Wow... R.I.P. George.

Sad to hear, RIP. I'm not as big a Beatles fan as I have been in the past, but I still have the utmost respect for what they were able to achieve and George Martin was a huge part of that

I can't believe it, Rest in Peace such a great artist. Thank you for everything you gave us.

His creative force has never been given the credit it deserves. I once heard Timbaland called the "george MArtin" of our times, and I almost laughed and died. Production now on the mainstream side is so not what he was back then. Slapping on beats is alot different, at times George actually was playing, he was also a music major, studied it, wrote it, conducted it, could write a whole opera if need be. BUT lets just take the Beatles for a moment, I really don't think people give him the credit, and he knew it, about 10 years ago he said "the beatles, man they were so good, they are going to be known for a century or two, because of their writing and great songs, 100 years from now they will still be known, me, not really" so george knew it. I mean you take just what he was doing with tape, splicing, feeding it back into machines backwards, shit was never done before, they were pioneers, and when they started coming up with shit crazy as it seemed, he would get something crazier. John Lennon was stuck on two versions of "Strawberry Fields" and he didnt know which one, and said "i like both" so George spliced the two even though they are totally different tempos. Or as Paul said what he did with "yesterday" was crazy, Paul and the rest said "just do it acoustic by yourself" and George said " thats good, but lets put some orchestra live on there too, if it doesnt work we will use your idea" genius.

Thank you for all your love and kindness George peace and love xx😎✌️🌟💖 pic.twitter.com/um2hRFB7qF

— #RingoStarr (@ringostarrmusic) March 9, 2016

RIP to my musical brother George Martin. We were friends since 1964, & I am so thankful 4 that gift. Bless u & your precious posse 4ever.❤️Q

— Quincy Jones (@QuincyDJones) March 9, 2016

Brilliant man. RIP

This great man truely deserves the title "Fifth Beatle" !

Thank you RIP

March 9, 2016 paulmccartney.com

I’m so sad to hear the news of the passing of dear George Martin. I have so many wonderful memories of this great man that will be with me forever. He was a true gentleman and like a second father to me. He guided the career of The Beatles with such skill and good humour that he became a true friend to me and my family. If anyone earned the title of the fifth Beatle it was George. From the day that he gave The Beatles our first recording contract, to the last time I saw him, he was the most generous, intelligent and musical person I’ve ever had the pleasure to know.

It’s hard to choose favourite memories of my time with George, there are so many but one that comes to mind was the time I brought the song 'Yesterday’ to a recording session and the guys in the band suggested that I sang it solo and accompany myself on guitar. After I had done this George Martin said to me, "Paul I have an idea of putting a string quartet on the record". I said, “Oh no George, we are a rock and roll band and I don’t think it’s a good idea”. With the gentle bedside manner of a great producer he said to me, "Let us try it and if it doesn’t work we won’t use it and we’ll go with your solo version". I agreed to this and went round to his house the next day to work on the arrangement.

He took my chords that I showed him and spread the notes out across the piano, putting the cello in the low octave and the first violin in a high octave and gave me my first lesson in how strings were voiced for a quartet. When we recorded the string quartet at Abbey Road, it was so thrilling to know his idea was so correct that I went round telling people about it for weeks. His idea obviously worked because the song subsequently became one of the most recorded songs ever with versions by Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye and thousands more.

This is just one of the many memories I have of George who went on to help me with arrangements on 'Eleanor Rigby', 'Live and Let Die' and many other songs of mine.

I am proud to have known such a fine gentleman with such a keen sense of humour, who had the ability to poke fun at himself. Even when he was Knighted by the Queen there was never the slightest trace of snobbery about him.

My family and I, to whom he was a dear friend, will miss him greatly and send our love to his wife Judy and their kids Giles and Lucy, and the grandkids.

The world has lost a truly great man who left an indelible mark on my soul and the history of British music.

God bless you George and all who sail in you!

