George Martin had quite the career! After getting out of the army and then going to the Guildhall School of Music, he got a job at the BBC and then moved on to Parlophone.

In discussing his life you kind of have to focus on the records he helped make. Although he wanted to be the next Rachmaninoff he found himself producing whatever was given him, like this classic (for those of us old enough to remember!)

It's the Robin Hood theme song from the TV show, sung by Dick James who later went on to become the Beatles' music publisher.

But he was really good at sounds effect and used them on the records he made with the Goons. If you don't know the Goons you should check them out. Peter Sellers was just one of troupe.

The Goons - You Gotta Go Oww!

Peter Sellers - Unchained Melody

He worked with other comedians too, and it started to become his specialty. A few years back one of them, Bernard Cribbins, became a regular on Doctor Who as Donna's granddad. Here's a record he and Martin made in the late 50s.

About 30 years ago I bought this great 2 record set called "The Roots of British Rock" and one of my favorites was this number by Shane Fenton and the Fentones. Fenton wasn't really Fenton. He was one of the Fentones but the first Fenton died and the second one took his place in time for this UK hit. By the way, he had a comeback in the 1970s as Alvin Stardust.

I'm a Moody Guy - Shane Fenton and the Fentones

Around this time Martin was getting divorced from his first wife and getting close to his secretary. Mark Lewisohn, in his Beatle book, "Tune In", claims that the head of the record group (which was EMI, Parlophone being a subsidiary) was livid that an employee would get divorced and have an affair with another employee. I think that's ridiculous but Lewisohn goes on to suggest other stuff...discussed shortly.

So anyway, Martin had had a little taste of rock n roll success with the Fentones but he wanted something more and was keeping his eyes and ears open. In the meantime he composed and recorded this instrumental.

Ray Cathode - Time Beat

And then history came around. It's like a Bible story, you just have to tell it over and over. Brian Epstein went from company to company, hoping to get a record deal for the Beatles. Everyone said no except Decca, which said "Bring them in and we'll give them an audition". And then they said no. But Eppy got a copy of the tape, which he took around to more companies...and they all said no. Then he decided to have the tape transferred to a disc because it was more common for these people to have record players than tape machines and, in the process of having that transferred, the technician said he knew a guy....who turned out to work for the music publishing arm of Parlophone, and that second guy knew a guy who turned out to be George Martin....

who'd been looking for that rock n roll thing, as mentioned. He listened to them, thought there was something there and debated whether the group would be John Lennon and the Beatles or Paul McCartney and the Beatles. Because, at that time, also as mentioned, the groups were Shane Fenton and the Fentones, Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, Brian Poole and the Tremoloes and so on. Eventually Martin decided since both John and Paul were strong singers and since George Harrison could sing too that it worked better as just The Beatles, and so he decided to sign them produce them. Now Mark Lewisohn tells a different story, one that he dug up and which I find not believable. He says that the previously mentioned main guy at EMI thought the Beatles were terrible but that Epstein's record store in Liverpool was too important to sales to not sign the group. And he was so mad at Martin for his licentious behavior that he assigned the Beatles to Martin as a punishment. I'm sorry now that I relayed that story because it's preposterous but it is kind of amusing.

Well, anyway... so the first thing he did with the Beatles was casually mention that he didn't like the drummer and wouldn't be using him, which was perfect for John, Paul and George who didn't like Pete anyway. So Pete got canned and none of the Beatles ever spoke to him again, even when they played on the same bill. And George Martin wasn't interested in using Ringo, either so that first single, Love Me Do, has a guy by the name of Andy White playing drums.

Then for the second single Martin suggested a tune written by a London kid named Mitch Murray, called How Do You Do It.

They were not happy and pushed as hard as they could for Please Please Me. Martin suggested a little rearrangement and there it was.

I think you know the rest of the story about that group. Meanwhile Epstein was bringing around other artists he'd signed up and George Martin was asked to record them. In 1963 records he produced were at #1 in the British charts for 37 weeks of the year. That How Do You Do It became a huge hit for Gerry and Pacemakers. Here's one of my favorites from early 1964.

Gerry and the Pacemakers - I'm the One

Other big hits for Gerry et al that Martin produced were Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying, Ferry Across the Mersey and You'll Never Walk Alone. That last was such a big hit in Liverpool that it became, and still is, the anthem for the Liverpool soccer team.

Billy J Kramer was a Liverpool fellow who Epstein teamed with the Manchester group The Dakotas and they had this hit with a Lennon-McCartney song.

Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas - I'll Keep You Satisfied

Martin also produced Bad to Me and Little Children.

Then there was the hat check girl at the Cavern, Cilla Black. She'd been Priscilla White, was called Cilla and Bill Harry, the kid who started the Mersey Beat newspaper, full of stories about the scene, mentioned her, forgot her name, knew it was a color, and guessed "Black"...which she liked and took as her stage name. Eppy brought her to Martin and they had this hit.

Cilla Black - It's For You

I really like Cilla's voice. Here's just one more (I picked out four but I'll keep it down) that was written by Randy Newman.

Cilla Black - I've Been Wrong Before

All this time you'd think he'd be getting rich. But EMI, the parent company which was making millions off him (and that's pounds, not dollars!) was paying him a salary of about £3,000 a year. He wanted more, they said no but were willing to work out "a deal" where he'd get a percentage. In typical record company accounting if he'd had that deal in place for 1963, and remember that's 37 weeks at #1, he'd have ended up owing EMI £22,000. Somehow he'd have been charged for publicity and expenses. That is, his cut would have been £50,000 or so but all the money the company used in normal business would somehow be charged against him. He said no thank you and quit.

He became an independent producer and the Beatles wanted to continue to work with him so he did end up making money. The early stuff? Nope. The later albums and singles, yes.

With his new money and some backing he set up his independent production company and built a state of the art studio in London, eventually building another one in the West Indies. Martin produced other artists besides those Liverpool acts, like Shirley Bassey and America.

America - Tin Man

and Ultravox and Cheap Trick

Cheap Trick - Baby Loves to Rock

He slowed down a bit in the 90s but loved to talk about music. Here's a fascinating clip of him showing up at Brian Wilson's.

Brian Wilson and George Martin at the mixing console for God Only Knows

Finally old age and a lifetime spent in the studio caught up with him and his hearing went, which is kind of a sad thing to happen if you love music. His son, Giles, went into the business and took over dealing with the old Beatle tapes, turning out a mashup for the Cirque de Soleil called "Love" and then worked on the remasters including the fairly recent "1+".

Martin was 90. That's a good long life. People have called him the 5th Beatle. I wonder how he'll be perceived in 100 years. He might easily be included with the others because he was so important to that sound. He's one of those people I wish I'd had the opportunity to meet, to ask him questions.

Ah well.....thanks George. Well done.