George Martin

Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatles' original albums. AllMusic has described him as the "world's most famous record producer". Martin's formal musical expertise and interest in novel recording practices complemented the Beatles' rudimentary musical education and relentless quest for new musical sounds to record. Most of the Beatles' orchestral arrangements and instrumentation were written or performed by Martin, and he played piano or keyboards on a number of their records. Martin's collaboration with the Beatles resulted in popular, highly acclaimed records with innovative sounds, such as the 1967 album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''—the first rock album to win a Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

Martin's career spanned more than six decades in music, film, television and live performance. Before working with the Beatles and other pop musicians, he produced comedy and novelty records in the 1950s and early 1960s as the head of EMI's Parlophone label, working with Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Bernard Cribbins, among others. His work with other Liverpool rock groups in the early–mid 1960s helped popularize the Merseybeat sound. In 1965, he left EMI and formed his own production company, Associated Independent Recording.

In his career, Martin produced 30 number-one hit singles in the United Kingdom and 23 number-one hits in the United States, and won six Grammy Awards. He also held a number of senior executive roles at media companies and contributed to a wide range of charitable causes, including his work for The Prince's Trust and the Caribbean island of Montserrat. In recognition of his services to the music industry and popular culture, he was made a Knight Bachelor in 1996.

Early years

Martin was born on 3 January 1926 in Highbury, London, to Henry ("Harry") and Bertha Beatrice (née Simpson) Martin. He had an older sister, Irene. In George's early years, the family lived modestly, first in Highbury and then Drayton Park. Harry worked as a craftsman carpenter in a small attic workshop, while Bertha cooked meals at a communal stove in their apartment building. At age 5, George contracted scarlet fever; Bertha, a nurse during the First World War, treated him at home. In 1931, the family moved to Aubert Park in Highbury, where the Martin family first lived with electricity.

When he was six, George's family acquired a piano that sparked his interest in music. At eight years of age, he persuaded his parents that he should take piano lessons, but those ended after only six lessons because of a disagreement between his mother and the teacher. Martin created his first piano composition, "The Spider's Dance" at age eight. George continued to learn piano on his own through his youth, building a working knowledge of music theory through his natural perfect pitch.

As a child, he attended several Roman Catholic schools, including Our Lady of Sion ( Holloway), St Joseph's School ( Highgate), and at St Ignatius' College ( Stamford Hill), where he had won a scholarship. When World War II broke out, St Ignatius College students were evacuated to Welwyn Garden City. George's family left London, with him being enrolled at Bromley Grammar School. At Bromley, Martin led and played piano in a locally popular dance band, the Four Tune Tellers. He was influenced at this time by George Shearing and Meade Lux Lewis. He also took up acting in a troupe called the Quavers. With money earned from playing dances, Martin resumed formal piano lessons and learned musical notation. Martin endured the London Blitz during this time, inspiring an interest in aircraft.

Despite Martin's continued interest in music, and "fantasies about being the next Rachmaninoff", he did not initially choose music as a career. He worked briefly as a quantity surveyor, and later for the War Office as a Temporary Clerk (Grade Three), which meant filing paperwork and making tea.

In 1943, at the age of 17, Martin volunteered the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy, having been inspired by their exploits in the Battle of Taranto in 1940. He trained at HMS ''St Vincent'' in Gosport. The war ended before Martin was involved in any combat, and he left the service in January 1947. During the war, Martin travelled to New York and saw performances by Cab Calloway and Gene Krupa. He also did nine months of aerial training in Trinidad, becoming a petty officer and aerial observer. On 26 July 1945, shortly after receiving his officer commission, Martin appeared on BBC radio for the first time during a Royal Navy variety show; Martin played a self-composed piano piece. As he climbed rank in the Navy, Martin consciously adopted the middle-class accent and gentlemanly social demeanor common for officers.

Encouraged by the pianist, teacher and broadcaster Sidney Harrison, Martin used his veteran's grant to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1947 to 1950. He studied piano as his main instrument and oboe as his secondary, being interested in the music of Rachmaninoff and Ravel and Cole Porter. His oboe teacher was Margaret Eliot (the mother of Jane Asher, who later became involved with Paul McCartney). After that, Martin explained that he had just picked it up by himself. Martin also took courses at Guildhall in music composition and orchestration. After graduating, Martin worked for the BBC's classical music department, also earning money as an oboe player in local bands.

