George Martin
George Henry Martin entered the world on the 3rd of January 1926 in North London. His family lived modestly in Highbury and later Drayton Park before moving to Aubert Park in 1931. Electricity arrived at their home that year, marking a small but significant shift in their daily lives. At age six, his family acquired a piano that sparked his interest in music. He created his first composition, The Spider's Dance, when he was eight years old.
During World War II, Martin volunteered for the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy in 1943. He trained at HMS St Vincent in Gosport but never saw combat as the war ended before his deployment. On the 26th of July 1945, he appeared on BBC Radio during a Royal Navy variety show, playing a self-composed piano piece. After leaving the service in January 1947, he used his veteran's grant to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1947 to 1950. There he studied piano as his main instrument and oboe as his secondary, while also taking courses in music composition and orchestration.
Martin joined EMI in November 1950 as an assistant to Oscar Preuss, the head of Parlophone. At that time, the label was considered insignificant and used only for minor acts. Martin managed Parlophone's classical records catalogue, including Baroque ensemble sessions with Karl Haas. In 1953, he produced Ron Goodwin's first record, an instrumental rendition of Charlie Chaplin's theme from Limelight, which reached number three on the British charts.
When Preuss retired in April 1955, the 29-year-old Martin took over the label. He fought to retain it against corporate pressure to move successful artists elsewhere. His work boosted Parlophone's profile through comedy records like the 1957 recording of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann's show, At the Drop of a Hat. This success transformed what had been described as a sad little company into a highly profitable business. 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. His first hit production came in 1956 with the Johnny Duckworth Band's jazz parody The Three Blind Mice.
Brian Epstein approached EMI in November 1961 seeking a recording contract for his band. Martin arranged a meeting on the 13th of February 1962 where Epstein played a recording of the Beatles' failed January audition for Decca Records. Martin later recalled that he was not knocked out by the lousy tape but noticed George Harrison's guitar playing and preferred Paul McCartney's singing voice. On the 9th of May at EMI Studios in London, Martin informed Epstein he would give the Beatles a standard recording contract.
Their first session occurred on the 6th of June 1962 at EMI's studio two. Ron Richards and engineer Norman Smith recorded four songs including Love Me Do. Martin arrived during the recording of that track and subtly changed the arrangement. He complained about Pete Best's drumming and thought their original songs were simply not good enough. After deliberating whether to make Lennon or McCartney the lead vocalist, Martin decided they should retain their shared role. By late 1962, Love Me Do peaked at number seventeen in the British charts. Martin then told the band they should re-record Please Please Me and make it their second single. On the 26th of November, after a third attempt, Martin looked over the mixing desk and said, Gentlemen, you have just made your first number one record.
After repeated clashes over salary terms with EMI management, Martin informed them in June 1964 that he would not renew his contract in 1965. Managing director Len Wood offered him a 3% commission minus overhead costs, which would have translated to an £11,000 bonus for 1964. This revelation cut through whatever vestige of an umbilical cord still bound him to EMI. As Martin exited the company in August 1965, he recruited other EMI staffers including Norman Newell, Ron Richards, John Burgess, his wife Judy, and Decca's Peter Sullivan.
Martin named his new production team Associated Independent Recording (AIR). He conceived of it as being modelled on the Associated London Scripts cooperative of comedy writers from the 1950s and 1960s. AIR opened its first studio at the top of the Peter Robinson building in Oxford Circus, London, in October 1970. Nine years later, he opened another studio, AIR Montserrat, on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. This studio was destroyed by a hurricane ten years later. Artists associated with Martin's new production team included Adam Faith, Manfred Mann, Peter and Gordon, The Hollies, Tom Jones, and Engelbert Humperdinck.
Beginning in the late 1950s, Martin supplemented his producer income by publishing music and having artists record it. His earliest composing work involved incidental music to accompany Peter Sellers' comedy records. In 1966, he signed a long-term deal with United Artists to write instrumental music. Martin composed film scores beginning in the early 1960s, including those for A Hard Day's Night in 1964 and Yellow Submarine in 1968. He also produced an instrumental for Ferry Cross the Mersey released in 1965.
Martin produced two James Bond themes: Shirley Bassey's Goldfinger in 1964 and Paul McCartney and Wings' Live and Let Die in 1973. He was commissioned to write an official opening theme for BBC Radio 1's launch in September 1967 entitled Theme One. It was the first piece of music heard on Radio 1. In 1997, Martin hosted a three-part BBC co-produced documentary series titled The Rhythm of Life. Here he discussed various aspects of musical composition with professional musicians including Brian Wilson, Mark Knopfler, and Burt Bacharach.
In 1946, Martin met Jean Sheena Chisholm, a fellow member of the Royal Navy's choir. They bonded over their mutual love of music despite his mother Bertha strongly disapproving of her as a partner. They were married at the University of Aberdeen on the 3rd of January 1948. Their divorce was finalized in February 1965 after Martin pleaded for it around 1960 citing childcare needs. On his first day of work at EMI Studios in 1950, Martin met Judy Lockhart Smith, a secretary to Parlophone director Oscar Preuss. They began a discreet affair in the late 1950s and married on the 24th of June 1966 at the Marylebone Registry Office.
Martin spent his later years with Lockhart Smith at their home in Coleshill, Oxfordshire. He died there on the 8th of March 2016 aged 90. His biographer Kenneth Womack later attributed his death to complications from stomach cancer. In the mid-1970s, Martin's hearing started to decline when he realized he could not detect high frequencies that an engineer used to evaluate tonality. By 2014, he relied on a combination of hearing aids and lip-reading to communicate face to face. He attributed his hearing loss to constant production work stating I was in the studio for 14 hours at a stretch and never let my ears repair.
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Common questions
When was George Martin born and where did he grow up?
George Henry Martin entered the world on the 3rd of January 1926 in North London. His family lived modestly in Highbury and later Drayton Park before moving to Aubert Park in 1931.
What role did George Martin play during World War II?
George Martin volunteered for the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy in 1943 and trained at HMS St Vincent in Gosport but never saw combat as the war ended before his deployment. He appeared on BBC Radio during a Royal Navy variety show on the 26th of July 1945 playing a self-composed piano piece.
How did George Martin transform Parlophone Records into a profitable business?
George Martin took over the label when Oscar Preuss retired in April 1955 and fought corporate pressure to move successful artists elsewhere. His work boosted Parlophone's profile through comedy records like the 1957 recording of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann's show At the Drop of a Hat which transformed the company into a highly profitable business.
When did George Martin sign The Beatles to EMI Studios?
Brian Epstein approached EMI in November 1961 seeking a recording contract for his band and Martin arranged a meeting on the 13th of February 1962 where Epstein played a recording of the Beatles' failed January audition for Decca Records. On the 9th of May at EMI Studios in London Martin informed Epstein he would give the Beatles a standard recording contract.
Why did George Martin leave EMI in August 1965?
Martin left EMI after repeated clashes over salary terms with management and an offer from managing director Len Wood that included a 3% commission minus overhead costs. He recruited other EMI staffers including Norman Newell Ron Richards John Burgess his wife Judy and Decca's Peter Sullivan to form Associated Independent Recording.
How did George Martin die and what health issues affected him later in life?
George Martin died at his home in Coleshill Oxfordshire on the 8th of March 2016 aged 90 due to complications from stomach cancer according to biographer Kenneth Womack. His hearing started to decline in the mid-1970s when he could not detect high frequencies used by engineers to evaluate tonality and by 2014 he relied on hearing aids and lip-reading to communicate.