wings012345
New member
Anyone know if George Martin put out a book revealing his secrets of recording. Be very interesting reading in my opinion. If so was it any good
George Martin
- Thread starter wings012345
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BentRabbit
New member
---> THIS <--- is another good read... Geoff Emerick was the primary engineer on most of The Beatles iconic albums... 
R
RAMI
Guest
Dean Martin has a brother in the recording industry?
+1. Here There and Everywhere - My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles is an excellent source of info about the engineer's perspective. Especially re what was done to get certain sound qualities on particular tracks, since they were so experimental. George Martin was the Beatles' producer and often their arranger. He had little to do with the technical side of the recordings.---> THIS <--- is another good read... Geoff Emerick was the primary engineer on most of The Beatles iconic albums...
grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
,Funny thing is that Martin wasn't of an upper crust background at all. Class wise, he was below John Lennon in the pecking order. England's funny that way. People up in Liverpool rather laughed when John came out with "Working class hero" because he was the only one that wasn't working class. And George Martin was of a similar background to the other three. But he sought a move up the class structure and by his own admission, effected a very upper class accent. Or as it was known then, a clipped BBC accent. Ringo used to refer to him as "very 12 inch", which I always thought was kind of funny, yet ironic. Ironic because the Beatles {along with Dylan, the Hollies and the Stones} were primarilly responsible for the power shift from singles to albums.
A few months back I taped a documentary on him but it was only at the start of the week that I got around to watching it. It was really good.
Martin's "autobiography", 'All you need is ears' I personally found really disappointing though I probably wouldn't have if I'd never read anything he'd said. There must be dozens of books out there that contain significant portions of George Martin. Just to name a few; "Behind the glass", "The Beatles recording sessions", "The record producers" and "All you need is love- the story of popular music". There's quite a few out there.
A few months back I taped a documentary on him but it was only at the start of the week that I got around to watching it. It was really good.
Martin's "autobiography", 'All you need is ears' I personally found really disappointing though I probably wouldn't have if I'd never read anything he'd said. There must be dozens of books out there that contain significant portions of George Martin. Just to name a few; "Behind the glass", "The Beatles recording sessions", "The record producers" and "All you need is love- the story of popular music". There's quite a few out there.
Centropolis
New member
Go to Google and search for "Recording The Beatles". You should come up with a book published by Curvebender. Not specific to George Martin but I think you'll find it interesting.
Sure he was. I wasn't talking about his childhood. I was talking about his background in classical music recording from 1950 on. And whether you or I would call classical music upper crust, the Beatles in 1962 would have!
grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
Actually, the Beatles partially did relate to George Martin because he had produced quite a bit of comedy stuff with Peter Sellers and the Beatles were huge Goons fans. It came across in Lennon's books and the stuff he used to write when he was at school. That said, they were worlds apart by 1962 in age and musical tastes although the Beatles were not your the usual blueshounds that was typical of British 60s outfits.
George Martin was an interesting producer because he was something of an odd ball. In the latter 60s and early 70s Tony Visconti was known as the producer that the weirdos that the mainstream producers didn't know what to do with were sent to but a decade before this, Martin was the man. Comedy records, weirdos like Rolf Harris, swinging dames like Millicent Martin, blown out half crooners like Dick James.......
I've long felt that he was absolutely the right producer for the Beatles because long before they appeared on his horizon, he was an experimenter and something of an all rounder. He even had a hand in a single that was done with the BBC Radiophonic workshop {famous for their Dr Who music and early use of mellotron} under the name of Ray Cathode. As they got bored with two guitars, bass and drums he was just the man to leak classical and symphonic ideas their way as well as the electronic side of things. He was already adept at creating artificial soundworlds on a shoestring budget for Peter Sellers.
grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
I remember when I read this some 17 years ago, being struck by the label on the cover that said "The inside story of the genius that created the Beatles". I thought, what a dumb thing for the publishers to put on the cover. Anyone that has taken any notice of anything Martin has said about the Beatles will know that he's always stressed that they were the talent and provided the raw material and he's always refused to take credit. Which is a smart move on his part because with the benefit of hindsight, we can see just how crucial he was to their songs. "Please please me", "Can't buy me love", "Yesterday", "Eleanor Rigby", "Tomorrow never knows", "For no one", "Yellow Submarine", "Strawberry fields forever", "Penny Lane", "Getting better", "Being for the benefit of Mr Kite", "Within you, without you", "In my life", "A day in the life", "Rain", "I am the walrus".....these and quite a few more of their songs would be very different without his input. Much as I was disappointed with the three "Anthology" albums, they showed {especially the middle one} just how much he added to their stuff.
That's what I said about 8 posts back. Though I don't think it was because of anything specific Martin had done previously... more that they simply connected on a creative level.
grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
A bit of both. In the George Martin documentary I earlier mentioned, Paul McCartney and Georgie boy both state that his past stuff helped to bridge the gap for the Beatles. Not extensively, but it was there.
I think in those days, the producer was something of an unknown shadowy figure. They didn't even call Martin a producer, he was an A&R man. Very rarely were 'production' staff credited on records. Funnilly enough it was Phil Spector that probably really launched the concept of the producer into the public consciousness.
R
RAMI
Guest
I read "SHOUT" a long time ago. I remember that Beatles were impressed with the fact that George Martin worked with Peter Sellers and a few other of their favorite actors and comedians. They were huge Peter Sellers fans. In fact, they even called the Cavern Club "The Best of Cellars" as a play on words from "The Best of Sellers".
witzendoz
Senior Member
The Best Of Sellers Album is genius. EMI insisted that it be released as a 10" pressing as the 12" would cost too much. Poor old Parlophone always got the short end from EMI, that all changed when George Martin Signed the Beatles and Parlophone almost took over Abby Road Studios a few years later.
Just a side note, here is an interesting article about Paul McCartney signing to Decca 50 years after they turned down the Beatles.
Alan.
Just a side note, here is an interesting article about Paul McCartney signing to Decca 50 years after they turned down the Beatles.
Alan.
grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
I still have SHOUT ! I found it a really hard read. It was ever so gossipy. But where Phillip Norman excels in the book is his sections on the albums from "Rubber Soul" onwards. Although some of his info is off, the way he describes the albums and their making is amongst the best descriptions I've heard and I've read alot on that subject.