Parlophone

Martin joined EMI in November 1950 as an assistant to Oscar Preuss, who had served as head of EMI's Parlophone label since 1923. Although having been regarded by EMI as a vital German imprint in the past, it was then not taken seriously and only used for EMI's insignificant acts. Among Martin's early duties was managing Parlophone's classical records catalogue, including Baroque ensemble sessions with Karl Haas; Martin, Haas, and Peter Ustinov soon founded the London Baroque Society together. He also developed a friendship and working relationship with composer Sidney Torch and signed Ron Goodwin to a recording contract. In 1953, Martin produced Goodwin's first record, an instrumental cover of Charlie Chaplin's theme from ''Limelight'', which made it to no. 3 on the British charts.

Despite these early breakthroughs, Martin resented EMI's preference in the early 1950s for short-playing 78 rpm records instead of the new longer-playing and 45 rpm formats coming into fashion on other labels. He also proved uncomfortable as a song plugger when occasionally assigned the task by Preuss, comparing himself to a "sheep among wolves".

Head of Parlophone

Preuss retired as head of Parlophone in April 1955, leaving the 29-year-old Martin to take over the label. Martin soon hired Ron Richards to be his A&R assistant. However, Martin had to fight to retain the label, as by late 1956 EMI managers considered moving Parlophone's successful artists to Columbia Records or His Master's Voice (HMV), with Martin possibly to take a junior A&R role at HMV under Wally Ridley. Martin staved off corporate pressure with successes in comedy records, such as a 1957 recording of the two-man show featuring Michael Flanders and Donald Swann, ''At the Drop of a Hat''. His work transformed the profile of Parlophone from a "sad little company" to a highly profitable business over time.

Early music records

As head of Parlophone, Martin recorded classical and Baroque music, original cast recordings, jazz, and regional music from around Britain and Ireland. He signed singer Dick James, later the music publisher for the Beatles and Elton John, to a recording contract, and reached no. 14 with James's theme from '' The Adventures of Robin Hood''.

Martin became the first British A&R man to capitalize on the 1956 skiffle boom when he signed the Vipers Skiffle Group after seeing them in London's 2i's Coffee Bar. They reached no. 10 on the UK Singles Chart in 1957 with "Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O", though their success faded with the end of the skiffle boom. In 1957, Martin signed Jim Dale, hoping the singer would prove Parlophone's answer to British rock and roll star Tommy Steele. Dale achieved success as a teen idol, reaching no. 2 on the chart with "Be My Girl". After recording an album, '' Jim!'', in 1958, Dale cut his music career short to pursue his original profession as a comedian, frustrating Martin.

Martin courted controversy in summer 1960, when he produced a cover of the teen novelty song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini" and released it mere days after the release of the record in the UK, opening him to public accusations of piracy. Martin's version, recorded by 18-year-old Paul Hanford, failed to chart in Britain—though it performed well in several other countries and reached no. 1 in Mexico.

Martin's first British no. 1 came in May 1961, with the Temperance Seven's "You're Driving Me Crazy". Also that year, Martin produced Humphrey Lyttelton's version of "Saturday Jump", which became the theme tune of the influential BBC Radio programme, '' Saturday Club'', and scored a success at no. 14 in the charts with Charlie Drake's novelty record, " My Boomerang Won't Come Back".

In early 1962, Martin collaborated with Maddalena Fagandini, then working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, to create two electronic singles, "Time Beat" and "Waltz in Orbit", which were released as records by the pseudonymous Ray Cathode. Martin also earned praise from EMI chairman Sir Joseph Lockwood for his top-10 1962 hit with Bernard Cribbins, " The Hole in the Ground". He earned another top-10 hit with Cribbins that year, with " Right Said Fred". Though Martin wanted to add rock and roll to Parlophone's repertoire, he struggled to find a "fireproof" hit-making pop artist or group.

