Sir George Martin, the "Fifth Beatle" R.I.P.

[pherank]

I'm sad to have to witness the passing of producer/musician/arranger George Martin - he reached 90 years of age:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/10/arts/music/george-martin-and-the-beatles-a-producers-impact-in-five-songs.html

A very decent man who helped to create a lot of beautiful music for an entire generation.

"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." - Paul McCartney

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35761464

Musicians remember Sir George Martin
http://www.bbc.com/news/live/entertainment-arts-35635609

[dirac]

Thank you for posting, pherank. I don't know that you would call Martin a great or unique producer -- Phil Spector, who worked with both George Harrison and John Lennon after The Beatles split, regarded him as little more than an arranger, and while that's a mite unfair one sees what Spector was getting at. The musical training he had and The Beatles lacked helped a great deal and he made a special contribution to their records. It is sad news, but it's nice that he lived to a ripe old age.

[pherank]

Thank you for posting, pherank. I don't know that you would call Martin a great or unique producer -- Phil Spector, who worked with both George Harrison and John Lennon after The Beatles split, regarded him as little more than an arranger, and while that's a mite unfair one sees what Spector was getting at. The musical training he had and The Beatles lacked helped a great deal and he made a special contribution to their records. It is sad news, but it's nice that he lived to a ripe old age.

Well Phil Spector WOULD say that about his competition. Spector is a fairly reprehensible person - he was a very controlling personality for his 'stable' of artists (and "stable" is the perfect word for it). For Spector, being a producer meant control of the project, and taking all credit for all that went on. He worked with The Beatles (sort of) on Let It Be, which was a confused mass of mostly 2nd-rate material (and a few gems) - it was Spector's job to make something out of the halfhearted affair. But for perhaps the first time, he was dealing with artists/musicians who carried far more clout than he did, and were easily as inventive and creative as he ever was, and he wasn't in a position to dictate. Just as well, since after the terrible Let It Be experience, The Beatles, knowing that they didn't want to end on a bum note, went back to Martin:

"I was surprised when Paul said to me,

'We're going to make another record - would you like to produce it?'

And my immediate answer was, 'Only if you let me produce the way we used to'.

And he said, 'We do want to do that'.

I said, 'John included?'

(Paul) 'Yes, honestly.'

And so Abbey Road was created and it is one of the sonic masterpieces of its era. Martin shaped the sound as much as anyone on those classic albums, but, as I think Ringo once said, (I'm paraphrasing) "that was the great thing about The Beatles - whoever came up with the best idea, that's what we would use". When things were working well, it was a real communal effort. Part of the reason why it has been difficult for anyone else to replicate the effect of those better Beatles albums. I'm not sure it makes much difference that Phil Spector defines the term "producer" differently than George Martin - it's really about what's effective:

'Martin sensed that it was more a matter of psychology than technology. “I realised I had the ability to get the best out of people,” he reflected. “A producer has to get inside the person. Each artist is very different, and there’s a lot of psychology in it.”'

And I like his comment on the state of "record producing" circa 1960:

"There were about a dozen record producers in the country. But then they weren’t called record producers, they were called ‘Artist and Repertoire Managers.’ They didn’t really shape events in the studio; their job, rather like the A&R men of today, was to recruit talent, put them in the studio and give them an opportunity to be recorded, rather like a broadcast.”

Well, that certainly changed with the advent of these rock n' roll producers.

[diane]

Ah, memories! We grew up listening to those songs, and I regretfully, honestly, never really paid much attention to who "produced" (or "arranged") anything.

Thanks for the post and the comments!

-d-

[dirac]

Respectfully, pherank, I doubt if Spector ever regarded Martin as "competition."

Let It Be isn't first-rate Beatles, but that's a high bar. It's an excellent album. Spector took some messed-up tapes and made them releaseable. Martin was critical of the result, which was certainly nof flawless, but then he would be.

Well, that certainly changed with the advent of these rock n' roll producers.

Very true, and Martin played an important role in that.

[dirac]

From the Department of One Generation Passeth Away and Another Generation Cometh, or Time Marches On: George R.R. Martin has to inform confused and agitated Game of Thrones fans that the news of his death has been greatly exaggerated.

He continued, “I am still here, still writing, still editing, still going to movies and reading books, and I expect to hang around for quite a while yet, thank you very much.”

[sandik]

Oh dear!