George Martin

Record producer, renowned for association with the Beatles; b, London, 3/1/1926. Classically trained at Guildhall School of Music; joined EMI, 1950, becoming the youngest-ever label head when placed in charge of Parolphone.

Recorded mainly ballad singers and comedians (Temperance Seven, Peter Sellers, Matt Monro); signed the Beatles, 1962, fostered their growth as musicians and songwriters, contributed innovative arrangements to songs on Revolver and Sgt. Pepper.

Left EMI organization, 1965, to form own Air company; produced most acts signed by Brian Epstein, notably Gerry and the Pacemakers [1962]; later worked with Jeff Beck [1971-76], and with groups Seatrain, Stackridge, America. Produced albums for Ultravoix and Paul McCartney, 1982

Sir George Martin is the most successful and most influential record producer of all time. This statement offact is supported by the unparalleled worldwide success of the recordings he produced between 1950 and1998 - and the universal regard for the artistic breakthroughs he achieved in his career - especially in hisrecording of The Beatles between 1962 and 1970.In October 1998, Universal Music released his final recording as a producer – “In My Life” - an album of Beatles songs arranged and produced by Sir George and performed by an all-star ensemble of some of theworld’s greatest entertainers.

The breadth of musical styles on the album - and the eclectic mixture of stars who came together to honourhim and perform his favorite compositions by the Beatles - is a very apt finale to his career and underscoresthe creative diversity which has been both a hallmark of his professional life and the secret of his artisticsuccess.While he is understandably best-known for his monumental work with the Beatles - and rightly celebratedfor that canon of work, Sir George Martin retired from producing after a 48-year career in which he madeover 700 recordings.

These encompass every conceivable genre from pop, rock, jazz, country, folk, blues, metal, avant-garde,classical, baroque, movie soundtracks and stage cast recordings to comedy.Like the most famous of his artists, the Beatles, he has enjoyed the exceptionally rare accolade of receivingboth critical and commercial success. His productions have registered a staggering 30 Number One singlesand 16 Number One albums in his homeland - and an equally astonishing 22 Number One singles and 19Number One albums in North America.These figures are duplicated in practically every country in the world. No other producer in history has atrack record even remotely as successful.Much has been made of the apparent social differences between Sir George and his most famous signinggroup - the Beatles: Sir George for example is known for his beautifully modulated speaking voice whichevokes the British upper classes. However, there are actually numerous parallels between his backgroundand that of the Beatles - including his working class roots and his musical beginnings - such as creating hisown band at the age of 15 - exactly as the Beatles did.

He was born in Highbury, North London in 1926 - the elder of two children born to working-class parents.His father was a carpenter. He developed an early love for music - which manifested itself at the age of 15with the formation of his own dance band - The Four Tune Tellers.In 1943 he joined Britain’s Fleet Air Arm (the aviation wing of the British Navy) - subsequently beingcommissioned as an officer. In 1947 he left military service to pursue his love of music. After studyingclassical composition at London’s Guildhall School of Music and playing the oboe as a professional musician - in 1950 he entered the British recording industry.He was engaged as the assistant to the head of Parlophone Records - then a small label within Britain’sEMI Music group.

His position entailed working as a combination of A&R executive and record producer -then a very rare breed in the British industry.His principal task was recording classical and baroque music. However, he also showed a keen aptitude forjazz and pop music - and when his boss retired in 1955, he was appointed head of the label. He was paidthe princely sum of $3,000 per year - with no royalties on his productions or bonuses based on theperformance of his work or signings. (An arrangement that prevailed through the first three years of theBeatles’ colossal success.)


Between 1955 and 1962, Sir George carved out a niche for himself and the Parlophone label in twocomparatively neglected areas of the British record industry. Unable to compete with rival labels whichboasted top American stars or Britain’s few home-grown pop artists - Sir George recorded top jazz actssuch as Cleo Laine, Johnny Dankworth, Humphrey Lyttelton and Stan Getz.His other area of expertise provided the surprising bond that cemented the improbable relationship betweenthe young Beatles and the comparatively older producer when they met.