In August 1964, Martin oversaw Judy Garland's final studio recording session, with two songs from the '' Maggie May'' musical.

Liverpool pop and rock acts

By late 1962, Martin had established a strong working relationship with Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager. Epstein also managed (or was considering managing) a number of other Liverpool music acts, and soon these acts began recording with Martin. When Martin visited Liverpool in December 1962, Epstein showed him successful local acts like Gerry and the Pacemakers and the Fourmost; Martin urged Epstein to audition them for EMI. Gerry and the Pacemakers scored their first no. 1 with their version of " How Do You Do It?", a song previously rejected by the Beatles, in April 1963. The group's next two singles (also produced by Martin), " I Like It" and " You'll Never Walk Alone", also reached no. 1, earning the group the distinction of being the first British act to have their first three singles top the charts.

Martin also produced the Epstein-managed Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, whose first single was a cover of the Beatles' " Do You Want to Know a Secret", which hit no. 2 on the chart. Kramer and Martin scored two UK no. 1's in 1963 and 1964—" Bad To Me" (also Lennon–McCartney original) and " Little Children". Kramer also reached no. 4 with another Lennon–McCartney song in 1964, " I'll Keep You Satisfied".

Martin began work with the Fourmost in summer 1963 with a cover of one of John Lennon's earliest songs, "Hello Little Girl", that reached no. 9. Their follow-up, released in November, was another Lennon–McCartney work, " I'm In Love", which reached the top 20.

Martin also agreed to sign the Beatles' Cavern Club associate Cilla Black. Her first record was a discarded Lennon–McCartney song, "Love of the Loved". The record was only a minor hit, reaching no. 35. Martin and Black rebounded in 1964 with two no. 1 hits, " Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "You're My World". Black's "Anyone Who Had a Heart" was the top-selling British single by a female artist in the 1960s.

Between the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Martin-produced and Epstein-managed acts were responsible for 37 weeks of no. 1 singles in 1963, finally transforming Parlophone into the leading EMI label.

In December 1964, Gerry and the Pacemakers released " Ferry Cross the Mersey", a teaser for the February 1965 film of the same name in the style of the Beatles' '' A Hard Day's Night''. The soundtrack album featured music by Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Fourmost, Cilla Black, and George Martin-orchestrated instrumental music.

Comedy records

Martin produced numerous comedy and novelty records. His first success in the genre was the 1953 "Mock Mozart" single, performed by Peter Ustinov with Antony Hopkins – a record reluctantly released in 1952 by EMI, only after Preuss's insistence. In 1956 he produced the well known children's song "Nellie the Elephant" which was released by Parlophone in October of that year. In 1955, Martin worked with BBC radio comedy stars the Goons on a parody version of " Unchained Melody", but the song's publishers objected to the recording and blocked it from release. The Goons subsequently left Parlophone for Decca, but member Peter Sellers achieved a UK hit with Martin in 1957, " Any Old Iron". Recognising that Sellers was capable of "a daydreaming form of humour which could be amusing and seductive without requiring the trigger of a live audience", Martin pitched a full album to EMI. The resultant album, '' The Best of Sellers'' (1958), has been cited as "the first British comedy LP created in a recording studio". Both ''The Best of Sellers'' and its follow-up ''Songs for Swingin' Sellers'' (1959) were critical and commercial successes in the UK.

Martin later became firm friends with Spike Milligan, and was best man at Milligan's second wedding: "I loved ''The Goon Show'', and issued an album of it on my label Parlophone, which is how I got to know Spike." The album was '' Bridge on the River Wye''. It was a spoof of the film '' The Bridge on the River Kwai'', being based on the 1957 ''Goon Show'' episode "An African Incident". It was intended to have the same name as the film, but shortly before its release, the film company threatened legal action if the name was used. Martin edited out the 'K' every time the word ''Kwai'' was spoken, with ''Bridge on the River Wye'' being the result. The River Wye is a river that runs through England and Wales. The album featured Milligan, Sellers, Jonathan Miller, and Peter Cook, playing various characters.

Martin scored a major success in 1961 with the '' Beyond the Fringe'' show cast album, which starred Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, and Jonathan Miller; the show catalyzed Britain's satire boom in the early 1960s. In early 1963, he produced the accompanying soundtrack album for David Frost's satirical BBC TV show '' That Was the Week That Was'', recorded in front of a live audience.

