The Beatles Producer George Martin: His Plans To Follow Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts club Band

[@fourthtunz]

Very glad that the Beatles had George Martin, but also glad they got their way on the white album and let it be my favorite band. I wouldn’t change anything.

[@NeatBeatZone]

The white album is great. Songs vary in quality of course but hey it’s the bloody Beatles … sorry I couldn’t resist that old chestnut 😃👍🏼

[@doctorrobert1339]

@@rmp7400 Schizo posting

[@ExplodingPsyche]

@@rmp7400 Such a shame he fell off the edge of the flat Earth.

[@johngraves6878]

Let's face it. Martin led the Beatles to greatness. Wonderful interview, if brief! I absolutely love the Sgt Pepper DVD documentary on the 50th anniversary album, which largely features George. Not to be missed!

[@roncaruso931]

Let's face it, The Beatles wrote the songs and melody. They went to Martin if they needed something composed on strings or orchestra. Do you think Martin could have made The Turtles or The Young Rascals, for example, into the greatest band ever? No. The Beatles were super songwriters and brilliant musicians. They would have made it big without him.

[@54Tangerine]

No small wonder they couldn't stay together forever. The band collapsed under the weight of four immense talents. We are a fortunate few generations that were a witness to The Beatles.

[@johngraves6878]

No, the band collapsed under the weight of the Manson murder story, whose purpose was to unravel the counterculture. And at that moment, the Beatles were at the head of it. I think they thought, at least for a brief time, the manson murders had put a target on their backs. Let’s review the timeline: August 8 1969, the Tate murders. The last recording session in which the Beatles recorded together in the same studio was August 18, 1969. The Beatles final photo session together was August 22. 1969. John Lennon officially left the band on September 20, 1969. I mean, c’mon, this is so obvious. The bad PR from the murders poisoned the entire industry, and made the Beatles a high-profile political target. Let it Be, recorded in the months immediately following, was the group’s swan song. The Tate murders were an engineered psyop to assassinate America’s left wing movement, which was really getting in the way of America’s war in Vietnam.

[@Terminus_El_Camino]

From the comments, it's amazing to see how many people do *not* understand how much George Martin contributed to The Beatles' sound, even playing an instrument along with them sometimes. He also arranged so much of the orchestral music that you hear "behind" the band. The Beatles may have been successful without him, but they would not be who they *were*.

[@beatlebrian4404]

What those 4 men achieved in just 7 years is absolutely amazing! Take 1967, their output in that year alone, would have been most bands entire career!

[@NeatBeatZone]

For sure. What’s your favorite Beatle album Brian ?

[@beatlebrian4404]

@@NeatBeatZone well as as you can see from my name I'm a bit of a Beatles nut! All the Albums but my favorite is " Revolver"

[@NeatBeatZone]

@@beatlebrian4404 mine too Brian…great minds and all that 😉

[@manny4552]

True

[@zlonxman]

George Martin was a great producer, to be sure. But he was wrong (in my opinion) about the White Album. One of the things that makes the white album so excellent is its sheer size. By giving The Beatles four sides for an album, the band could express themselves in ways they couldn't have with a single album. Yes, there are great "solo" bits like "Julia," "Blackbird," etc... But there are also excellent full-band productions like "Happiness is a Warm Gun," "Revolution 1," and "Ob la di." I'm glad the Fabs didn't listen to their produce and went ahead with a double album. I love every bit on there. Even "Number 9" and "Wild Honey Pie" are interesting works to me. In fact, The White Album is my all-time favorite by this or any other band.

[@NeatBeatZone]

Great write up…the White album is my number 2 after Revolver. Always loved it 😊

[@edwardhayes6111]

Agree Wonder which songs Martin thought should have been dropped?

[@zlonxman]

@@edwardhayes6111 Good question. I don't know if Martin ever revealed which songs he would've dropped. We can only speculate, I guess.

[@ExplodingPsyche]

Agree completely. It cracks me up when people say it should have been a single album. I wouldn't give up one song on that album. I love Wild Honey Pie, while most would call it filler. I might skip Number 9 sometimes, but still appreciate it.

[@Fortdirt1]

He was right about the White Album. Some of it is trash.

[@Clean.Eastwood]

0:59 He's basically describing Smile, by the Beach Boys. Amazing.

[@RoyEberitzsch]

The white album is amazingly beautiful and wacky

[@vincewhirlwind68]

Fascinating snippet. Usually his interviews about the Beatles are very PR-friendly and underplay his own contributions, so this is very refreshing to hear. Thank you. When does it date from?

[@NeatBeatZone]

Thanks 😊 This is from 1979

[@anonymusum]

I share his opinion completely. I also was disappointed by the white album although there were some good tunes on it. But George Martin and Paul couldn´t dictate the general direction moreso as John found Yoko and thought that they both would create avantgarde music without knowing what avantgarde really means. George Harrison became more and more whiny and felt suppressed by Paul and John without realising that he wouldn´t have made it without them. So the whole situation cried for an ending. And if we look at the new great bands that were rising in this time frame I guess it was the right thing to do.

