.
When George Martin first began working with the Beatles on June 6th, 1962, he was not overly impressed with the band. That day the band recorded four songs—"Besame Mucho", "Love Me Do", "Ask Me Why", and "P.S. I Love You". At that audition Martin found George, Paul, and John to be amusing and charming. However, he later said [and I quote] "I didn't think the Beatles had any song of any worth—they gave me no evidence whatsoever that they could write hit material" [end quote]. Fortunately George Martin's opinion of the Beatles' talent changed quickly. First, the band removed Pete Best, replacing him with Ringo Starr on drums. Then they re-recorded "Love Me Do" with session drummer Andy White temporarily filling in on drums and Ringo playing tambourine. "Love Me Do" hit the British charts, and in November 1962 it peaked at #17 in the UK. At Martin's suggestion the band then recorded a sped-up version of "Please Please Me", with Ringo back on drums, as their second single. After that recording Martin looked over the mixing desk and said [and I quote] "Gentlemen, you have just made your first number one record" [end quote]. "Please Please Me" was released in the UK in January 1962, and - sure enough - it quickly rose to the top of the British charts. As Martin would later say [and I quote] "From that moment, we simply never stood still" [end quote].
At this early stage of their working relationship, Martin played a major role in refining and arranging the Beatles' self-written songs to make them commercially appealing. Martin said [and I quote] "I taught them the importance of the hook. You had to get people's attention in the first ten seconds, and so I would generally get hold of their song and 'top and tail' it—make a beginning and end" [end quote]. For example, George Martin altered the arrangement of the Beatles third single, "From Me to You", substituting the Beatles' idea for a guitar intro with a vocalized "da-da-da da-da dum-dum-da", backed by overdubbed harmonica. In another example, for Paul McCartney's song "And I Love Her" Martin suggested the tune have an introduction, which George Harrison played on guitar. Also Martin added the chord modulation in the solo of "And I Love Her".
George Martin was the true fifth Beatle and contributed more to the band's music than many fans realize. Whether he was playing an instrument, splicing together tape in production, or encouraging and guiding during recording sessions, Martin seemed make every Beatles song better. The Beatles often came to recording sessions with great song ideas, but not always the technical knowledge to pull them off. George Martin was able to facilitate those rough ideas into catchy recordings. Despite the fact that McCartney and Lennon could both play piano, George Martin's keyboard talent was able to add just the right touch to those recordings. Classically trained and proficient on both the piano and oboe, Martin added intricate and sophisticated piano and orchestrations to several of the Beatles' tunes. In so doing, he put more than just his producer's thumbprint on several of the Beatles' tunes.
Here are some examples of George Martin's contributions to the recordings:
•Given his background with baroque music, it was only natural that George Martin played the harpsichord on two songs: "Because" and "Fixing a Hole".
•The harmonium is a reed organ or a pump organ. George Martin played a foot-pumped harmonium on four songs: "A Day in the Life", "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite", "Cry Baby Cry", and "The Word.
•He played piano on "All You Need Is Love", "Getting Better", "Good Day Sunshine", "Hard Day's Night", "In My Life", "Lovely Rita", "Misery", "Money", "No Reply", "Not A Second Time", "Penny Lane", "Rock and Roll Music", "Rocky Raccoon", "Tell Me Why", "What You're Doing", "You Like Me Too Much", and "You Really Got A Hold On Me".
•As an orchestrator, George Martin also had a significant musical impact on Beatles' music. He composed, arranged, and conducted on four classic Beatles songs. He orchestrated strings on "Yesterday" and "Eleanor Rigby", strings and horns on "I Am the Walrus", and cello and trumpet on "Strawberry Fields".
Let's examine a few of the tunes where George Martin's genius shines:
•Here is George Martin on harpsichord in the beginning of "Because".
•Now you can hear George Martin on harpsichord in the beginning of "Fixing A Hole."
•Here is a brief sample of George Martin on harmonium in "Cry Baby Cry."
•The piano interlude in "Good Day Sunshine" is a good example of George Martin's piano chops.
•George Martin's piano solo from "In My Life" really adds instrumental color to the song. John Lennon was looking for an instrumental bridge, so he asked Martin for a piano solo. Martin composed the solo, but he was unable to actually play it at the required speed. Here, in his own words from a 1993 interview, is George Martin's explanation for his clever recording the piano at half the speed an octave lower and then speeding up the tape itself.
•George Martin also said in another 2012 interview [and I quote] "I couldn't play the piano at the speed it needed to be played, the way I'd written the part. I wasn't that good a pianist, but if you had had a really good pianist, he could do it. I couldn't get all the notes in. One night I was by myself and played the notes at half speed but an octave lower on the piano, recording at 15 inches per second. When I ran the tape back at 30 inches per second, the notes were at the right speed and in the correct octave" [end quote].
•Martin used the same technique for the piano parts on "Rocky Raccoon".
•Paul McCartney needed some honky-tonk piano playing in the middle of "Lovely Rita", which George Martin skillfully provided.
•John Lennon based "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" on an old antique circus poster, and he wanted the song to simulate a carnival atmosphere. Martin created a swirl of circus sounds by cutting up and reassembling clips of existing steam organ recordings. Here is George Martin's explanation from a 1995 BBC Radio "Desert Island Discs" interview.
•Here are the results of George Martin's scores for strings and horns in the beginning of "I Am A Walrus".
•Here are examples of George Martin's scores for trumpets and cello on "Strawberry Fields".
So, in summary, "Fifth Beatle George Martin" was extensively involved in multiple Beatles' singles and in each of the Beatles' original albums. Between 1962 and 1970 the Beatles and Martin recorded over 300 songs together. During that time, the role of teacher and pupil was reversing. Here is Martin's explanation from his 1995 BBC Radio "Desert Island Discs" interview.
The Beatles success came from a complementary blend of George Martin's formal musical expertise, Martin's interest in innovative recording practices, and the Beatles' relentless quest for new musical sounds to record. Martin's collaboration with the Beatles resulted in popular, highly acclaimed records with innovative sounds. Due to his successful productions with the Beatles, George Martin effectively became the world's most famous record producer.
After the Beatles break up, George Martin continued to produce and compose music. In addition to selected production work on solo projects with Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, he produced for singers like Celine Dion, Kenny Rogers, and Neil Sedaka, with guitarists Jeff Beck and John McLaughlin, and with bands like UFO, Cheap Trick, Little River Band, and America. Other projects he worked on included composing and producing some music for the James Bond films, post-production work on The Beatles Anthology, and remixing Beatles tunes for the soundtrack album for the Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil performance called Love. Martin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 and into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006. He also held a number of senior executive roles at media companies and contributed to a wide range of charitable causes, including his work for The Prince's Trust and the Caribbean island of Montserrat. In recognition of his services to the music industry and popular culture, George Martin was made a Knight Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth in 1996.
Ninety-year old George Martin died in 2016. Martin's career had spanned more than six decades in music, film, television and live performance. During his career, Martin won six Grammy Awards. He produced 30 #1 singles and 16 #1 albums in the UK. His productions resulted in 23 #1 singles and 19 #1 albums in the US. His work with the Beatles truly created the soundtrack for the 1960's and the blueprint for the rest of the rock and roll world.
This has been Rock and Roll Flashback…a look at the life and career of influential music producer George Martin! George Martin's association with the Beatles alone made him the most well-known and successful record producer in the history of popular music. Records and songs that he supervised and produced have sold over a billion copies and are still selling! I'm Jumpin' John McDermott, and until next time….Rock On!