George Martin Honored in New PBS Music Series (Video)

www.thewrap.com
Beatles Producer George Martin Honored in New PBS Music Series (Video)
By Debbie Emery
March 9, 2016



“SOUNDBREAKING: Songs From The Cutting Edge Of Recorded Music” will pay tribute to the “Fifth Beatle,” who died this week at age 90
Tributes to legendary producer Sir George Martin have flooded in across the music world since his death was announced on Tuesday at age 90.
The “Fifth Beatle” will next be honored in the forthcoming PBS series, “SOUNDBREAKING: Songs From the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music,” TheWrap has learned.
The eight-part television series was a passion project of the late Beatles producer — the original concept for “SOUNDBREAKING” came from Sir George — as he believed that the remarkable evolution of recording technologies is one of the most important stories of the twentieth century, and one that needs to be told.


Portrait of record producer Sir George Martin in the recording studio in London in the 1990s.
EAMONN MCCABE/REDFERNS

He was looking forward to seeing the series reach a global audience, according to a statement from PBS. But sadly, his last project will now serve as one of the many ways the world can celebrate the life and legacy of Sir George Martin. “Music is the only common thread and universal language that binds us together regardless of race, nationality, age or income,” Martin said before his death. “And, recorded music is how we experience it and what makes it accessible.  Through the production of ‘SOUNDBREAKING,’ I was afforded the opportunity to tell the story of the creative process of so many of the artists I have worked with throughout my life.” 



The series features black-and-white footage of Martin working with the Fab Four, interviews with Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, son Giles Martin and the historical producer himself. Martin was best known for signing the Beatles to a record contract with EMI’s Parlophone Records in 1962, after many other labels had turned them down. An indispensable presence in the studio, he went on to produce almost every Beatles song. He helped the Beatles progress dramatically in just a few years, arranging their music and allowing them to become more sophisticated and adventurous musically. His works with the group include “Yesterday,” to which he suggested adding a string quartet; “Eleanor Rigby,” on which he arranged and conducted strings inspired by Bernard Herrmann’s “Psycho” score; and “A Day in the Life,” the epic song that ended the epochal “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album. Martin produced every Beatles album except the band’s final one, “Let It Be,” which features widely derided production by Phil Spector. 



“God bless George Martin peace and love to Judy and his family love Ringo and Barbara George will be missed,” Starr wrote on Twitter Tuesday evening as he shared the tragic news with fans. “SOUNDBREAKING: Songs From The Cutting Edge Of Recorded Music” is presented by Higher Ground and the late Sir George Martin, and produced and directed by Maro Chermayeff and Jeff Dupre of Show of Force. Watch the video clip courtesy of Soundbreaking/PBS above.