Sir george martin biography template

He also produced several comedy records and worked with Peter Sellers. Even before the Beatles formerly auditioned for Martin, he signed a contract to have them record with Parlophone on the strength of a meeting with Beatles manager Brian Epstein on May 9,with the actual audition coming on June 6, Martin did not put his signature on the first contract lest he not like the future audition.

Martin was not impressed with Pete Best's drumming, nor did he think that the Beatles' songs were strong enough to become hits. Despite Martin's continued interest in music, and "fantasies about being the next Rachmaninoff ", he did not initially choose music as a career. Inat the age of 17, Martin volunteered for the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navyhaving been inspired by their exploits in the Battle of Taranto in Encouraged by the pianist, teacher and broadcaster Sidney HarrisonMartin used his veteran's grant to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from to He studied piano as his main instrument and oboe as his secondary, being interested in the music of Rachmaninoff and Ravel and Cole Porter.

Although having been regarded by EMI as a vital German imprint in the past, it was then not taken seriously and used only for EMI's insignificant acts. Preuss retired as head of Parlophone in Aprilleaving the year-old Martin to take over the label. As head of Parlophone, Martin recorded classical and Baroque music, original cast recordingsjazzand regional music from around Britain and Ireland.

After recording an album, Jim! Martin courted controversy in summerwhen 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 year-old Paul Hanford, failed to chart in Britain—though it performed well in several other countries and reached no.

Martin produced two singles for Paul Gadd in Neither single was commercially successful. Martin's first British no. In AugustMartin oversaw Judy Garland 's final studio recording session, with two songs from the Maggie May musical. By lateMartin had established a strong working relationship with Brian Epsteinthe Beatles' manager. Martin also produced the Epstein-managed Billy J.

Kramer and Martin scored two UK no. Martin began work with the Fourmost in summer with a cover of one of John Lennon's earliest songs, " Hello Little Girl ", which reached no. The record was only a minor hit, reaching no. Kramer and the Dakotas, Martin-produced and Epstein-managed acts were responsible for 37 weeks of no. Martin produced numerous comedy and novelty records.

His first success in the genre was the "Mock Mozart" single, performed by Peter Ustinov with Antony Hopkins — a record reluctantly released in by EMI, only after Preuss's insistence. In he produced the well-known children's song "Nellie the Elephant" which was released by Parlophone in October of that year. InMartin 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.

Martin later became firm friends with Spike Milliganand was best man at Milligan's second wedding: "I loved The Goon Showand issued an album of it on my label Parlophone, which is how I got to sir george martin biography template Spike. 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.

The River Wye is a river that runs through England and Wales. Martin scored a major success in with the Beyond the Fringe show cast album, which starred Peter CookDudley MooreAlan Bennettand Jonathan Miller ; the show catalyzed Britain's satire boom in the early s. 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.

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. By the time he signed a three-year contract renewal inMartin sought—but failed—to obtain a royalty on Parlophone's record sales, a practice becoming common in the U.

Martin was also infuriated by EMI's refusal to give him a Christmas bonus at the end of —a year in which he had produced seven no. 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". 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 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.

Sir george martin biography template

In addition, Dexter frequently altered Martin's mixes of Beatles tracks by processing them through Capitol's Duophonic mock stereo system. After his repeated clashes over salary terms with EMI management, Martin informed them in June that he would not renew his contract in I was flabbergasted", Martin observed. 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".

In Novembernew 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. EMI managing director L. 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.

Though Martin later called the 6 June 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. I Love You ". I was being too conventional. Though charmed by the Beatles' personalities, Martin was unimpressed with the musical repertoire from their first session.

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. Martin was dissatisfied with Starr's 4 September performance and resolved to use a session drummer for their next recording session. 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. Despite Martin's doubts about the song, "Love Me Do" steadily climbed in the British charts, peaking at number 17 in late November 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 LPa suggestion Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn called "genuinely mind-boggling", given how little exposure the Beatles had achieved so far. After the recording, Martin looked over the mixing desk and said, "Gentlemen, you have just made your first number one record". As Martin had predicted, " Please Please Me " reached no.