Paul

John Williams, Vince Clarke, Pete Townsend, Michael Jackson, Kid Creole, Trevor Horn, Alison Moyet, Paul McCartney, George Martin, Kim Wilde, Linda McCartney, Freddie Starr, David Knopfler, Ed Biknell

MickyDolenz said:

John Williams, Vince Clarke, Pete Townsend, Michael Jackson, Kid Creole, Trevor Horn, Alison Moyet, Paul McCartney, George Martin, Kim Wilde, Linda McCartney, Freddie Starr, David Knopfler, Ed Biknell

Sweet pics!

What sessions were the ones with Michael in studio for?

RIP George Martin, you've made so much brilliant music come to realization. I will forever be grateful for all the Beatles material you've helped in. Was just listening to Abbey Road when I found out this. Sad, sad, sad. The real genius behind one of the best bands of all time.

by Quincy Jones, March 10, 2016 Time.com

John Lubbock, John Kurlander, George Martin, Quincy Jones, Jeremy Lubbock, Tony McAnany

The legendary producer remembers the 'Fifth Beatle' George Martin, who died March 8 at age 90

wow he was 90! its amazing that somebody his age could work with the Beatles amd make them sound so good..its a real tribute to the kind of man he was

CocoRock said:

MickyDolenz said:

John Williams, Vince Clarke, Pete Townsend, Michael Jackson, Kid Creole, Trevor Horn, Alison Moyet, Paul McCartney, George Martin, Kim Wilde, Linda McCartney, Freddie Starr, David Knopfler, Ed Biknell

Sweet pics!

What sessions were the ones with Michael in studio for?

Cool. Thanks for the info!

RIP George Martin

mynameisnotsusan said:

R.I.P to the producer of some of greatest music ever made

Alan Parsons reflects on George Martin, the Beatles, 'Dark Side of the Moon' and his own 'Tales of Mystery'
Ed Masley, The Republic | azcentral.com 11:20 a.m. MST March 22, 2016
Producer brings his greatest hits tour to Arizona on Friday, March 25

At 18, Alan Parsons took a job at Abbey Road, where he assistant engineered the sessions for the Beatles albums “Let It Be” and “Abbey Road.” By the time he formed the Alan Parsons Project, he’d gone on to engineer “The Dark Side of the Moon.”

That Pink Floyd album was, in fact, the multiplatinum standard against which he and his Parsons Project partner, Eric Woolfson, were competing against as they went into the sessions for the concept album, “Tales of Mystery and Imagination: Edgar Allan Poe.”

Two years ago, Parsons told me, "Eric and I said, 'Let's see if we can make a record as good as 'Dark Side of the Moon' without Pink Floyd. And that's basically what we set out to do.”

This time, Parsons tells me the intent was more to “write and assemble a concept album that we hoped would be every bit as big as ‘Dark Side of the Moon.’ ”

Same frame of reference, two completely different goals.

“Tales of Mystery and Imagination” is about to be reissued in a new deluxe edition to honor the 40th anniversary of the initial release.

Parsons called to drum up support for the local stop on this year’s Alan Parsons’ Greatest Hit Tour, which visits Phoenix on Friday, March 25.

But George Martin, a man he calls a “major milestone in the path of my career,” died a few days earlier. And as Parsons admits at the top of the call, “I’ve been doing more interviews in the last three days than I’ve done in my entire life, I think — just people who wanted me to pay my respects to George, which I’m glad to do.”

Here are his thoughts on the Beatles’ producer, the Beatles themselves, Phil Spector’s gun, “Dark Side of the Moon” and more.

Question: What do you feel you learned from George?

Answer: Just how to conduct oneself as a producer in the studio. He was so good at being the interface between the artist and the engineer, and his diplomacy was perfect. He had the respect of all the artists that he worked with and that’s very important, to have respect. He spoke the musician’s language, which so many producers don’t. And I think anyone who worked with him was very fortunate.

Q: You worked on “Abbey Road.” What was it like in the studio?

