It wasn't false modesty, because there is nothing false about him. It was an insight into how he sees himself. When, in the early s, The Beatles were turned down by label after label, they became increasingly desperate.
They weren't to know that it was tremendous good fortune. Because repeated rejection made them turn to their last hope, a tiny label called Parlophone, headed by a young executive called George Martin. And here they found not just someone to take them on but someone who understood them as they, at the time, didn't understand themselves. And the reason for this was partly that he wasn't a rock'n'roll man.
Classically trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and a producer of classical records, when Martin listens to music these days it is to the great composers. Even Tchaikovsky. Mainly the syrupy stuff," he laughs. He also hasn't exactly lived a rock'n'roll life. When I arrive at his flat I am greeted by his wife Judy, whom he met at Parlophone in and married 45 years ago.
He even suggests that he could have ended up in a different career altogether. His family were not musical his father was a carpenter and entirely lacked the connections to aid his professional life. But he was overheard playing on the piano at the end of an army concert by a music professor who helped him get a musical education and then put him up for a job with EMI.
It was comedy. But they made him laugh. And they were in awe of his work as a comedy producer. But Martin was looking for something else. He returned to take in the show a few more times and on December 10, , Epstein approached the band about managing them, and a five-year contract was signed in January That year would prove to be momentous for the Beatles.
On April 10, Sutcliffe died of a brain hemorrhage. Johns Wood, London. Epstein fired Best on August 16 and replaced him with year-old Starr, the son of local confectioners who had been playing with bands in the area. Starr made his debut with Tte Beatles two days later. Epstein saw the potential of the band , not just in their hometown but far beyond, especially now that the core four members were in place. He cleaned up their image and began to work in earnest to promote them.
It topped the U. The Beatles made their first appearance on the U. That was very influential. Brian Epstein took The Beatles from underground Liverpool clubs to being the biggest musical act in the world.
When the guitarist walked out of the Fab Four, the "Wonderful Tonight" singer was the first choice to take over. In , the Beatle gave the King of Pop a business tip. But without George Martin, those young lads wouldn't have had a hope in Liverpool not that there's anything wrong with Liverpool of making their early records - the ones that made them "Fab" - sound they way they do. And most of that is down to the experience and guidance Martin brought to the recordings. It was less that he pioneered new technologies, but he and the studio engineers pioneered new ways in which existing technology was used.
Most of the Beatles albums were mixed and released in mono. Monophonic sound reproduction monaural is - in a finished recording - one channel of sound. So you only need one speaker to listen to the full range of sound. With stereo you can use any number of speakers to enhance a "surround sound" experience. Stereo technology existed in the s but was still largely unused, and this was the way things stayed until late in the decade when the Beatles released "Yellow Submarine," "Abbey Road," and "Let It Be.
Two tracks was a significant technological limitation, alone for recording the harmonies for the Beatles are so well known. Later, the albums were released in a stereo mix. This amounted to the two mono tracks being panned to various degrees of either left or right - so, for instance, you would have the vocals on one side and the bass guitar on the other.
But it also revealed the level of Martin's studio production techniques. Panning was also used creatively by the Beatles. On "A Day In The Life" Lennon's vocals were "hard-panned" to the extreme left or right at various points during the song.
By , the first four-track machines were in use, and this made it easier to perform "overdubs" on recordings. Paul: We were asked, for uh, somebody said, "How did the group start? A man came to us on a bun, and we had a vision. May , in an interview with the New York Times concerning the title song of the "Flaming Pie" album. Paul:Anyone who hears the words "flaming pie" or "unto me" knew it's a joke.
There are still a lot of things we have to fudge because of comprimise. If we don't all agree on a story, somebody has to give in. She believed he had a vision. And it's still left us with sort of a bad taste in our mouths.
So when I was looking for a rhyme for "cry" and "sky," I thought "pie. John did add the 'a'. They told me this at the time. It was banned until the late s and they couldn't possibly have seen it. Their comments were made in hindsight. They would also not have heard about the storyline in such detail as to have small pieces of dialogue or a vague name.
I would have heard it then in my many discussions with them. John didn't have anything to do with the name of the column. I liked Beachcomber in the Daily Express and gave the title Beatcomber to his column. Jump to: navigation , search. Copyright by Dave Persails. The story is repeated once more in Pauline Sutcliffe's "BackBeat," with a slight twist. How about "The Beetles? A brainstorming session with John warped it eventually to "The Beatles" — you know, like in 'beat music.
October 4, , from "Ready Steady Go! A interview. August 25, , with Jim Steck. November , in an interview with Bob Costas on "Later. A comment from author and Beatle historian Bill Harry: "Stuart did think up the name Beetles because it was an insect and he wanted to associate it with Buddy Holly's group The Crickets as the Quarry Men used a lot of Holly's numbers in their repertoire. Views Page Discussion View source History.
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