Here is a little quiz for you: Name two music producers. I bet like most folks you stop at one. Everyone knows the name George Martin and usually that is it. He became legendary in the music industry and with fans because of his work starting in the 1950s with The Beatles. We all got the sense that their work together was a collaborative one and it produced some of the best loved music in all of music history. What this documentary sheds light on is that Sir George (he has been knighted) had a long and successful career before his work with The Beatles.
George Martin had wanted to be a classical composer when he first started off with music. After being part of the Royal Navy during World War II he attended Guildhall School of Music and Drama for three years. Somehow he ended up signing and working with the largest record company in England, EMI. Everything from that point on is history as they say.
Martin worked with “difficult” or quirky artists in the beginning of his career. People who were thought to be harder to market. He also did orchestral, comedy records and music for kids. We then learn that after he had built a career that The Beatles came to him almost accidentally. Due to this stroke of luck for both him and the group, George Martin became incredibly famous and had a hand in shaping the sound of pop rock music. It is also pointed out that he worked with acts like Peter Sellers, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Sophia Loren, Anthony Hopkins, Shirley Bassey, Ella Fitzgerald, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jeff Beck, Paul McCartney & Wings, Neil Sedaka, Cheap Trick, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Kenny Rogers, Tom Jones, Sting, Sinead O’Connor, Peter Gabriel, Celine Dion, Billy Preston, and Stan Getz. An innovative man, he really changed the way music was produced.
The story of George Martin’s life (with some things left out, of course) is told through present-day interviews and archival footage. He comes off as very intelligent and more importantly a humble and nice human being. It is very interesting to watch a documentary in which the subject is still alive and participates in its filming.
Special Features: George and the Producers: How George Martin Changed the Rules for Producers, The Art of the Producer, George and Giles: Father and Son in Conversation, Miscellaneous Interviews
