George Martin Discusses Meeting Beatles in Newly Revealed Clip
George Martin's son Giles has posted a heartwarming clip of the late producer reminiscing about his introduction to the Beatles. "Well, that's a silly name for a start," he remembers saying.
Martin arranged an audition session on June 6, 1962, after they'd been memorably turned down by Decca Records. He decided the Beatles' original songs were still subpar, but that they showed great promise.
"I met them in London and when I listened ... it was OK, but it wasn't brilliant," Martin told his granddaughter in a Twitter video posted below. "But the magic bit came when I started to get to know them because they were terribly good people."
Martin connected with the group's sense of humor, after asking if there was anything they didn't like. George Harrison quipped: "I don't like your tie." So, Martin set up another session on Sept. 4, 1962, where the Beatles arrived with a new drummer named Ringo Starr.
Two of the songs they cut with Martin that day would become early career cornerstones, "Love Me Do" and "Please Please Me."
"They were funny, they were very clever ... and they were the kind of people that you liked to be with," Martin adds. "So, I thought, 'If I feel this way about them, other people will feel this way about them.' So, therefore, they should be very popular."
Martin went on to produce every Beatles album through 1970's Let It Be, then oversaw post-production of the Anthology albums. He helmed solo projects for Paul McCartney and Starr, while also working with Jeff Beck, America, Cheap Trick, UFO and others. Martin's last major Beatles-related project was 2006's Love, a sweeping remix of their work done with Giles. He died in March 2016 at age 90.
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