Sir George became the preeminent producer of comedy recordings in Britain. His credits includedrecordings with Peter Ustinov, Peter Sellers, Britain’s new satirical heroes “Beyond The Fringe” (whichfeatured the young Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller); and several otherBritish comedic pioneers who were to influence Monty Python – including comic genius Spike Milligan,Britain’s legendary Goon Show comedy troupe, musical satirists Flanders & Swann and “Carry On...”movie star Bernard Cribbins.In May 1962,

Sir George met Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager. Epstein had been turned down by everyother British label. Sir George sensed a potential in the tapes that Epstein played him and agreed to give thegroup a recording test. He was 36 years old and the oldest Beatle was then 22. 14 years was a sizable agegap in those days and usually a barrier to an intimate working relationship.However, the Beatles were immediately deeply impressed by Sir George’s comedy producing background -and a warm rapport and creative bond was forged that would change the world.Between 1962 and 1970, under Sir George’s enlightened nurturing, The Beatles blossomed from promisingbut derivative provincial pop group to becoming the architects and practitioners of a new culture.

Together they transformed all notions of popular music and the way it was recorded.When they started recording in 1962, records were still essentially snapshots of a live performancerecreated in the studio. By 1970, they had turned recording into a high art form emulated (though neversurpassed) by every major contemporary act that followed them.In 1967, their creative aspirations caused them to quite independently ‘invent’ contemporary multi-trackrecording. (Unable to otherwise create the complexities of the “Sgt. Pepper” album they envisaged - SirGeorge linked two 4-track tape recorders together to create the first 8-track recorder.)The quantum leaps and paradigm shifts would have been easier to comprehend had they been created in avacuum of unlimited time and budget.

But it was quite the reverse. The Beatles were making two 14-trackalbums a year (plus four singles of non-album material), constantly touring the world, making feature filmsand writing songs for other artists. Sir George Martin was equally busy - running the Parlophone label,signing and recording other artists and composing film scores.Despite (or perhaps because of) the intense pressures, Sir George Martin and the Beatles reinvented thewheel of popular music in the maelstrom of a frenetic seven year renaissance which impacted popularculture throughout the world and has left a lasting impression.Sir George continued until 1965 as Head of Parlophone - signing and producing a slew of other artists,principally those discovered and managed by his new friend Brian Epstein.

These performers includedmany who - like the Beatles - duplicated their British success in America and around the world. Artistssuch as Gerry & The Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas, The Fourmost and Cilla Black.In a run of success that is unlikely ever to be rivaled, records that Sir George Martin produced held theNumber One position in Britain’s singles charts for 37 out of the 52 weeks of 1963!

Since the first Number One did not occur until mid-February - the tally was actually 37 weeks in a 45 week period!

Sir George provided even greater success for EMI in 1964 and 1965 - when the Beatles and most of hisother artists conquered America and the rest of the world - and yet he was still receiving absolutely noroyalties and earning a paltry annual salary of less than $8,000.In 1965, Sir George took a revolutionary step. He left EMI - and with three fellow producers founded anindependent production company - AIR (Associated Independent Recording). It was a record producers’equivalent to the original United Artists founded by Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickfordand D.W. Griffith. British record companies reluctantly agreed to pay royalties to producers for the firsttime - rewarding Sir George’s contributions to the Beatles success with an entire one-fifth of one percent!(Top record producers these days earn a 4-5% royalty.)

Sir George continued his ground-breaking work with the Beatles - and in one eighteen month periodproduced the triumvirate of Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. In 1969 he produced the Beatles’finale album Abbey Road (which was recorded after the Let It Be sessions though released before thatalbum.)After the Beatles’ break-up in 1970 he continued his illustrious career as a record producer - andsimultaneously became involved in a variety of other projects.His AIR company opened several recording studios - firstly in London, and then in 1979 on the Caribbeanisland of Montserrat. These studios have been regarded as among the premier studios in the world -attracting practically every major artist from the Rolling Stones and The Police to Stevie Wonder and PaulMcCartney. (The Montserrat studios were sadly destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989.)The latest incarnation of AIR Studios in London was opened in 1993 in a converted Victorian church inHampstead, North-West London.

Sir George was intimately involved in the design and building of the newcomplex. It is now one of the busiest, most desirable studios in the world.As a record producer in the 1970’s and 1980’s, he worked with great success with an astonishingly diversearray of artists - lending his production talents to artists such as Jeff Beck, America, Kenny Rogers, TheMahavishnu Orchestra, The Bee Gees, Dire Straits, The Little River Band, Cheap Trick, Neil Sedaka,Jimmy Webb and Ultravox.

Many of these artists enjoyed enormous success with Sir George’s productions.In the 1990’s he worked on several multi-artist projects - allowing him to produce an even greater array ofcontemporary talent - ranging from: Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Sting, Sinead O’Connor, Lisa Stansfield,Elton John and Elvis Costello to Jon Bon Jovi, Cher, Meat Loaf, Carly Simon and Carl Perkins.Continuing his earlier work with comedic performers - he also worked with a number of comedians andactors including: George Burns, Steve Martin, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce.He occasionally revisited his producing relationship with the former Beatles - producing two hugelysuccessful albums with Paul McCartney (Tug Of War and Pipes of Peace) - including McCartney’s chart-topping collaborations with Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson; he also produced and/or arranged severaltracks on McCartney’s Grammy-nominated 1997 album Flaming Pie; he produced an album for RingoStarr and a recording with George Harrison.

