Until the end of time, Sir George Martin will be remembered as The Beatles’ producer. Not That there’s anything wrong with that – it’s quite a legacy in perpetuity. But, like the Boys, Martin had to carve out a post-Beatles career of his own. As you will see below, on this anniversary of his birth, these 7 songs George Martin produced that AREN’T by The Beatles, he did quite well, thank you.
His Beatles Work
The work Martin did with The Beatles cannot be overstated in its greatness. I firmly believe The Beatles’ path would have taken a totally different term, had EMI assigned someone else to oversee their recordings. He was not only tolerant of their goings-on in the studio while they made their albums, he was also tolerant of their out-of-the-box song ideas. A corporate cookie-cutter producer might have dismissed “Tomorrow Never Knows,” “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite” or “Flying.” Instead, Sir George spoke fluent Beatles and was able to take their ideas from their heads to recording tape heads.
Martin the Businessman
Martin was not only a great producer, he was a smart businessman borne from necessity. Pre-Beatles he carved out an impressive resume of productions in classical and comedy recordings. In 1955, and just 29 years of age, EMI made him the head of their boutique record label, Parlophone. Incredibly, EMI, with whom he was employed, not only grossly underpaid him for his services over the years, but refused to give him royalties (“points”) on sales of recordings he produced. That would later become the norm in the industry, but it steamed Martin enough that he formed his own production company and left EMI. Of course, no one in their right minds at EMI would break up the Beatles-Martin team, so they brought him in as the first independent producer to do a session at Abbey Road Studios.
Post-Beatles Career
After the Beatles’ breakup, Martin became an in-demand producer, though he was careful to select the bands with whom he worked. To his credit, his post-Beatles producing discography is so varied, but I guess that’s not too surprising coming from the guy who used to produce classical and comedy recordings for EMI/Parlophone. Here are 5 examples of songs George Martin produced that aren’t by The Beatles
