Off The Beatle Track

Oh, boy. I don’t feel great about what I’m about to say. But this is one of those ideas that will just keep rattling around my brain until I make the case to see whether it withstands scrutiny:

Producer George Martin wasn’t the fifth Beatle. George Martin* was the third Beatle.

Let me amend that opinion at the risk of overstating George Martin’s importance (and alienating my audience): George Martin was the third Beatle sometimes. Maybe even often. Especially closer to the beginning of the band’s recording career. But definitely for the duration.

The widely shared opinion among Beatles’ fans is that George Martin, because of his contributions to their music, earned the honor of being called the fifth Beatle.

Probably only their manager, Brian Epstein, could also stake a valid claim to that title. But Brian wasn’t involved in their music. In any event, I’m going to stipulate that most fans would rank George Martin and Brian as the fifth and sixth Beatles, or vice versa.**

The case for George Martin as the fifth Beatle is too complex to state succinctly; understanding the nature and extent of his influence on the band would almost require a song-by-song examination of The Beatles’ catalog.

Here are two examples, one from 1962 and one from 1969:

1. We wouldn’t have Please Please Me unless George Martin had told them that How Do You Do It would be their follow-up to Love Me Do unless they could write something better.
2. We wouldn’t have Abbey Road (at least in the form we know and love it) unless George Martin had told Paul that he’d produce the follow-up to the Let It Be/Get Back sessions only under the condition that they record it the way they “used to” record.

That’s the thing about George Martin: his fingerprints are everywhere and span the length of The Beatles’ recording career. He was their producer, arranger, teacher, protector, uncredited cowriter, pianist, and conductor.

I’m convinced that if EMI hadn’t assigned George Martin to produce The Beatles, we in America might only be aware of them if Love Me Do or P.S. I Love You had been included on obscure Before The Rolling Stones Conquered America anthologies.

In no way do I mean to diminish the contributions made by George and Ringo. They were Beatles; George Martin was not.

George Martin could not have written While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Within You Without You, Taxman, Something, or Here Comes The Sun; nor could he have written the signature lick of And I Love Her or played the sitar on Norwegian Wood. And George Martin could not have played the drums on Rain, the drum fills on A Day in the Life, or the lead in two Beatles’ movies.

The fascinating partnership of John and Paul was the engine that drove The Beatles. But let’s not overlook that without George Martin, even John and Paul might not have risen above regional renown.

Agree? Disagree? Email me at beatletrack@gmail.com.

*When I use “George,” of course, I mean George Harrison, so I’ll use George Martin’s full name to distinguish between them.

**Shouts out to runners-up Stuart Sutcliffe, Pete Best, Neil Aspinall, Mal Evans, Jimmy (or Jimmie) Nicol, Murray the K, and Billy Preston.