George Martin Caricature

George Martin Caricature, shown here in his office in 1967, age 41.
Martin was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, audio engineer, and musician. He was referred to as the “Fifth Beatle”, by Paul McCartney, in reference to his extensive involvement on each of the Beatles' original albums. Martin produced 30 number-one hit singles in the United Kingdom and 23 number-one hits in the United States.

In 1943, when he was 17, he joined the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy and became an aerial observer and a commissioned officer. After the war, he attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1947 to 1950, where he studied piano and oboe, and was interested in the music of Rachmaninoff and Ravel, as well as Cole Porter. Martin's oboe teacher was Margaret Eliot (the mother of Jane Asher, who would later become involved with Paul McCartney).

Martin produced comedy and novelty records in the early 1950s, working with Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, and Bernard Cribbins, among others.

Through his contact Sid Coleman, Martin arranged a meeting on February 13, 1962 with Brian Epstein to discuss his new band, The Beatles. Martin listened to a tape recorded at Decca, and thought that Epstein's group was “rather unpromising”, but liked the sound of Lennon's and McCartney's vocals.
The Beatles auditioned for Martin on June 6, 1962, in studio three at the Abbey Road studios, where he signed the band.

Martin's more formal musical expertise helped fill the gaps between the Beatles' unrefined talent and the sound which distinguished them from other groups, which eventually made them successful.
Most of the Beatles' orchestral arrangements and instrumentation were written or performed by Martin, as well as frequent keyboard parts on the early records, in collaboration with the less musically experienced band.

It was Martin's idea to score a string quartet accompaniment for “Yesterday” against McCartney's initial reluctance. Paul McCartney once commended Martin by saying: “George Martin was quite experimental for who he was, a grown-up.”

After the Beatles breakup, Martin produced many records for other notable musicians: the band America, Jeff Beck, Gary Brooker, Neil Sedaka, Kenny Rogers, Cheap Trick, Elton John and Celine Dion.

Martin also directly and indirectly contributed to the main themes of three films in the James Bond series: “From Russian With Love”, “Goldfinger” and “Live And Let Die”.

In recognition of his services to the music industry and popular culture, he was made a Knight Bachelor in 1996.

Sir George Martin died in his sleep on the night of March 8, 2016 at his home in Wiltshire, England, at the age of 90. His death was announced by Ringo Starr on his Twitter account. He is survived by his wife of nearly fifty years, Judy Lockhart Smith, and his four children.