[@roberthubal6278]

No. John Paul George and Ringo are the Core Beatles. I'm glad the way it turned out musically.

[@RonaldReaganRocks1]

George Martin was a ket ingredient in all of the Beatles' best stuff.

[@roncaruso931]

Bullcrap.

[@Derekstefan]

I would have liked a George Martin version of the white album to see what he would cut out of it.

[@victorarena23]

He's so wrong. thank God the rebelled. The white album was brilliant. stg pepper was great because they were great songs. not because of the production, which of course was also brilliant

[@bobyers3071]

Obviously George martin's contributions to the Beatles was I don't know enormous or important but it was still the Beatles and he just worked for them he was a hired hand you know I think he's totally off base about the white album he's a little bitch snobby in my opinion I'm glad they didn't listen to him and they did what they wanted to do and I love the white album as much as more than sergeant pepper's and I love abbey road too and I love the second half but you know martin was an old fuddy-duddy so I'm glad they didn't listen and they did what they wanted him to do that was out of their scope musically and they were telling what they wanted he was able to put it together so that's good but I'm glad that didn't listen to him

[@Basslessonsuk]

As a former brass player, the way they're holding those brass instruments is painful to look at.

[@NeatBeatZone]

haha

[@monkeburnswell3349]

what is the source of this interview

[@BenMcdowell-cm7mk]

Clearly George Martin was wrong and the beatles were right. The White Album is avantgarde and one of their best creations. Martin's plan to become Pink Floyd is clearly an artistic mistake.

[@blurredlenzpictures3251]

Sgt Pepper is Avant-garde. The white album is stripped down. Pink Floyd is Awesome. Pepper is greater than WA.

[@Obloblorb]

White album is trash compared to abbey road or sgt peppers

[@Terminus_El_Camino]

@@Obloblorb Trash is a strong word, but it clearly does not compare. It's a bunch of songs, some of them good, some awful. Doesn't have a cohesive element holding it together, but you can't expect that from every album.

[@jayhpaq]

I would have kept it as a double album while eliminating certain tracks (Revolution 9, Wild Honey Pie) and adding the Hey Jude/Revolution single.

[@DrMark1981]

So pleased George didn’t bore the arse off everyone and ruin popular music history by doing what he wanted.

[@merlinidlehands3302]

THIS MAN was one of the Beatles

[@kerry9125]

No. He just happened to like them and gave them a chance. They did all the work. They wrote the songs, played the instrument, did the publicity (with Epstein), and they went on tour.

[@Terminus_El_Camino]

@@kerry9125 Wrong. Watch "27 Beatles songs that George Martin played on" by David Bennett Piano. George played instruments, provided input, and wrote most of the orchestral arrangements you hear on Beatles tunes.

[@kerry9125]

@@Terminus_El_Camino According to who? Find me one writing credit to George Martin. Find me the great body of work he had before he met the Beatles, or even after they broke up. The only times he played an instrument (piano) is when they told him to because they were too busy; and same with the strings. His piano in "In My Life" was the same chords as the melody and then sped up. Literally anyone with two years of piano lessons (which is all the "classical training" he had) could do that. Adding strings to a song is a basic garnish that any producer could do (Phil Spector did the same thing on the White Album). George was a basic producer and staying out of the Beatles' way was the only genius thing he did.

[@Terminus_El_Camino]

@@kerry9125 You didn't watch the video, did you...? David Bennett is a classically trained musician, and one of the biggest fans and researchers of The Beatles you will find on youtube. Plus, he's a Brit! You'd learn a lot from watching his videos. Martin opted *not* to take writing credits because he really wasn't interested in doing it, plus that really wasn't how things were done in the 60's. You wouldn't even have "I Am The Walrus" in the state we know if not for George Martin.

[@kerry9125]

@@Terminus_El_Camino "Classically trained" is a meaningless term and has nothing to do with pop music, nor assessing who wrote what on Beatles songs. Martin is not a writer, nor is he a talented musician, nor is he a performer. Just because some Brit says he is, doesn't make it any less malarkey than if some Mongolian herdsman claims it. The guy produced comedy albums before he met the Beatles. Watch the Get Back sessions. You don't see Martin writing or playing anything. He just hangs in the background while they're putting together the songs.

[@kerry9125]

If Martin had his way the Beatles would have been a symphonic orchestra of boring classical music that would be too long and get no air time on rock radio stations, and nobody would've liked them except George Martin. The Beatles knew their audience way better than Martin. They knew what sold and knew their songs were good.

[@Fortdirt1]

Key word: High all the time messed up the music.