George Martin(1926-2016)
- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Known best as the record producer for
The Beatles, George Martin had a long and
varied musical career, and continues to enjoy a rare reputation as one
of popular music's true "nice guys."
Martin was born into a working-class family in Drayton Park, England,
on 3 January 1926. His classical music training didn't actually begin
until his 20s; the only formal musical education Martin had as a child
was eight piano lessons from an aunt. He kept up with the piano on his
own, though, and by his teens led a small combo called The Four
Tune-Tellers, along with his being able to play several classical
pieces by ear. He'd also begun composing his own songs, with an eye
toward someday writing film scores.
By this time World War II was underway, and at 17 Martin enlisted in
the Fleet Air Arm, serving as an aircraft observer. While in the
service, he both acquired a mentor in Sidney Harrison, who critiqued
his early scores and encouraged him to follow a career in music, and
appeared on a BBC radio show, playing an original piece. Returning to
civilian life in early 1947, Martin found himself at a career
crossroads, without much formal education or training. Sidney Harrison
encouraged him to enter the Guildhall School of Music in London, where
Harrison taught, and arranged an audition. Martin passed, and studied
for three years at the Guildhall, paying for this with a veteran's
grant, and studying oboe as a second instrument.
After graduation and a stint with the BBC Music Library, Martin was
offered a job with EMI's Parlophone record label, as assistant to its
chief Oscar Preuss. Preuss both signed the label's artists and produced
most of their recordings, and it was these jobs that Martin gradually
took over as Preuss retired, leaving Martin in charge of the label at
age 29--the youngest label-head in England in the pre-rock era.
Parlophone featured mostly classical and regional music, which Martin
conducted and produced; he augmented these later with both
highly-successful comedy records (including
Peter Ustinov's "Mock Mozart" and several
Goon Show recordings with Peter Sellers
and Spike Milligan, who became close
friends) and rock-n-roll when it reached Britain. Despite his triumphs,
George Martin nearly went down in music history as "The Man Who Turned
Down Tommy Steele," passing up his chance
to produce Britain's first genuine rock star to instead sign up
Steele's backing group, the Vipers. This mistake was luckily
overshadowed by another signing of Martin's, a few years later...
Martin and Beatles' manager
Brian Epstein learned of each
other when Epstein decided to have acetate test-records made of a
Beatles audition tape, during his make-or-break final visit to London
to try to get the band a recording contract. Nearly every label in
England had turned the band down, and while Martin wasn't bowled over
by their demo, he was impressed enough to give them a studio audition.
Martin came away from this satisfied with everything he'd heard, except
for Pete Best's drumming, and when
he offered the band a singles contract in the fall of 1962, it was with
the understanding that Best would not play on the records. This was
reason enough for the band to want to replace him completely, and
Ringo Starr took his place, shortly before
the Beatles recorded their first Parlophone single, "Love Me Do".
Martin's first collaboration with
The Beatles wasn't a big hit, but their
second single with him, "Please Please Me", made an immediate impact,
and propelled the band to national stardom in Britain. The hits
continued, and Martin's own name began to appear on the recordings he
produced (both for The Beatles, and for
other artists) a few months later, as the record-producer's role became
more widely recognized in the industry. It was Martin's friendship with
music publisher Dick James that
resulted in the creation of Northern Songs as the Beatles' publishing
company; however, Martin never profited directly from this, or even
from their early hits--he turned down the chance to become a Northern
Songs partner, and as an EMI staff producer, he was paid no royalties.
In fact, EMI's antiquated pay-scale was one of the many factors that
caused Martin and several other EMI staffers to resign in the
mid-Sixties, and establish their own company AIR (Associated
Independent Recording). EMI now had to hire Martin back as an
independent producer for their artists, and he began receiving
producer's royalties on AIR's behalf.
The story of George Martin's relationship with the Beatles has been
told again and again, but perhaps best by the man himself, in both
radio and television specials, and his own book "All You Need is Ears",
which reads both as pop-history and a kind of record-producer's
textbook. He has graciously answered questions about the band
(sometimes as the only clean-n-sober participant at recording sessions)
and his own experiences again and again, proving to be an ideal,
well-balanced spokesman. Many of the Beatles' more elaborate
productions, especially in their later "studio years," were shaped by
George Martin, who arranged their songwriting into final scores and
recordings.
Throughout the Beatles' career and beyond, Martin continued to record
and produce other artists, including
Shirley Bassey,
Bernard Cribbins, Flanders and Swann,
and later America and Seatrain. He was also able to realize his earlier
dream of scoring movies, beginning with his original orchestral score
for
Yellow Submarine (1968),which he
also produced for film and record. In the late 1970s, Martin was
approached by RSO's Robert Stigwood to
produce the soundtrack for the Bee Gees's Beatles homage
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978);
despite his initial misgivings, he signed onto the project knowing
nobody else had his insider's knowledge of their music... and the
payment to come would erase a lot of earlier financial shortings from
his EMI days.
While George Martin supervised parts of "The Beatles Anthology" in 1994
and 1995, the task of producing the new recordings included with the
compilation was given to Jeff Lynne; Martin
explained to the press, "I don't produce anymore, because I'm too old."
Martin recently celebrated his retirement from the music business, with
both a knighthood and the release of "In My Life", an all-star tribute
album to the band who gave him his biggest success.