Martin frequently used comedy records to experiment with recording techniques and motifs used later on musical records, such as recording magnetic tape at half-speed and then playing it back at normal speed. (Martin used this effect on several Beatles records, such as his sped-up piano solo on " In My Life".) In particular, Martin was curious to see how tape offered advantages over existing technologies favored by EMI: "It was still in its infancy, and a lot of people at the studio regarded tape with suspicion. But we gradually learnt all about it, and working with the likes of Sellers and Milligan was very useful, because, as it wasn't music, you could experiment. ... We made things out of tape loops, slowed things down, and banged on piano lids."

Rivalries and tensions at EMI

Salary and royalty disputes

By the time he signed a three-year contract renewal in 1959, Martin sought—but failed—to obtain a royalty on Parlophone's record sales, a practice becoming common in the U.S.: "I reckoned that if I was going to devote my life to building up something which wasn't mine, I deserved some form of commission", he reflected. The issue continued to linger in his mind, and Martin claimed he "nearly didn't sign" his spring 1962 contract renewal over this issue—even threatening EMI managing director L. G. ("Len") Wood that he would walk away from his job. At the same time as the contract dispute, Martin took a work trip in late March 1962 to Blackpool with his secretary, Judy Lockhart-Smith. This trip led Wood to discover that Martin had been having an affair with Lockhart-Smith, which further irritated Wood. With their relationship strained, Wood exacted a measure of revenge by having Martin sign the Beatles to a record contract to appease interest from EMI's publishing arm, Ardmore & Beechwood.

Martin was also infuriated by EMI's refusal to give him a Christmas bonus at the end of 1963—a year in which he had produced seven no. 1 singles and dominated the albums chart—because his £3,000 salary disqualified him from receiving one. "I, naturally, had a chip on my shoulder", he admitted later. He also advocated that the Beatles' penny-per-record royalty rate be doubled; Len Wood agreed to this, but only if the Beatles signed a five-year contract renewal in exchange. When Martin countered that EMI should raise the royalty without conditions. Wood grudgingly acquiesced, but Martin believed that, "from that moment on, I was considered a traitor within EMI".

Rivalry with Norrie Paramor

During Martin's tenure at Parlophone, he also maintained a rivalry with fellow A&R director Norrie Paramor, head of EMI's prominent Columbia Records label. Before Martin became one of Britain's most in-demand producers thanks to his work with the Beatles, he was envious that Paramor had produced highly successful pop acts, such as Cliff Richard. He admitted to looking with "something close to desperation" for similar success. Martin also believed that Paramor's habit of forcing Columbia artists to record his own songs as B-sides (thus giving Paramor, who used more than 30 pseudonyms in this practice, a royalty on the single) was unethical. In March 1962, Martin met with a young David Frost to share insider information on the shady business practices of A&R men such as Paramor; this scoop aired in an episode of London AR-TV's ''This Week'' public affairs programme in November, causing Paramor great embarrassment.

Conflict with Capitol Records

In 1955, EMI purchased American recording company Capitol Records. Though this gave Capitol the right of first refusal to issue records in the US from EMI artists, in practice Capitol's head of international A&R, Dave Dexter Jr., chose to issue very few British records in America. Martin and his EMI A&R colleagues became irate at how few British records were issued by Capitol, and how little promotion was given for the ones that were issued. In December 1962, Martin complained to EMI managing director Len Wood that he "would not wish to recommend Capitol Records to any impresario who was thinking of launching a future British show in the States". Dexter passed on issuing the Beatles' first four singles in the US, driving Martin out of desperation to issue " She Loves You" on the small, independent Swan label.

Capitol finally agreed to release a Beatles single, " I Want to Hold Your Hand", only after Wood met Capitol president Alan Livingston in person in November 1963 with an order from EMI chairman Sir Joseph Lockwood to do so. Martin alleged that when he and the Beatles traveled to New York to make their American debut in February 1964, Livingston kept Martin away from the press to minimize EMI's role (and promote Capitol's) in the Beatles' success.