A: Well, it was the final album and you could tell that there was a little bit of conflict going on between the four band members. They were mostly working as individuals. Once the basic tracks were done, all the overdubs and vocals tended to be done by the Beatle who had written the song. Paul would come in for a few days. George would come in for a few days. John would come in for a few days. They weren’t often seen together after the initial stages of the album, which, you know, kind of pointed towards the breakup, I think. They had pretty long faces as you saw in the stills from “Let It Be.”

Q: I was about to ask: Was it as tense as they were in that movie or were they rallying at that point?

A: Well, remember that “Let It Be” came first. It was recorded before “Abbey Road.”

Q: Yeah, I know that. What I’m saying is the tension seemed to be peaking when they recorded “Let It Be.” But the way the story has been often told is that they kind of rallied for one last great album with “Abbey Road.” Did you get that sense? Was it less tense in the studio?

A: I think “Let It Be” was probably the worse atmosphere, but like I said, they combatted their differences by not working together very often (laughs) on “Abbey Road.” They were just doing their own thing.

Q: That is one way to get around it. That is a difficult movie to watch, “Let It Be.”

A: It is. You know, I’m there but you never see me (laughs). If you had the book that went with the album, I’m in a couple of shots there but not in a single frame of the entire movie that I noticed.

Q: And you did work on that album, too?

A: Yes. That was my first meeting with them and George Martin.

Q: Did you subsequently work with Phil Spector as well on that album?

A: I did, actually. I did some George Harrison sessions with him.

Q: No, I’m sorry. I meant when they handed the tapes off to Phil.

A: I didn’t work on any of those sessions, no. But I was around. I remember walking in on one of the sessions, watching him do the orchestra on “Long and Winding Road.” I wasn’t really much to do with the Phil Spector period of “Let It Be.” I did work with him and George on “All Things Must Pass,” although I don’t remember him producing any guns at the time (laughs).

Q: You later worked on “Dark Side of the Moon.” What was that experience like for you?

A: Very important. Very life-changing. The album was huge and I got a degree of recognition for it, so that paved the way for getting a career in production, really.

Q: With the strides you were making as a producer and the success you were seeing in that world, what made you decide that you wanted to do your own thing?

A: It was a sort of natural progression, really. Rather than just continue to produce other artists, it seemed sensible that I should assemble something, bringing together a concept album with a lot of different artists, although I didn’t realize at the time that I would have my name as the name of the artist. I really thought it was still gonna be a line of small print, “produced by Alan Parsons.” I didn’t realize it was going to be called the Alan Parsons Project. But it was really the combined efforts of the late Eric Woolfson and myself to write and assemble a concept album that we hoped would be every bit as big as “Dark Side of the Moon.” Although we didn’t succeed in that quest (laughs), we certainly tried.

Q: It’s a really good album.

A: It’s being re-released this year on vinyl and a sort of deluxe CD package as well.

Q: That’s awesome.

A: Do you have a surround system?

Q: I do not.

A: (Sighs) Have you heard surround sound?

Q: I have, yes. I just can’t afford it.

A: Oh, just go to Costco. Really. Even a Costco system is better than just having stereo.

Q: So when you said deluxe CD package, will there be bonus material?

A: Yeah, there’s lots of new bonus material. Commercials, mixes that haven’t been heard before, demos, that kind of stuff.

Q: You were talking about this being a concept album. Was the intent of the Project to make those sorts of records? Because you then went on and had actual radio hits.

A: That was a sort of by-product. We certainly didn’t really think, with the kind of record it was, that we would have any real success with singles. But you know, some of them worked quite well on radio and they were released as singles. That was the way to sell records back then. Singles became a way to get radio to feature a particular song without having to put the needle down in exactly the right place.

Q: Do you find that the people who come to see you now are more likely to appreciate the album tracks?

A: All the albums have favorite tracks with audiences, so we try to play the most popular songs from each of the albums. I mean, “The Turn of a Friendly Card” has two big hits on it so we have to include those. “Eye in the Sky” is a must, of course. “Sirius” is a must. The current tour is being branded as the Alan Parsons Greatest Hits Tour. That wasn’t my idea. That was the marketing people’s idea.

Q: Do you have a favorite Alan Parsons Project album?