He also acted as music supervisor for the feature documentaryImagine: John Lennon.In the mid-90’s he returned to working with the Beatles and produced four double-albums of previouslyunreleased treasures from the Beatles’ archives - the Live At The BBC album and the three volumes ofAnthology - all of which were multi-platinum sellers. He also supervised all the music included in the TVand home video versions of the Anthology.He has been an active film composer since the 1960’s - scoring and producing films such as A Hard Day’sNight (for which he received an Academy Award nomination), Live And Let Die (for which he received aGrammy), Yellow Submarine, The Family Way, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Give My Regards ToBroad Street, Honky Tonk Freeway and Pulp.


He has produced the original cast album of several shows ranging from the 1960’s London production ofBeyond The Fringe to the 1990’s Tony Award-winning Broadway production of The Who’s Tommy (forwhich Sir George received his fifth Grammy.) In 1989 he conceived, composed, arranged and produced amusical version of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood specially for record - a production that featured SirAnthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce and Tom Jones among many.He has written three books - his autobiography All You Need Is Ears (1979), a guide to the music industryMaking Music (1983) and his analysis of the Sgt. Pepper album - With A Little Help From My Friends...(1994).

He has written, hosted and produced several TV shows including The Making Of Sgt. Pepper (1994) andThe Rhythm Of Life (1998) - a three-part TV series in which he explores the wonder of music with fellowmusicians such as Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Dionne Warwick and PaulMcCartney.He has served as producer and consultant for many important charity events - such as the 1993 Prince’sTrust Concert and UNESCO’s 1994 benefit in Japan, The Great Music Experience, which featured BobDylan, Joni Mitchell, Ry Cooder and INXS. He has also organized and produced several benefits - mostrecently and notably the September 1997 Music For Montserrat show for the victims of the 1995 volcaniceruption.

This internationally-televised concert featured Paul McCartney, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Sting,Phil Collins, Mark Knopfler and the late Carl Perkins.In the 1960’s he formed The George Martin Orchestra and recorded a series of acclaimed albums oforchestral versions of Beatles music and some of his own compositions - which included the theme musicfor TV personality Sir David Frost and BBC’s then-new Radio One national music station. (After scoringthe James Bond movie Live and Let Die - Sir George playfully titled one of his orchestral albums - FromThe Beatles To Bond And Bach!) In recent years he has appeared with the major national orchestras ofEngland, Australia, Canada, Sweden and Brazil - conducting programs of his compositions and Beatlesarrangements.(A fascinating footnote is that Sir George’s 1960’s orchestral records unwittingly played an indirect part inthe recent success of the Verve’s Bitter Sweet Symphony. The riff sampled for that record came from anorchestral version of the Rolling Stones’ song The Last Time by The Andrew Oldham Orchestra. Stonesmanager/producer Andrew Loog Oldham openly acknowledges that his albums were his attempts toemulate Sir George’s successful orchestral albums.)Sir George’s decision to retire from record producing arose in part from his loss of hearing in recent years.However, Elton John persuaded him to make one final production apart from his own farewell album.

This was the moving Candle In The Wind 1997 tribute to Princess Diana - which Sir George recorded with SirElton just hours after the song was performed at Princess Diana’s funeral. The fund-raising record rapidlybecame the bestselling single of all time.Sir George, who is a very young 72, lives with his wife of 32 years, Judy, in their English countrysidehome - a 14thcentury converted rectory nestled in a small village in the county of Wiltshire a few hoursfrom London.They have two children - Lucie (29) and Giles (27.) Giles has followed in his father’s footsteps and becomea musician and record producer - assisting his father on several productions - and co-producing In My Lifewith Sir George. Sir George also has two children from his first marriage - Alexis (42) and Greg (39.)In 1988 Sir George was decorated by Her Majesty The Queen with the title of C.B.E. (Commander of theBritish Empire) for his services to the music industry. In 1996 he was made a knight of the realm andbecame Sir George Martin. (He is formally addressed as Sir George - while his wife Judy is formallyaddressed as Lady Martin.) Away from music Sir George enjoys sailing, snooker and “wrapping myselfround a dry martini.”

