I heard the news today, oh boy

[TightEnd]

'Fifth Beatle' Sir George Martin dies, aged 90

RIP

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35761464

[Tonji]

RIP George

not to forgotten for producing some classic comedy records

[tikay]

Very sad indeed.

I saw an interview with him recently, & he was certainly showing his age, but this is still a shock, his contribution to the music scene, right across the world, was immense.

RIP George.

[booder]

RIP George.

[Kev B]

What a great long life he had. RIP Sir George

[teddybloat]

it's hard to capture what a towering cultural icon this man was.

lennon and mccartney were too talented to not make their mark, and will richly deserve their place amongst their true peers in a few hundred years time, but under the gentle stwardship of martin they created something very special indeed.

i have a certain obsession with some beatles records. a day in the life is one of them. i mean its moving and impersonal at the same time - a wonderful meditation on detachment. but its the extra attention to detail. mcartney at the height of his LSD comsumption asks for an aural happening, something that sounds like the end of the world. martin arranges for an orchestra to climb the scale and do so without vibrato then gets all four beatles and himself to thump a crushing E chord in 5 places of a grand piano. then ramps the mikes up so the reverb is so deep it drowns you, it lasts for minutes. its one hell of a statement and if it has been bettered as an album closing i've yet to hear it. [contrast that crushing closing chord with the equally infamous and rich opening chord to a hard day's night. academic texts have been written on that chord. martin was at the centre of all this creativity and hidden touches].



and then there is tomorrow never knows.

1966.

the best selling song on the years billboard top 100 is this:



and whilst their rivals [and it was a creative rivalry back then] were at the top of their game and releasing some of the best examples of contempory music the beatles were doing something far more subversive, ambitious and alien.

lennon wanted to record a sonic portrayal of LSD. a song that was the sound of being on a trip.

martin, the well spoken english gent that he was obliged. he threw the lot at it. all done from splicing tapes. remember this was concieved two decades before acid-house would provide the popular reference points to comprehend such music and long before technology made things easy.

and the beatles released it on one the best selling ablums of all time. in 1966

turn off your mind, relax and float down-stream indeed...



that is ridiculous.

howard goodall gives an academic overview of how revolutionary the song is in this wonderful documentary [i've time-linked tothe relevant part, but its well worth watching all the way through]

[4KSuited]

Thanks, teddybloat, for your excellent nut-shell on the combined genius of The Beatles and George Martin.

It was only after my musical tastes matured that I realised that some of their best work was perhaps the lesser known. Tomorrow Never Knows stands out for me, and I always reference it when people say things like "What did The Beatles ever contribute to modern music" (a la The Romans/modern civilisation).

There's a strong case for this song to be released in tribute to the great man. I suspect that a huge number of today's generation of music lovers will be shocked by the genius & timelessness of it - and open the door of rediscovery to The Beatles back-catalogue.