Legendary producer and ‘fifth’ Beatle, Sir George Martin, has passed away at the age of 90.
With 30 No. 1 UK singles to his name, Martin is widely regarded as one of the greatest record producers of all time, working with The Beatles on a string of albums that helped shape the future of pop music the world over.
His passing was announced this morning by Ringo Starr via Twitter, who wrote: “God bless George Martin peace and love to Judy and his family love Ringo and Barbara George will be missed.”
Since then, stars and industry professionals have been paying tribute to the late producer.
Speaking to MI Pro, Orange Amplification founder and CEO and industry veteran, Cliff Cooper, said: “I first met George Martin in 1970 in his state of the art studio in central London, not far from our Orange studios in New Compton St. He was so helpful and kind, giving us advice on equipment and the latest techniques.
“Later, when I was involved with The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool, George kindly recorded and contributed to the new audio guides that we had introduced. Nothing was ever too much trouble for him. He undoubtedly shaped the Beatles music.”
Former Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, penned a tribute to Martin on his official website, which read:
“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.
In addition to his work with The Beatles, Martin produced records for a wide range of artists, including Matt Monro, Cilla Black, Paul McCartney, Gerry & The Pacemakers, America, Cheap Trick, Neil Sedaka, Elton John, Celine Dion and Kenny Rogers.
He was also involved with numerous film scores, such as Live & Let Die (1974), Pulp (1972) andCrooks Anonymous (1962).
Below is a fitting tribute to look back on George Martin’s life:
source: http://www.mi-pro.co.uk/ and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc4K7bAqpdBP8jh1j9XZAww
