Wednesday 17th February

In all probability The Beatles would have made it anyway, but George Martin saw their potential, encouraged them to write their own songs and most importantly gave them the chance to develop.  He listened to their ideas and quietly guided them in new directions.  He was certainly an important part of their story.  He made them sound immediate and captured their live sound at the beginning and when they matured he showed them how different instruments could augment their sound.  He produced all but one of their albums (Let it Be was originally recorded by Glynn Johns and then made into something else entirely by Phil Spector) and Abbey Road was possibly his greatest achievement; to have got them to produce this Masterpiece when they were breaking up in front of his eyes is a testament to his genius.

He recorded lots of other artists too, and a few years ago he put out a record of Beatles Covers by other Artists, including Jeff beck, Celine Deon and Phil Collins; it is called In My Life and it is great.  My Favourite track is the final song, a spoken word rendition of In My Life by Sean Connery – just sublime.