George Martin is best remembered as the producer who gave The Beatles a chance and contributed to their explosive rise to fame for many years. Many would refer to Martin as the “fifth Beatle.” However, his career spans far beyond the Fab Four alone. In fact, Martin enjoyed a long and storied career well after The Beatles called it quits in 1970.
Let’s take a look at a few deep cuts by other artists that Martin helped produce. A few of these were surprises to me, personally.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Sister Golden Hair” by America
This standout single from Hearts was a No. 1 hit for America, and I can see why. George Martin’s production, coupled with Gerry Buckley’s songwriting, resulted in a country rock classic that is still favored by fans of America to this day. Oddly enough, “Sister Golden Hair” was quite a personal song, which wasn’t very common for the band.
“The Reason” by Celine Dion
I actually didn’t know that George Martin produced this Celine Dion classic until the time came to write this list. I’m not surprised, though. He was far from done with producing amazing music in the 1990s, and that much is evidenced by how many British bands during the Britpop era tried to copy his production style. Still, you can’t beat the OG. And Martin really lent his magic to Celine Dion’s 1997 adult contemporary classic, “The Reason”.
This is one of the finest songs from Let’s Talk About Love, and you can really hear Martin’s influence on the track. Celine Dion’s vocals are impeccable as always, and that ethereal ambient backing track pulls the whole thing together gloriously.
“I (Who Have Nothing)” by Shirley Bassey
This song is actually a cover of a cover. The original tune is an Italian song from 1961, which was then made famous by Ben E. King in 1963. That soulful version was followed by a pop-oriented version by singer Shirley Bassey, and the song was produced by George Martin. The song was a big hit in the UK, and it quickly became a live go-to for Shirley and is more or less her signature song. Personally, I think her version with the London Symphony Orchestra is particularly jaw-dropping.
Photo by Gary Gershoff/Getty Images
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