GEORGE MARTIN, 1926-2016
George Martin, a producer of classical music and comedy who helped reshape the face of popular music in his work with The Beatles, died at his home in England Tuesday (3/8). He was 90.
Beatles drummer Ringo Starr broke the news on Twitter, tweeting “God bless George Martin peace and love to Judy and his family love Ringo and Barbara. George will be missed."
"He was a true gentleman and like a second father to me. He guided the career of The Beatles with such skill and good humour that he became a true friend to me and my family. If anyone earned the title of the fifth Beatle it was George,” Paul McCartney added; read McCartney's full open letter on the matter below.
Martin, who would sign The Beatles in 1962 when he was 36 years old and produced all but their final album, guided them from teen heartthrobs to revolutionary musicians by introducing instrumentation and sounds borrowed from the classical world to their work.
He brought strings to their sound on 1965's "Yesterday" and pushed wilder orchestral elements with punchy, fierce-sounding strings on “Eleanor Rigby” and “A Day in the Life.” He used the clavichord and French horn to broaden their palette on their landmark albums Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Martin played the piano on “In My Life”; incorporated tape machines running backwards on “Tomorrow Never Knows” and meshed wildly disparate orchestral and brass parts on “Strawberry Fields Forever” at the behest of John Lennon.
"As many fans of the Beatles know, George’s work as producer, engineer, arranger, conductor, and musician was instrumental to the massive success of the group, and he was fondly referred to as 'the fifth Beatle,'" said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. "Having worked on hundreds of recordings, he was one of the most innovative producers of all time and his impact on music is unparalleled. Our creative community has lost a gifted artist, and our thoughts go out to his family, his friends, and the many musicians with whom he collaborated."
Prior to the Beatles, Martin worked in the BBC's Classical Music Department after World War II and moved to EMI in 1950, taking over Parlophone five years later. Besides recording classical and jazz artist, he was most famous for producing records for British comedians such as Peter Sellers, Dudley Moore and Bernard Cribbins.
After the Beatles broke up, he had triumphs with a diverse collection of acts, among them America, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, The Bee Gees, Dire Straits, The Little River Band, Cheap Trick and Ultravox. He wrote music for films, among them Live and Let Die, and produced Elton John’s 1997 version of “Candle in the Wind,” the tribute to Princess Diana after her death.
He would work in the early '80s with McCartney on the albums Tug Of War andPipes of Peace and singles “Ebony and Ivory, “Say Say Say” and “No More Lonely Nights”; artists such as Phil Collins, Celine Dion and Jeff Beck recorded Beatles tunes for the Martin-produced 1998 collection In My Life, the last of more than 700 albums he produced in a 48-year career.
It was with The Beatles—and many considered him the fifth member of the band—where his reputation shined brightest.
He met The Beatles in 1962 and in the boxed set Produced By George Martin: 50 Years in Recording, he recalled “”there was a bit of the Goons in them and the fact that I was so associated with Spike Milligan and the well-known Peter Sellers albums put us on good footing from the word go. Even though we were seemingly disparate people we were ready to like and work with each other.
“For me, the Beatles were a chance to do something a bit heavier than what I was normally doing.”
Once Martin started producing hits for The Beatles, everyone wanted to work with him—Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Cilla Black,Gerry and the Pacemakers and Shirley Bassey among them.
Martin's musical training came during his teen years, when he aspired to follow the lead of jazz pianist George Shearing, and after he was discharged from the British Navy, studying theory, composition and the oboe. His first music industry job was in the BBC's classical library, and in 1950 he went to work for Parlophone, one of four labels within EMI, as an assistant before working his way up to producer.
He recorded jazz and pop artists such as Cleo Laine, Kenny Baker and Matt Munro, and embraced skiffle music, the British predecessor to rock & roll, signing The Vipers Skiffle Group and Jim Dale. As no other label in the U.K. Was recording comedy, Martin was put in charge of sessions by Sellers, Peter Ustinov and others.
He signed The Beatles after they had been rejected by more than a dozen labels.
In 1965, he left EMI and founded AIR (Associated Independent Recording), which led to British record companies paying royalties to producers for the first time. Martin would receive one-fifth of 1% of Beatles records.
AIR opened several studios, first in London and, in 1979, on the island of Montserrat.The Rolling Stones, The Police, Stevie Wonder and countless others recorded in the studios. (A hurricane destroyed the Montserrat studios in 1989; London's AIR is one of the busiest studios in the world).
In 1988, he was given the title of C.B.E. (Commander of the British Empire) for his services to the music industry and in 1996, was made a knight of the realm and became Sir George Martin.
Martin’s last work with The Beatles' music was the mashup project with Cirque du Soleil, LOVE, which opened in 2006 in Las Vegas. Martin produced the music with his son Giles. The album LOVE won two Grammys, bringing Sir George’s Grammy total to six.
He is survived by his wife Judy and their children Lucie and Giles plus two children from his first marriage, Alexis and Greg.
Paul McCartney's Statement on George Martin
I'm so sad to hear the news of the passing of dear George Martin. I have so many wonderful memories of this great man that will be with me forever. He was a true gentleman and like a second father to me. He guided the career of The Beatles with such skill and good humour that he became a true friend to me and my family. If anyone earned the title of the fifth Beatle it was George. From the day that he gave The Beatles our first recording contract, to the last time I saw him, he was the most generous, intelligent and musical person I've ever had the pleasure to know.
It's hard to choose favourite memories of my time with George, there are so many but one that comes to mind was the time I brought the song 'Yesterday' to a recording session and the guys in the band suggested that I sang it solo and accompany myself on guitar. After I had done this George Martin said to me, "Paul I have an idea of putting a string quartet on the record." I said, "Oh no George, we are a rock and roll band and I don't think it's a good idea." With the gentle bedside manner of a great producer he said to me, "Let us try it and if it doesn't work we won't use it and we'll go with your solo version." I agreed to this and went round to his house the next day to work on the arrangement.
He took my chords that I showed him and spread the notes out across the piano, putting the cello in the low octave and the first violin in a high octave and gave me my first lesson in how strings were voiced for a quartet. When we recorded the string quartet at Abbey Road, it was so thrilling to know his idea was so correct that I went round telling people about it for weeks. His idea obviously worked because the song subsequently became one of the most recorded songs ever with versions by Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye and thousands more.
This is just one of the many memories I have of George who went on to help me with arrangements on 'Eleanor Rigby', 'Live and Let Die' and many other songs of mine.
I am proud to have known such a fine gentleman with such a keen sense of humour, who had the ability to poke fun at himself. Even when he was Knighted by the Queen there was never the slightest trace of snobbery about him.
My family and I, to whom he was a dear friend, will miss him greatly and send our love to his wife Judy and their kids Giles and Lucy, and the grandkids.
The world has lost a truly great man who left an indelible mark on my soul and the history of British music.
God bless you George and all who sail in you!
Paul