A: I think the first album is still my favorite.

Q: What gives it the edge for you?

A: It’s like the first-born child, you know. It’s the album that I managed to get a lot of ideas off my chest without having the intervention of another artist to stand in my way. I just remember thinking, “Isn’t it nice not to have anybody arguing with you about what you wanted to do?”

PUBLISHED: Wednesday, 23 March, 2016 South China Morning Post

The demo vinyl record that persuaded late music producer George Martin to sign up The Beatles - a “unique” piece of music history - has been sold to an unnamed British collector.

The record sold on Tuesday for £77,500 (US$110,000), said a spokeswoman for the Omega Auctions, based in Warrington in northern England.

The price tag was well above the £10,000 initial estimate, showing the object’s “historical importance”, the spokeswoman said, adding that bids had come in also from China and the United States.

The ten-inch 78 RPM acetate record featuring the single Hello Little Girl on one side and Till There Was You on the other was pressed at the historic HMV record store on Oxford Street in London.

It was pressed by the group’s manager Brian Epstein to present to Martin at record label EMI - a meeting that led to a breakthrough for the Beatles.

Martin, sometimes referred to as the “fifth Beatle”, died on March 8.

Ian Shirley, from the Rare Records Price Guide, said earlier the record was a “Holy Grail” for collectors.

The record was previously owned by Les Maguire from the band Gerry and the Pacemakers. Maguire said he was given it by Epstein, who also managed his band, in 1963 and had kept it in his loft until now.

Jeff Beck Remembers George Martin: 'He Gave Me a Career'

By David Browne March 18, 2016 Rolling Stone

On his first day recording with the late George Martin, Jeff Beck sensed what the Beatles producer — who died March 8th at age 90 — could bring to his music. With his three-piece band, Beck laid down a version of Stevie Wonder's "Cause We've Ended as Lovers" that left him indifferent. "I didn't think we were laying down much of interest, but then we went to lunch break and heard the quality of the sound," Beck recalls. "I thought, 'This sounds like we're playing in the room — it's clear and fabulous.' That first album was a joy."

That record, Blow by Blow, would turn out to be a milestone for Beck and Martin. Beck's first all-instrumental record, it revived his stalled career, hitting Number Four on the pop chart in 1975, and it was also one of the high points of Martin's studio adventures after the Beatles. "To work with someone of that caliber … he gave me a career," Beck says now. "Without him, who knows what would have happened."

In 1974, Beck was at a professional and artistic crossroads. His previous band, the power trio Beck, Bogert and Appice, had collapsed, and Beck wasn't sure he wanted another singer for his next band: "There were no more Rod Stewarts on the planet," he says, referring to his one-time Jeff Beck Group frontman. In what he calls "a last-ditch attempt" to convince someone to make an album showcasing his guitar, not a voice — a risky proposition at the time — he had his manager reach out to Martin. "I thought he'd be too busy," Beck says. To Beck's surprise, Martin agreed to meet, and Beck brought along a tape of demos with what he calls "snippets of melodies." As Beck recalls, "I was expecting to leave with a red face, but he said, 'This is very interesting stuff — let's start recording.'"

Although both men had been toiling in the British music industry for a decade — Beck dating back to early bands like the Tridents and eventually the legendary Yardbirds — the planned collaboration would be the first time they'd worked together. Like many, Beck was also aware of Martin's pre-Beatles career producing comedy records (like with Beyond the Fringe, the ensemble that included Peter Cook and Dudley Moore). "I thought, 'What an odd choice for the Beatles,''' Beck recalls. "But EMI were in charge of the Beatles and they wanted a guy to corral their talents, and they landed on their feet with George. He saw their harmonies and their potential. I think 'She Loves You' showed that. It's not the kind of thing they would have done without him. George could take a melody and embellish it with the right chords, and then you've got Sgt. Pepper."

