What if George Martin and The Beatles had never met? Martin, already established as a producer, would surely have gone on producing records for The Goons, girl singers and symphony orchestras, among others. The Beatles’ native talents would probably have lifted them to the charts at some point, but would there have been a Revolver or a Sgt. Pepper, with all that startling sonic growth from their first recordings? The fateful crossing of paths brought out the best in both Martin and the Fab Four, made their legacies and changed the face of pop music in the 60s. As John Lennon once said of Martin: “He helped us to develop a language.”
Born in 1926, George Martin grew up in north London. After serving in the Royal Navy, he attended the Guildhall School Of Music, studying piano and oboe, and worked in the BBC’s classical music department. In 1955 he began working as a staff producer at EMI Parlophone, and in his first few years he recorded a diverse list of artists, including Matt Monro, the Ron Goodwin Orchestra and Peter Sellers.
“That’s part of my background, the catholic world of music that has no limits, no blinkers,” Martin later said. “I know many musicians in the classical field who believe everything else is rubbish. There are a lot of opera snobs, jazz snobs too. But music really isn’t like that. It’s so diverse and so good, and people should be able to participate in all forms.”
That attitude, along with an extensive musical vocabulary, incredible ears and a sense of playful experimentalism, made Martin the perfect foil for The Beatles, as well as for Cilla Black, Stackridge, America, Jeff Beck, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Cheap Trick, Ultravox and many others he worked with.
Martin’s matinee-idol looks and gentlemanly manner often belied his wild creative streak. “I suppose because I purposefully never grew my hair when The Beatles were around,” he said, “I used to be seen in a suit and tie at EMI, and it was well known I never took drugs, so they must have thought: ‘How can this guy make freaky records like he does?’ I don’t give a sod what people think, I just do what I want.”
George Martin passed away in March 2016. He was 90.
