George Martin was a renowned record producer, best known for his work with The Beatles. Born on January 3, 1926, in Drayton Park, England, Martin's classical music training began in his 20s, with eight piano lessons from an aunt. He continued to play piano and compose his own songs, with an eye towards writing film scores.
During World War II, Martin served in the Fleet Air Arm, where he acquired a mentor in Sidney Harrison, who encouraged him to pursue a career in music. After the war, Martin studied at the Guildhall School of Music in London, paying for his education with a veteran's grant.
Martin began his career as a producer at EMI's Parlophone record label, where he worked his way up to become the youngest label-head in England at the age of 29. He produced a wide range of music, including classical, comedy, and rock-n-roll.
Martin's collaboration with The Beatles began in 1962, when he offered them a singles contract with the understanding that Pete Best would not play on the records. Martin was impressed with the band's demo, but not with Best's drumming, and he suggested replacing him with Ringo Starr.
Martin's first collaboration with The Beatles wasn't a big hit, but their second single, "Please Please Me", made an immediate impact and propelled the band to national stardom in Britain. The hits continued, and Martin's own name began to appear on the recordings he produced.
Martin's relationship with the Beatles has been well-documented, and he has graciously answered questions about the band and his own experiences again and again. Many of the Beatles' more elaborate productions were shaped by Martin, who arranged their songwriting into final scores and recordings.
Throughout the Beatles' career and beyond, Martin continued to record and produce other artists, including Shirley Bassey, Bernard Cribbins, Flanders and Swann, and later America and Seatrain. He also scored movies, beginning with his original orchestral score for Yellow Submarine in 1968.
In the late 1970s, Martin was approached by RSO's Robert Stigwood to produce the soundtrack for the Bee Gees's Beatles homage Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Despite his initial misgivings, he signed onto the project, knowing nobody else had his insider's knowledge of their music.
While George Martin supervised parts of "The Beatles Anthology" in 1994 and 1995, the task of producing the new recordings included with the compilation was given to Jeff Lynne. Martin explained to the press, "I don't produce anymore, because I'm too old." Martin recently celebrated his retirement from the music business, with both a knighthood and the release of "In My Life", an all-star tribute album to the band who gave him his biggest success.