Martin and the Beatles resented Capitol's practice of issuing records often highly divergent from British record releases. These changes could include the album title, cover art, and songs included. In addition, Dexter frequently altered Martin's mixes of Beatles tracks by processing them through Capitol's Duophonic mock stereo system. Capitol's divergent treatment of Beatle albums did not cease until the band signed a new contract with EMI in January 1967 that forbade such alterations.

Separation from EMI and start of Associated Independent Recording

After his repeated clashes over salary terms with EMI management, Martin informed them in June 1964 that he would not renew his contract in 1965. Though EMI managing director Len Wood attempted to persuade Martin to stay with the company, Martin continued to insist that he would not work for EMI without receiving a commission on record sales. Wood offered him a 3% commission minus "overhead costs", which would have translated to an £11,000 bonus for 1964—though, in doing so, Wood revealed to Martin that EMI had made £2.2 million in net profit off of Martin's records that year. "With that simple sentence, he cut straight through whatever vestige of an umbilical cord still bound me to EMI. ... I was flabbergasted", Martin observed. As Martin exited the company in August 1965, he recruited a number of other EMI staffers, including Norman Newell, Ron Richards, John Burgess, his wife, Judy, and Decca's Peter Sullivan. Artists associated with Martin's new production team included Adam Faith, Manfred Mann, Peter and Gordon, the Hollies, Tom Jones, and Engelbert Humperdinck.

Martin conceived of his new company as being modeled on the Associated London Scripts cooperative of comedy writers in 1950s and 1960s, offering equal shares in the company to his A&R colleagues and expecting them to pay studio costs proportionate to their earnings. He named it Associated Independent Recording (AIR). Short of startup capital and with many of AIR's associated acts still under contract to EMI, Martin negotiated a business arrangement with EMI that would give EMI the right of first refusal on any AIR production. In exchange, EMI would pay a 7% producer's royalty on any AIR record by an artist not signed to EMI, and a 2% royalty on records by artists who were signed. A special arrangement was made for Beatles records, wherein AIR was to receive 0.5% of UK retail sales and 5% of the pressing fees EMI generated from licensing records in the US.

Martin's departure from EMI and foundation of an independent production company was major news in the music press, with the '' NME'' calling it a "shock to the recording industry". Wood attempted to lure Martin back to EMI in 1969 with an offered salary of £25,000, but Martin rejected it. Martin and Wood's working relationship ruptured for good in 1973, with Martin vowing only to negotiate with EMI through legal representatives from then on.

The Beatles

Epstein's approaches to EMI

In November 1961, new Beatles manager Brian Epstein travelled to London to meet with record executives from EMI and Decca Records in the interest of obtaining a recording contract for his band. Epstein met with EMI's general marketing director Ron White, with whom he had a longstanding business relationship, and left a copy of the Beatles' German single with Tony Sheridan, "My Bonnie". White said he would play it for EMI's four A&R directors, including George Martin (though it later emerged that he neglected to do so, playing it only for two of them—Wally Ridley and Norman Newell). In mid December, White replied that EMI was not interested in signing the Beatles. By coincidence, Martin gave an interview that week in ''Disc'' magazine in which he explained that "beat groups" presented unique challenges for A&R directors, and that he sought a "distinct sound" when scouting them.

Martin claimed that he was contacted by Sid Colman of EMI music publisher Ardmore & Beechwood at the request of Epstein, though Colman's colleague Kim Bennett later disputed this. In any event, Martin arranged a meeting on 13 February 1962 with Epstein, who played for Martin the recording of the Beatles' failed January audition for Decca Records. Epstein recalled that Martin liked George Harrison's guitar playing and preferred Paul McCartney's singing voice to John Lennon's, though Martin himself recalled that he "wasn't knocked out at all" by the "lousy tape".

With Martin apparently uninterested, Ardmore & Beechwood's Colman and Bennett pressured EMI management to sign the Beatles in hopes of gaining the rights to Lennon–McCartney song publishing on Beatle records; Colman and Bennett even offered to pay for the expense of the Beatles' first EMI recordings. EMI managing director L. G. ("Len") Wood rejected this proposal. Separately, Martin's relationship with Wood became strained by spring 1962, as the two had strong disagreements over business matters and also Wood's disapproval of Martin's ongoing extramarital relationship with his secretary (and later wife), Judy. To appease Colman's interest in the Beatles, Wood directed Martin to sign the group.