GEORGE MARTIN INTERVIEW
 

QUESTION: George, tell us about that first audition when the Beatles came down from Liverpool and you met with them...was that in '61 or '62?

GEORGE MARTIN: '62. In about January. I met Brian Epstein and he was tryin' to get the Beatles off the ground and get some record label together. I didn't know then that he'd actually been to every record label in the country, including EMI--my own company--but he hadn't seen the little company, Parlaphone, which I ran. He'd been turned down by everybody and was a desperate man, so he tried to joke on the fact he'd been told about me 'cause I made comedy records. When the Beatles heard about it, they kind of groaned, but then they perked their ears up a bit when they had learned I'd made records of Peter Sellers. They were great fan of his. Anyways, to cut a long story short, when I heard what Brian had to offer on tape, it wasn't very good. In fact, it was awful. But I said, I really wanted to find out more about them...there was something about them that I wanted to investigate. I said, "The only way I can really check 'em is to see them. Bring them down to the studio. Bring them to London and I'll spend some time with them." So, they came down later, a couple of months later, and I spent an evening, afternoon, and evening with them in Abbey Roads Studios. I fell in love with them. I thought they were wonderful people. I mean, they showed no signs of being great song writers. The best they could offer me were pretty ordinary songs. I thought. "Love Me Do" was the best. "P.S., I Love You" was another one. "One After 909." They weren't great songs, but they had tremendous charisma. They had great sense of fun and you could tell they had star quality, you know, whether they were rock 'n' roll artists, or actors, or politicians, they would've made it. They just had that special something.

QUESTION: It was an interesting mix. Here were these rough, hewn guys from Liverpool and you running a for EMI. What was it like in the beginning? Did you get out from the very start, or was it a rather tenuous period, or were they nervous around you?

GEORGE MARTIN: Oh, we hit it off, right away. I guess to them I was a fairly important person, that and the fact that I'd actually made hit records that they loved. They were prepared to like me. They were cheeky devils. The only one who wasn't at that time, of course, was the guy who left, which was Pete Best. He was very quiet, sat in the back and didn't say much, and was replaced later on by Ringo, but he was part of the group when I originally saw them.

QUESTION: I've read that Brian didn't feel Pete fit in well and that you were the final straw that really ended it for Pete...that you thought Ringo was a better drummer, or that Pete wasn't good enough. What is the real story about how that all happened?

GEORGE MARTIN: Well, after that first test, I decided that the drums, which are really the backbone of a good rock group, didn't give the boys enough support. They needed a good solid beat and I said to Brian, "Look, it doesn't matter what you do with the boys, but on record, nobody need know. I'm gonna use a hot drummer," and I used the guy who was the best session drummer of the period. Brian said, "Okay, fine." Now it was pretty tough for him and I felt guilty because I felt maybe, I was the catalyst that had changed his life, so I'm sorry about that, Pete.

QUESTION: Is there anything you did to help spur their great song writing? We saw this massive evolution in a very few years?

GEORGE MARTIN: They were geniuses. There's no doubt about that. But, the curious thing is they weren't to begin with. I mean, they just blossomed like an orchid in a hot house. They suddenly, once they had their first success, they realized they had a way of writing songs that would appeal to the public, and I would say, "That's marvelous, that's great. Go and do another one like that, or better, or different, give me something more." And they did.

QUESTION: Tell us a little bit about "Sergeant Pepper." It stands today as probably, in many peoples' minds, the apex of the Beatles work. How did it happen that this concept album, the first of its kind, come together?

GEORGE MARTIN: Pepper wasn't really a concept album because if you look at all the songs, they don't really have a great deal of connection with each other. We made it appear whole by editing it closely and by tying it up with the idea that the band, themselves, were another band. Another alter ego if you like, that they were Pepper and that Billy Sheers was Ringo, whatever, and we were giving a performance. To heighten that effect, I used sound effects of audiences and laughter and so on, which gave the impression it was a show but in truth, the songs didn't have a great deal to do with each other. But they did have this element in common, that it was the first record that we were able to really spend time over. For the first time, we didn't have the Beatles coming into the studio, "You've got two days with them, at the most. Make the best of it, 'cause they're on tour," in Hamburg or San Francisco, or wherever. It wasn't a rush, rush, rush. It always had been up to that time and the Beatles had got very fed up with the pace of their lives. So this was the first time they were able to relax and say, "Hey, we can do what we want to do," and although life was very hard on them, suddenly, they were able to spend the time in the studios that they really wanted to spend.

QUESTION: Brian Wilson told us how proud he was that "Pet Sounds" was Paul's favorite album. What impact did a song, let's say, like "Good Vibrations," or "Pet Sounds" have?