Nine days later, Martin overdubbed a piano part to the song " Misery " and a celesta on " Baby It's You ". 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 sir george martin biography template 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. 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. As Paul McCartney recalled, "We said 'It's such a great sound it doesn't matter; we've got to have it'".

Sometime inMartin and Brian Epstein arranged a loose formula to record two Beatles albums and four singles per year. 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. The song became the US year-end no. The Beatles initially refused to record these versions, forcing Martin to barge into their hotel room and insist they come to the studio.

They also recorded what was to be their next no. Martin travelled 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. In late February, the band re-entered the studio and began recording the soundtrack album to the Beatles' upcoming untitled feature film.

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. When Ringo Starr fell ill with laryngitis just before the Beatles' world tour began in early June, Martin recruited session drummer Jimmie Nicol as a temporary replacement.

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. These sessions also produced a December single, " I Feel Fine ", that reached no. In mid-FebruaryMartin 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 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. The group reconvened in October and November to record another sir george martin biography template in time for the holiday shopping season.

Martin had previously recorded sitar on a Peter Sellers comedy record. Though Martin didn't play a harpsichord on the record, "In My Life" inspired other record producers to begin incorporating the instrument in their arrangements of pop records. This was Britain's first example of a double A-sided record. Rubber Soul also hit no. I think Rubber Soul was the first of the albums that presented a new Beatles to the world.

Up to this point we had been making albums that were rather like a collection of their singles. And now, we really were beginning to think about albums as a bit of art in their own right. We were thinking about the album as an entity of its own, and Rubber Soul was the first one to emerge in this way. The Beatles re-entered EMI Studios in Aprilwith the group's exploration of recording at Stax Records ' studio in Memphis—without Martin there to produce—having been scuttled by media leaks.

The song featured several innovations in pop recording, including the use of a tanpura drone loop throughout the song, a backwards guitar solo, sped-up tape loops to produce strange sound effects, and artificial double tracking ADT and a rotating Leslie speaker on Lennon's vocal. Other Revolver tracks featured musical departures for the group, as well.

Lennon's " I'm Only Sleeping " was recorded at a fast tape speed and then slowed down to achieve a drowsy, dream-like sound. This was achieved by surreptitiously flouting EMI's equipment rules by using a reverse-wired bass amplifier as a microphone. Revolver was released in August to highly favourable critical reaction, particularly in the UK.

Retrospective criticism has recognized it as being among the finest pop albums ever made, with numerous critics listing it at no. By the time the Beatles resumed recording on 24 Novemberthey had decided to discontinue touring and focus their creative energies on the recording studio. Martin reflected, "the time had come for experiment.

The Beatles knew it, and I knew it. Between 6—15 December, they attempted yet another arrangement, this time with cellos and a brass section scored by Martin, a large percussion section, swarmandaland overdubbed backwards cymbals. Martin, Ken Townsendand Geoff Emerick accomplished Lennon's unusual request by carefully speeding up take 7 and slowing down take 26 so they were nearly equal in key and tempo.

Soon after, the band began work on Paul McCartney 's " Penny Lane ", which featured a piccolo trumpet solo that was requested by McCartney after hearing the instrument on a BBC broadcast. McCartney hummed the melody that he wanted, and Martin notated it for David Masonthe classically trained trumpeter. The single drew critical praise for its musical and recording inventiveness, with "Penny Lane" reaching no.

However, both sides of the single reached no. The sides competed for radio airplay, hurting each side's chart performance. George Martin died at 90 years old. Born: January 6 Died: March 8 Birthplace: LondonEngland. Best known as: The music producer who helped turn the Beatles into the world's biggest band. Buy from Amazon. Extra credit His marriage to Sheena Chisholm ended in divorce; they had two children, Alexis and Gregory.

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