Happy 85th Birthday, Sir George!
Martin working with The Beatles at Abbey Road Studios
Born on January 3, 1926, Martin was raised in a working middle class family, teaching himself to play the piano before the outbreak of World War II in Europe. Dreaming of being a pilot, Martin was rejected by the Royal Air Force, eventually enlisting in the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. Failing to see any combat before the end of the war, Martin served another full year before joining the Guildhall School of Music, where he mastered his craft of composing, arrangement, production, and recording. In 1950, Martin landed a position assisting the head of Parlophone Records, Oscar Preuss. A small imprint of EMI, Parlophone was known largely for smaller regional acts in those days. After studying under Preuss for several years, Martin relieved him as head of Parlophone in 1955, signing and working with a number of lesser-known jazz, classical, and comedy artists, most notably the Goon Squad comedian Peter Sellers. After a chance meeting with manager Brian Epstein in 1962, Martin signed young Liverpudlian quartet The Beatles to Parlophone, cutting and releasing their debut album Please Please Me in March of 1963.
An early nurturer of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s collective songwriting skills, Martin supported The Beatles creatively as well as offering them the aesthetic palette to expand and re-envision their sound throughout the sixties. Though parting ways with Parlophone and EMI in 1965, Martin continue to produce The Beatles’ music, introducing them to techniques like overdubbing, backward tape loops, and stock sound effects, as well as world and classical instruments that would give albums like Revolver and Sgt. Pepper their progressive, revolutionary new sound. Martin’s instrumental contributions included the harpsichord break on “In My Life”, the French horn sections of “For No One”, and countless others.
In the wake of The Beatles’ immense success at Parlophone, Martin also worked with hit-making acts like The Hollies, Cilla Black, and Gerry & The Pacemakers. After a salary dispute with EMI, Martin co-founded the AIR production company, starting from scratch and producing well received English soul bands in addition to working on post-Beatle projects, including a number of Paul’s solo records and the 1973 score to Roger Moore’s debut 007 film, Live and Let Die. Martin continued to work with an immense roster of bands and musicians, overseeing the CD release of The Beatles’ catalogue in the late eighties and collaborating with The Who guitarist Pete Townshend on the Broadway adaptation of Tommy. Martin was formerly knighted in 1996 and--with the release of the guest vocalist featuring, Beatles covering In My Life album in 1998--has spent the following years in quiet retirement.
Through his unique recording and production background in the fifties and early sixties, Sir George Martin was the perfect collaborator to bring The Beatles—and popular music by extension—into the realm of higher art. His innovative technical expertise and aesthetic sensibilities helped elevate The Beatles and numerous other projects into the timeless classics they are now, and we’re confident we’ll be listening to George Martin produced and inspired music for many, many years to come.
Happy birthday, Sir George!
---from ology.com