Martin met with Epstein again on 9 May at EMI Studios in London, and informed him he would give the Beatles a standard recording contract with Parlophone, to record a minimum of six tracks in the first year. The royalty rate was to be one penny for each record sold on 85% of records, which was to be split among the four members and Epstein. They agreed to hold the Beatles' first recording date on 6 June 1962.

Early Beatles sessions, 1962

Though Martin later called the 6 June 1962 session at EMI's studio two an "audition", as he had never seen the band play before, the session was actually intended to record material for the first Beatles single. Ron Richards and his engineer Norman Smith recorded four songs—" Besame Mucho", " Love Me Do", " Ask Me Why", and " P.S. I Love You". Martin arrived during the recording of "Love Me Do"; between takes, he introduced himself to the Beatles and subtly changed the arrangement. The verdict was not promising, however, as Richards and Martin complained about Pete Best's drumming, and Martin thought their original songs were simply not good enough. In the control room, Martin asked the individual Beatles if there was anything they personally did not like, to which George Harrison replied, "I don't like your tie." That was the turning point, according to Smith, as John Lennon and Paul McCartney joined in with jokes and comic wordplay, that made Martin think that he should sign them to a contract for their wit alone. After deliberating for a time whether to make Lennon or McCartney the lead vocalist of the group, Martin decided he would let them retain their shared lead role: "Suddenly it hit me that I had to take them as they were, which was a new thing. I was being too conventional."

Though charmed by the Beatles' personalities, Martin was unimpressed with the musical repertoire from their first session. "I didn't think the Beatles had any song of any worth—they gave me no evidence whatsoever that they could write hit material", he claimed later. He arranged for the Beatles to record a cover of Mitch Murray's "How Do You Do It" at a 4 September session, with the Beatles now featuring Ringo Starr on drums. The Beatles also re-recorded "Love Me Do" and played an early version of " Please Please Me", which Martin thought was "dreary" and needed to be sped up. Though Martin was sure "How Do You Do It" could be a hit, the Beatles hated the song's style and Murray disliked the Beatles' recording of it. Additionally, Ardmore & Beechwood protested Martin's plan to issue an A-side that was not a Lennon–McCartney song. Martin then reluctantly decided to have "Love Me Do" issued as the A-side of the Beatles' first single and save "How Do You Do It" for another occasion. (In April 1963, Martin achieved a No. 1 hit with the song as recorded by Beatle contemporaries Gerry and the Pacemakers.)

Martin was dissatisfied with Starr's 4 September performance and resolved to use a session drummer for their next recording session. On 11 September 1962, the Beatles recorded " Love Me Do" for a third time with Andy White playing drums, as well as the B-side of their first single, "P.S. I Love You", and a sped-up version of "Please Please Me". Starr was asked to play tambourine and maracas, and although he complied, he was definitely "not pleased". Due to an EMI library error, a 4 September version with Starr playing drums was issued on the British single release; afterwards, the tape was destroyed, and the 11 September recording with Andy White on drums was used for all subsequent releases. (Martin later praised Starr's drumming, calling him "probably ... the finest rock drummer in the world today".)

Despite Martin's doubts about the song, "Love Me Do" steadily climbed in the British charts, peaking at number 17 in late November 1962. With his doubts about the Beatles' songwriting abilities now quashed, on 16 November Martin told the band they should re-record "Please Please Me" and make it their second single. He also suggested the Beatles record a full album (LP), a suggestion Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn called "genuinely mind-boggling", given how little exposure the Beatles had achieved so far. On 26 November, the Beatles attempted "Please Please Me" a third time. After the recording Martin looked over the mixing desk and said, "Gentlemen, you have just made your first number one record". Martin directed Epstein to find a good publisher, as he believed Ardmore & Beechwood had done nothing to promote "Love Me Do"; this led them to Dick James, a business acquaintance of Martin.

