Customer Reviews

Produced By George Martin

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I wanted to learn more about how George Martin helped to create the music of the Beatles, and get a more complete view of how the Beatles created their music. I bought "Produced by George Martin" after he answered my question on his world-wide-web chat introducing the album from England. He told listeners that when he started didn't expect to be good at it, and he told me that digital computer technology has helped make creating sounds easier, but being original is still very difficult.

I feel rewarded listining to the start of the musical skill, humor, creativity, and intelligence that helped to make the Beatles music. I think I remember George Martin once saying the he belonged in the background--but this collection commemorating his 50 years producing puts him in the foreground. "Produced by George Martin" offers clues to the creativity and quality in the Beatle music--but you can't get the full effect unless you listen to the Beatles albums. Listening to "Produced by George Martin" you might realize that the talents of the stars shape what a producer does to the music--so there's not alot to identify as belonging only to George Martin--the voices, music, and much of the composition belongs to his recording stars.

If you might expect the bold characteristics of the Beatles music throughout this collection, but you won't get them. You will listen to songs like "Alfie" and "Memory," and realize that you are listening to clear studio recordings and excellent music. Are they unique to George Martin? At first you might think no--because you could hear alot of that. I bought artistic typography by a historic graphic designer, and later realized the he designed my refrigerator too. The quality of the common refrigerator is a sign of his remarkable talent.

George Martin's versatility greatly impresses me. His historic hand shapes serious musical works, rock music, children's music, and humorous dramatic performances. I think it would be hard to find another collection of recordings with more wild humor, sophistication, and musical quality.

This serious collection also has freaky overtones. The play list coming from my computer has funny mispellings--like titling the Beatle's famous ballad "Yesturday." And lists of coauthors humorously repeat themselves in different combinations--like an English breakfast menu.

Even the music itself seems humorously edited. You can hear a song about "Ticlaw," a Texas town. From a movie, it sounds like a town booster song made for a radio station. The song itself is just one very funny addition to the serious selections in this collection, but the tinny sound of the "Ticlaw" song also radiates through some of the other serious songs on the album collection.

Look at the number of songs in the collection, and think about the stars that performed them--such as classical choirs and orchestras, Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, and Paul McCartney with Micheal Jackson and Stevie Wonder. This collection from one musical artist, George Martin, shows a rare strength in versatility and an outstanding contribution to music from the great number of excellent songs.

Sir George Martin, along with Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin and Phil Spector, in the late 50's and early 60's, literally invented the art of being a "Record Producer". In the early days, it was a role that didn't really exist. The synergy George Martin and and his counterparts in the US created, lifted recorded music to an artform unto itself. The creative energy they brought to the studio was as important to the finished product as anything the artists created.

"Produced by George Martin" spans not only time, but is also truly remarkable when one considers the scope of the music that George has laid down on everything from wax to digital audio.

This set is probably not for the casual listener. To those who really marvel at the history of modern recorded music and to the incredible number of hits and indelible memories Sir George has brought us, it is a bit of history you shouldn't be without. It is also invaluable to true collectors, as many of these recordings have not been available for many years. Thank you, George.

I bought this boxed set because of the magic George Martin brought to his production with not only the Beatles, but also America, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Webb and others in the 70s and 80s. I hoped to discover the same magic applied to the music of others Mr. Martin worked with throughout his career. While the six CDs offer a generous cross-section of production throughout his career - some of it quite grand - I have two general problems with the set. First, the styles of music represented are just two diverse for me to enjoy. There's archaic pre-Invasion Brit-pop, skiffle, jazz, big band, easy listening, classical, comedy/novelty, rock, and various other styles. Since I'm not into all of that, I found large portions of the set to be uninteresting (especially Discs 1 & 2). Admittedly that's more of a personal problem than something wrong with the set. However, the other problem is that the magic that I was looking for is frequently missing. Or to put it another way, the Glasgow Phoenix Choir (on Disc 1) sounds like any choir singing anywhere. There's no evidence that Martin brought anything unique to his production of the ensemble. Same with Edna Savage, the Fourmost, and many others included in the set. It's only with parts of Disc 3, 5 & 6 that some of the expected brilliance shows up. You might be thinking, "Give the guy a break! He can't be perfect all the time!" That's true, but a more discriminating ear should have been employed in selecting only the BEST for a career-spanning set like this.

George Martin is the most successful and possibly the most creative recording producer in history. You'd hardly know it from this selection.

Consider that Sgt Pepper was recorded on a 4-track machine. That Strawberry Fields was recorded in two different tempos and two different keys. Martin, surely the most deserving of those called 'The Fifth Beatle', put a staggering range of sounds on record, using equipment less sophisticated than that used by the teenagers practising in the basement down the block. He produced "Candle in the Wind" (the biggest selling single in history - yet oddly excluded from an otherwise exhaustive list) within 12 hours of Princess Diana's funeral. He made the band America sound good!!

Yet what is included in this overview of a 50 year career is largely formulaic middle-of-the-road tracks, many of which are completely unfamiliar to North American ears. Cilla Black has as many songs on this set as The Beatles do.

Of the 6 CD's in this set two are priceless, 4 are largely worthless. CD1 is largely unknown big band, MOR and Jazz pieces from 1950-62 - you've never heard of any of them - when Martin produced literally everything on the Parlaphone label in the UK.

CD2 is a genuine treasure: a collection of brilliant comedy tracks by Peter Sellers, Beyond The Fringe (Peter Cook & Dudley Moore), Rolf Harris & more. Largely improvised in the studio, Martin converted Sellers raw monologues into comedy that still holds up. One example: Peter Sellers performs The Beatles' Hard Day's Night as Lawrence Olivier. Nearly worth the price of the whole box set.

CD3 is the second treasure: hit after hit from the British invasion of the 60's, some performed by the Beatles, most written by Lennon-McCartney. Oddly, his simpler productions dominate. Sir George, who selected these tracks, has modestly demured production brilliance for melodic immortality.

After this, disappointment. Yes, there's the occasional good track: Goldfinger, Live & Let Die, Tin Man. But too many side projects by unknowns (Ray Cathode?!?), and minor tracks from acts like Kenny Rogers, Cheap Trick, Tom Jones, and Celine Dion, largely to cash in on their names, rather than the actual recordings.

Sir George, whom I've had the pleasure of meeting, is brilliant, charming and witty. He selected these tracks to be his legacy. But Revolver, Abbey Road and the double white Beatles albums serve as a far, far greater testament.