Years later, Beck heard firsthand what Martin could bring to the Beatles. Arriving at a studio to meet with Martin, he arrived to find the producer sifting through outtakes and sounds from the "Day in the Life" sessions. "I got there and heard John's voice — it was so clear, I thought maybe he's still alive," Beck says. "I just stood for 20 minutes listening to George talking to John suggesting this that and the other. It was surreal."

Settling into Martin's AIR Studio in London, Beck picked up on Martin's personality and quirks. Martin dressed "immaculately" and didn't like distorted guitars. Even though he was raised in a working-class family — his father a carpenter, his mother a nurse — Martin had a civil, cultivated (but never condescending) air about him. "It's weird, but I always thought he was a member of the Royal Family," Beck laughs. "He was the first person in rock & roll who spoke Queen's English. He had this very diamond-cut voice. I said to [keyboardist] Max [Middleton] one night, 'Why don't we follow him and see if he turns in to Buckingham Palace?'"

Yet as other musicians learned, Martin didn't look down at rock & roll, especially when it dared to venture where it hadn't before. The songs that took shape — the scrappy "You Know What I Mean," the pumping "Freeway Jam" — were rooted in funk, jazz and fusion, and were unlike any that Beck had ever recorded. His new band — keyboardist Max Middleton, bassist Phil Chen and drummer Richard Bailey — was flexible enough to roll with those genres.

"George took to Richard right away, and Max was a great jazz player," Beck recalls. "George could see where I was heading, the jazz overtones. It was another avenue he took to very well." (Stevie Wonder can be heard, uncredited, playing Clavinet on the album's other Wonder cover, "Thelonious," but Beck says that track was an outtake from Wonder's Talking Book, on which Beck guested, so, alas, Beck, Martin and Wonder were never in the studio together.)

Beck says the reggae talk-box-driven version of "She's a Woman" was inspired not by Martin — who produced the original Fab Four version — but by a rendition he heard by R&B singer Linda Lewis. "George loved that," Beck says of his own version. "He was the hippest guy in London." Beck has particularly vivid memories of the album's last track, the gorgeously orchestrated "Diamond Dust." When they first cut the song, Beck thought his band's version "sounded a bit lame." But Martin suggested adding a string section to emphasize the drama in the melody. "When he finished it, he came wafting in and said, 'This reminds me of a French love movie!'" Beck laughs. "I said, 'You've just spoiled the whole effect! I might not put it on the album!' He didn't realize it was the worst thing he could have said to me. But I thought it was beautiful. George lit a fire under it."

Beck and Martin regrouped for a follow-up album, 1976's Wired, although Beck says those sessions were more complicated due to the involvement of keyboardist Jan Hammer, who was even deeper into fusion (and produced, on his own, the album's hammering "Blue Wind"). Beck once played Martin a Graham Central Station record — "and George said, 'I'm sorry, but that's the worst-sounding record I ever heard.' But he said, 'I think I know where you're headed.' I was very smitten with Mahavishnu Orchestra and Jan Hammer."

Looking back on Wired, Beck says, "I was never happy with the solo on 'Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,' the Mingus tune. And I rang George up and said, 'I've got a great idea to modulate that.' He said, 'The album's been out for two weeks!' That's how loose things were back then."

Although Martin and Beck didn't work together again, they kept in touch, and Beck recalls Martin showing up at Beck's home for dinner with a gift. "He brought a massive big bag of every classical record," Beck says. "He said, 'This is for you — keep these and enjoy them and listen to the melodies, and you'll have a career for 20 years. Your melodies are so expressive — this is a good move for you.' Unfortunately, I was into ass-kicking rock & roll then and I was still into small combos." Beck last saw Martin at a recent audio-engineering awards ceremony, where Martin looked frail and was wearing a pair of hearing aids: "two large units, one on each ear. Quite surprising. He can't have been exposed to the noise I've been exposed to. Having said that, conducting an orchestra with cymbals for years probably took its toll."

Looking back on his brief but fulfilling alliance with Martin, Beck speaks with reverence even four decades later. "It's a shame we didn't go back and do more — my biggest regret," he says quietly. "It was such exciting times. I couldn't wait to get to the studio every day. Unfortunately, it hasn't happened since."