Martin considered recording the Beatles' first LP as a live album at their home venue in Liverpool, The Cavern Club, and promoted this idea in an ''NME'' interview in late November. However, Martin found the Cavern unsuitable for recording in a mid-December visit, and he decided to record the group in the studio instead.

Commercial breakout, 1963–1964

1963

As Martin had predicted, " Please Please Me" reached no. 1 on most of the British singles charts upon its release in January 1963. "From that moment, we simply never stood still", he reflected. For the Beatles' first LP, Martin had the group record 10 tracks to pair with the A- and B-sides of their first two singles—for 14 tracks in total. They accomplished this in one marathon recording session, on 11 February 1963, with the Beatles recording a mix of Lennon–McCartney originals and covers from their stage act. Nine days later, Martin overdubbed a piano part to the song " Misery" and a celesta on " Baby It's You". The resulting album, '' Please Please Me'', became a huge success in the UK, reaching no. 1 on the charts in May and staying there for 30 consecutive weeks until replaced by the Beatles' second album, '' With the Beatles''. ''Please Please Me'' was the first non-soundtrack album to spend more than one year consecutively inside the top ten of what became the Official UK Albums Chart (with 62 weeks).

At this early stage of their working relationship, Martin played a major role in refining and arranging the Beatles' self-written songs to make them commercially appealing: "I taught them the importance of the hook. You had to get people's attention in the first ten seconds, and so I would generally get hold of their song and 'top and tail' it—make a beginning and end. And also make sure it ran for about two-and-a-half minutes, so that it would fit DJs' programmes". "I would meet them in the studio to hear a new number. I would perch myself on a high stool and John and Paul would stand around me with their acoustic guitars and play and sing it. ... Then I would make suggestions to improve it and we'd try it again", he recalled. The Beatles' frenetic recording schedule continued on 5 March 1963, as they recorded " From Me to You", "Thank You Girl", and an early version of "One After 909". Martin altered the arrangement of "From Me to You", substituting the Beatles' idea for a guitar intro with a vocalized "da-da-da-da-da-dum-dum-da", backed by overdubbed harmonica. "From Me to You" reached no. 1 in the UK singles charts in early May, staying there for seven weeks.

The Beatles returned to EMI Studios on 1 July to record a new single, " She Loves You". Martin liked the song but was skeptical of its closing chord, a major sixth cluster, which he found cliché. The Beatles, now increasingly confident in their songwriting, pushed back. As Paul McCartney recalled, "We said 'It's such a great sound it doesn't matter; we've got to have it'". Martin and recording engineer Norman Smith changed the studio microphone arrangement for "She Loves You", giving the bass and drums a more prominent sound on the record. "She Loves You" was released in late August and instantly became a massive hit in the UK, signalling the beginning of national Beatlemania and becoming the best-selling UK single by any artist in the 1960s.

Sometime in 1963, Martin and Brian Epstein arranged a loose formula to record two Beatles albums and four singles per year. The Beatles began work on their second LP on 18 July. Like their debut album, this record reflected the repertoire of the Beatles' contemporary stage act—at this time a mix of Lennon–McCartney originals and American R&B hits, particularly from Motown. Additional album sessions followed on 30 July and into September–October. Martin played piano on several of the tracks, including " Money (That's What I Want)", " You Really Got a Hold On Me", and " Not a Second Time", and also played Hammond organ on " I Wanna Be Your Man". Martin was particularly impressed with the Lennon–McCartney tune " It Won't Be Long" and chose it to be the album opener. ''With the Beatles'' came out on 22 November 1963 and spent 21 weeks atop the albums chart.

Martin and the Beatles recorded their next single, " I Want to Hold Your Hand" on 17 October—their first recording session with four-track recording. Impressed with the song, Martin merely suggested adding handclaps and adding compression to Lennon's rhythm guitar sound to imitate the sound of an organ. The single's B-side, " This Boy", featured complex three-part harmonies by Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison that Martin arranged. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" became another huge seller, staying at no. 1 in the UK for five weeks—and, in January 1964, becoming the group's (and Martin's) first no. 1 in the US. The song became the US year-end no. 1 record of 1964.