GEORGE MARTIN: I think "Pet Sounds" was one of the most influential albums we'd heard. It was a wonderful album, and we admired everything about it. Everything that the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson did seemed to be thoughtless. You know, "Good Vibrations" was one from the combination of voices. A song like "God Only Knows" was, I think, marvelous stuff, and I know that Paul and the others admired it too. They wanted to be able to write music as good as that or better than that. It was their yardstick. It was a competitive thing. And I learned later that Brian felt that what we were doing was a competitive thing, too. So, it was jolly good.

QUESTION: Talking about other influences, was Bob Dylan an influence on the Beatles, and if so, in what way?

GEORGE MARTIN: I think Bob Dylan was an influence more on John, than anybody. I've just been working with Bob Dylan and I said, "You know, John admired what you did enormously and you were a tremendous influence on him." He said, "Oh, so people tell me." But, I think that similarly, Dylan Thomas, the Welsh author, was a great influence on Bob Dylan, and I think that the kind of words that Dylan Thomas would construct came down through Bob Dylan into John Lennon. But I'm sure John Lennon, in turn, has influenced other people.

QUESTION: Were the Beatles influenced at all by the American contemporary artists who preceded them, for example, the artists of Motown, Smokey Robinson, The Miracles, The Temptations, the Phil Specter Sound, or some of the other things that were coming out of America in the early 60s?

GEORGE MARTIN: I think one of the things that motivated the boys in the very early days was the American rock 'n' roll of the '50s that they'd heard. Liverpool was a kind of place where, I guess they heard things before we did in London. Not just because it was a sea port, but because there was an American Air Force base there, and Liverpool people would meet up with American serving men who would bring in all the latest records. The Beatles became quite experts on obscure records we'd heard of, and they were mostly Motown or black rock 'n' roll, the early Coffin and King numbers. Those kind of things. The real building stuff and of course, it was very, very good stuff. You only had to listen to the first album we made together to realize how influential that was.

QUESTION: What about the turning point in 1966? The whole furor in America, the Maureen Cleve article and the Christ comment John made. What impact did that have on the group? How did it affect their lives individually, or the group as a whole?

GEORGE MARTIN: Pressure was coming from all sources. There were death threats. They were man handled in the Philippines by an unruly crowd, they were virtually booed out of the Philippines because they didn't turn up at a reception for the President's wife. But nobody else knew that George Harrison was in fear of his life 'cause he actually had some poison pen letters saying, "You'll die in the next five days," and the assassination of Kennedy wasn't so far away. It was pretty hair raising stuff. That together with the mass adulation wherever they went. They couldn't escape. That made them want to retreat and of course, they didn't have any lives of their own either. It's all very well to have this great deal of fame, but when you can't escape it and you're always with three other guys, you want to say, "Hey, wait a minute. Where's the girlfriend? Where's my children? What kind of family life is this?" It doesn't exist.

QUESTION: Do you think the Christ comment was a factor in the balance between John and Paul at all? Yoko had thought it was.

GEORGE MARTIN: I think John's remark about Jesus Christ, obviously, was a stupid thing to do. I don't think he meant it the way it was interpreted. He didn't mean to say, "Hey, we're bigger than Jesus." What he meant to say was, "Jesus, or rather Christianity, didn't seem to be as popular as the Beatles," and that was true. I mean, it's still true today. Unfortunately, not enough people go to church in this country. Christianity is at a pretty low ebb. In Ireland, where I used to have a studio, about 95 percent of the people go to church. They're very, very religious people and I think it's a good thing. I think religion, if it's approached properly, has a humanizing effect on people.

QUESTION: How do you view that last year or two, '69 and '70? Even though there was great music coming out, there was this turn in terms of the individuals.

GEORGE MARTIN: Once Brian Epstein died, things changed quite a bit and the Beatles tended to go off in their own directions. "The White Album" is a result of that. They brought me a whole host of songs, all of which they wanted to record, and that was really, what happened with "The White Album." It was a marvelous album, but it was up and down. There were some great ones, and there were some not so great ones. "Let It Be" was probably the most miserable time anybody ever had between us and the Beatles. Between the Beatles themselves. They didn't like each other very much and it was an unsatisfactory album from the point of view of collaboration. Everyone was pulling apart and no one was really organized. Some great songs, but not the best of albums and I thought it was the end. I was quite surprised when Paul rang up and said, "We'd like to come back and really produce an album," which was eventually called "Abbey Road."

That was my favorite album to be honest. I think it's a great album and we knew it was the end. It was a coming together for the last time.