Producer’s Cut: Sir George Martin
By Aki Sanjay
The Beatles: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, John Lennon – and Sir George Martin. Known as the unofficial “fifth Beatle,” Martin is nowhere to be seen on promotional photos or album covers, and yet he was responsible for crafting the sound The Beatles are so well known for today. A classical pianist by trade, Martin began to produce for The Beatles in 1962, commencing a nearly-decade long partnership which would result in albums such as Abbey Road, Revolver, and The White Album.
Born in 1926, Martin’s early love for music was largely self-driven. Although he received a few lessons in piano as a child, his passion grew mostly throughout his school days. The London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult, played a concert in his school hall: Martin, years later, recounted the experience. “It was absolutely magical,” he said, “Hearing such glorious sounds I found it difficult to connect them with 90 men and women blowing into brass and wooden instruments or scraping away at strings with horsehair bows.” Martin quickly grew enamored with classical music, eventually enrolling at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to study piano and oboe.
During his studies, Martin focused on the music of Ravel, Rachmaninov, Cole Porter, and Johnny Dankworth, influences which would heavily inspire his music moving forward. Soon after graduating, he joined Parlophone Records, and five years later was made head of the label. However, his watershed moment came in 1962, when Martin was approached by Brian Epstein, The Beatles’ manager. Epstein, who had already had the group rejected by Phillips, Decca, and Pye, was eager to find The Beatles a home. Martin was initially reluctant, believing The Beatles’ demo tape was “not very good - in fact, it was awful.” Still, he recognised that the band had potential - and more importantly, ambition - and once Ringo Starr had joined the group, replacing Pete Best, Martin was ready to begin The Beatles project.
When Martin joined The Beatles, he brought with him a plethora of experience. At Guildhall, he had worked with Scottish folk bands, jazz artists, and classical musicians, and he had learnt from them all. Under his guidance, The Beatles transformed from a neighbourhood, four-piece rock band to architects and craftsmen, continually reinventing the genre. Grammy-winning producer Nigel Godrich, who produced Paul McCartney’s 2005 album Chaos and Creation In The Backyard, places Martin at the centre of this process. “He invented the job,” Godrich stated in a tribute to Martin. “He invented that thought process of possibility.”
Martin, as a producer, was most concerned with instrumentation and arranging. Both Lennon and McCartney entrusted him with arranging their songs; Martin is responsible for the string quartet on ‘Yesterday’, the piano solo on ‘Misery’, and the upbeat feel of ‘Please Please Me’. In his autobiography, Martin recollects his work on ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’, writing that Lennon wanted to turn the song into a heavy rock number, complete with drums, bass, and guitar. Martin, however, was convinced the song should stay gentle, and after a failed attempt from Lennon to record the piece, Martin went on to score ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ as it is known today – cellos, trumpets, and swelling, gentle strings.
Martin’s greatest talent, however, was in his complete newness in approach. Despite his extensive classical knowledge, Martin was anything but rigid in his production. The Beatles made odd requests, and Martin always fulfilled them: takes spliced together, recordings in various keys and tempi, circus noises, orchestral climaxes, and harpsichords played back in double-time. The extensive theoretical background that he had gained from studying music proved an invaluable complement to The Beatles’ creativity, and together they were able to create sounds that had truly never been explored in a musical setting. Take ‘In My Life’, from the 1965 album Rubber Soul – a minute and a half into the song, a quick, twisting harpsichord solo cuts through the vocals, providing a brief but incredibly memorable interlude. It is, of course, Martin playing the solo, but it was not recorded at full speed. Instead, Martin played the excerpt half as fast as the rest of the track, and then manually sped it up, creating a uniquely pitched sound – the track is immediately identifiable.
Balance was always key, though. Martin had no shortage of ideas, tools, and instruments at his disposal, but crucially, he always knew when to stop experimenting. His true prowess as a producer came through in his quieter tracks, where he masterfully balanced texture and simplicity to enhance a sound without overwhelming it. The White Album is especially masterful in this regard: listen to ‘I Will’ or ‘Long Long Long’, and Martin’s signature touch is clear.
Martin’s work as a producer did not end when The Beatles disbanded. He continued to partner with a range of artists, including Jeff Beck, Celine Dion, and Tom Jones, and in 1979 opened a studio in Montserrat. He returned to The Beatles in 1994 and 1995 to produce the Anthology albums, electing to use an eight-track analog mixing desk instead of a modern digital equivalent. In 2006, nearly ten years later, Martin and his son Giles released the Love album, which contained extracts from over one hundred Beatles songs.
Despite Martin’s extensive and varied resume as both producer and arranger, his most iconic work will always be with The Beatles. Much of the sound associated with The Beatles is due to Martin himself – the secret, hidden force which crafted the band into the powerhouse that stormed the century. Although he passed away in 2016, at age 90, he has left a legacy beyond any other producer. Countless musicians pay tribute to Martin in their own songs, drawing influence from his work in the same manner he did from his classical and jazz contemporaries.
If you’re interested in checking out some of Sir George Martin’s work, listen to ‘In My Life’ by The Beatles, ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ by The Beatles, and ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ by The Beatles.