1964

On 29 January 1964, Martin and Smith traveled to Paris, where the Beatles were performing a residency, to have them record German-language versions of "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" for the West German market. The Beatles initially refused to record these versions, forcing Martin to barge into their hotel room and insist they come to the studio. They meekly complied, recording " Komm, gib mir deine Hand / Sie liebt dich". They also recorded what was to be their next no. 1 single, " Can't Buy Me Love", which was the British year-end no. 1. Martin tweaked the arrangement by having part of the chorus open the song as an intro, so "it grabbed people".

Martin traveled to New York with the Beatles on 7 February, as the band embarked on their first visit to America—including landmark performances on '' The Ed Sullivan Show''. Martin and Capitol Records planned to record a live album of one of the Beatles' appearances at Carnegie Hall, but they were stymied by the American Federation of Musicians' refusal to allow Martin, a non-union member, to participate in the recording.

In late February, the band re-entered the studio and began recording the soundtrack album to the Beatles' upcoming untitled feature film. The film, album, and lead single were all titled "A Hard Day's Night". Martin and George Harrison played piano and guitar, respectively, at half-speed for the song's solo, which was then played back at normal speed on the record. In addition to producing the Beatles' original songs for the album—the first and only to exclusively feature Lennon–McCartney songs—Martin orchestrated several instrumental numbers for the film. The film was a success, and the album and single both reached no. 1 in the UK and US when all three were released in July. Martin received an Academy Award nomination for best film score.

When Ringo Starr fell ill with laryngitis just before the Beatles' 1964 world tour began in early June, Martin recruited session drummer Jimmie Nicol as a temporary replacement. Martin joined them for part of their August/September North American tour, recording their performance at the Hollywood Bowl. (Overwhelming crowd noise made the recording unsuitable for release until, in 1977, Martin spliced some of the performances with others from their 1965 visit to the Hollywood Bowl; this was issued as '' The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl'', which made no. 2 in the US and no. 1 in the UK.)

The Beatles began recording their next studio album, '' Beatles for Sale'' in August, though the sessions continued intermittently through late October and the record was released on 4 December. Martin observed that the Beatles were "war weary" during many of these sessions, and the album included six covers because Lennon and McCartney had not written enough songs to fill out the record. The album included a February 1965 US no. 1 single, "Eight Days a Week" (which was not released in the UK). These sessions also produced a December 1964 single, " I Feel Fine", that reached no. 1 in the UK and US and was among the first pop records to feature feedback. ''Beatles for Sale'' also featured new percussion sounds on several tracks, such as timpani and chocalho. Martin contributed piano on their cover of "Rock and Roll Music". ''Beatles for Sale'' was the first album for which the Beatles were present for mixing. The album reached no. 1 in the UK but was not released in the US.

Shift to studio experimentation, 1965–1966

1965

In mid-February 1965, Martin and the Beatles began five months of sessions to record the music for their second film, '' Help!''. The Beatles adopted new studio techniques for these sessions, typically overdubbing vocals and other sounds onto a carefully laid rhythm track. The group by now had grown confident in the studio, and Martin encouraged them to explore new ideas for songs, such as an outro to " Ticket to Ride" that was at a faster tempo than the rest of song. ("Ticket to Ride" reached no. 1 in the US and UK upon release a single.) The band continued to experiment with unusual instruments, such as an alto flute solo for " You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" scored by Martin. Notably, it was Martin's idea to score a string quartet accompaniment for " Yesterday" against McCartney's initial reluctance. Martin played the song in the style of Bach to show McCartney the voicings that were available. "Yesterday" (not released in the UK) became a US no. 1 and one of the most covered songs of all time. ''Help!'' and its eponymous single topped the charts in both countries.

The group reconvened in October and November to record another album in time for the holiday shopping season. '' Rubber Soul'' continued the Beatles' experimentation with new sounds and contained several groundbreaking tracks. " Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" featured George Harrison on sitar, making it one of the first Western pop records to feature Indian instrumentation. (Martin had previously recorded sitar on a 1959 Peter Sellers comedy record.) On " Think For Yourself", Paul McCartney used a Tone Bender

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