The Beatles, George Martin had a long and
varied musical career, and continues to enjoy a rare reputation as one
of popular music's true "nice guys."
Martin was born into a working-class family in Drayton Park, England,
on 3 January 1926. His classical music training didn't actually begin
until his 20s; the only formal musical education Martin had as a child
was eight piano lessons from an aunt. He kept up with the piano on his
own, though, and by his teens led a small combo called The Four
Tune-Tellers, along with his being able to play several classical
pieces by ear. He'd also begun composing his own songs, with an eye
toward someday writing film scores.
By this time World War II was underway, and at 17 Martin enlisted in
the Fleet Air Arm, serving as an aircraft observer. While in the
service, he both acquired a mentor in Sidney Harrison, who critiqued
his early scores and encouraged him to follow a career in music, and
appeared on a BBC radio show, playing an original piece. Returning to
civilian life in early 1947, Martin found himself at a career
crossroads, without much formal education or training. Sidney Harrison
encouraged him to enter the Guildhall School of Music in London, where
Harrison taught, and arranged an audition. Martin passed, and studied
for three years at the Guildhall, paying for this with a veteran's
grant, and studying oboe as a second instrument.
After graduation and a stint with the BBC Music Library, Martin was
offered a job with EMI's Parlophone record label, as assistant to its
chief Oscar Preuss. Preuss both signed the label's artists and produced
most of their recordings, and it was these jobs that Martin gradually
took over as Preuss retired, leaving Martin in charge of the label at
age 29--the youngest label-head in England in the pre-rock era.
Parlophone featured mostly classical and regional music, which Martin
conducted and produced; he augmented these later with both
highly-successful comedy records (including
Peter Ustinov's "Mock Mozart" and several
Goon Show recordings with Peter Sellers
and Spike Milligan, who became close
friends) and rock-n-roll when it reached Britain. Despite his triumphs,
George Martin nearly went down in music history as "The Man Who Turned
Down Tommy Steele," passing up his chance
to produce Britain's first genuine rock star to instead sign up
Steele's backing group, the Vipers. This mistake was luckily
overshadowed by another signing of Martin's, a few years later...
Martin and Beatles' manager
Brian Epstein learned of each
other when Epstein decided to have acetate test-records made of a
Beatles audition tape, during his make-or-break final visit to London
to try to get the band a recording contract. Nearly every label in
England had turned the band down, and while Martin wasn't bowled over
by their demo, he was impressed enough to give them a studio audition.
Martin came away from this satisfied with everything he'd heard, except
for Pete Best's drumming, and when
he offered the band a singles contract in the fall of 1962, it was with
the understanding that Best would not play on the records. This was
reason enough for the band to want to replace him completely, and
Ringo Starr took his place, shortly before
the Beatles recorded their first Parlophone single, "Love Me Do".
Martin's first collaboration with
The Beatles wasn't a big hit, but their
second single with him, "Please Please Me", made an immediate impact,
and propelled the band to national stardom in Britain. The hits
continued, and Martin's own name began to appear on the recordings he
produced (both for The Beatles, and for
other artists) a few months later, as the record-producer's role became
more widely recognized in the industry. It was Martin's friendship with
music publisher Dick James that
resulted in the creation of Northern Songs as the Beatles' publishing
company; however, Martin never profited directly from this, or even
from their early hits--he turned down the chance to become a Northern
Songs partner, and as an EMI staff producer, he was paid no royalties.
In fact, EMI's antiquated pay-scale was one of the many factors that
caused Martin and several other EMI staffers to resign in the
mid-Sixties, and establish their own company AIR (Associated
Independent Recording). EMI now had to hire Martin back as an
independent producer for their artists, and he began receiving
producer's royalties on AIR's behalf.
The story of George Martin's relationship with the Beatles has been
told again and again, but perhaps best by the man himself, in both
radio and television specials, and his own book "All You Need is Ears",
which reads both as pop-history and a kind of record-producer's
textbook. He has graciously answered questions about the band
(sometimes as the only clean-n-sober participant at recording sessions)
and his own experiences again and again, proving to be an ideal,
well-balanced spokesman. Many of the Beatles' more elaborate
productions, especially in their later "studio years," were shaped by
George Martin, who arranged their songwriting into final scores and
recordings.
Throughout the Beatles' career and beyond, Martin continued to record
and produce other artists, including
Shirley Bassey,
Bernard Cribbins, Flanders and Swann,
and later America and Seatrain. He was also able to realize his earlier
dream of scoring movies, beginning with his original orchestral score
for
Yellow Submarine (1968),which he
also produced for film and record. In the late 1970s, Martin was
approached by RSO's Robert Stigwood to
produce the soundtrack for the Bee Gees's Beatles homage
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978);
despite his initial misgivings, he signed onto the project knowing
nobody else had his insider's knowledge of their music... and the
payment to come would erase a lot of earlier financial shortings from
his EMI days.
While George Martin supervised parts of "The Beatles Anthology" in 1994
and 1995, the task of producing the new recordings included with the
compilation was given to Jeff Lynne; Martin
explained to the press, "I don't produce anymore, because I'm too old."
Martin recently celebrated his retirement from the music business, with
both a knighthood and the release of "In My Life", an all-star tribute
album to the band who gave him his biggest success.