4 Beatles Songs That the “Fifth” Beatle, George Martin, Wasn’t a Fan Of

Diehard Beatles fans know the “fifth” Beatle George Martin all too well. More chill fans may not be in the loop. For the uninformed, Martin was the main producer behind the vast majority of the Fab Four’s music. He was with the band when they were nobodies and stayed with them until the end. He was pretty vocal about how much he loved the majority of The Beatles’ music. However, there were a few tracks here and there that he didn’t love. Let’s look at four Beatles songs that George Martin said he wasn’t a fan of!

Videos by American Songwriter

1. “Within You Without You”

This George Harrison-penned 1967 track from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is a pretty great song, but it wasn’t George Martin’s favorite. It wasn’t Harrison’s favorite, either. Harrison admitted that his “heart was still in India” upon returning from a trip there, and he was struggling to come up with inspired music. That much is, unfortunately, evident in “Within You Without You”. Martin described it as a “rather dreary song” that was a bit hamfisted with the Indian classical inspirations from Harrison.

2. “Revolution 9”

Some say it’s a Beatles song, some say it’s a John Lennon and Yoko Ono song. It’s experimental and chopped up in a strange way, and not a ton of Beatles fans love it. Martin didn’t love it, either. Allegedly, he said that it should not have been released on The White Album or under The Beatles’ name at all. Fun fact: Martin contributes spoke vocals to this track.

3. “Only A Northern Song”

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band makes the list again, and it’s yet another Beatles song that George Martin wasn’t totally in love with. Martin and The Beatles weren’t afraid to go into experimental territory, but Martin allegedly thought “Only A Northern Song” was a little bit too ambitious.

“I’m disappointed that George [Harrison] didn’t bring something better,” Martin allegedly said of the song.

4. “One After 909”

This unique track was originally written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney years ahead of its release on the 1970 final album Let It Be. A ton of fans love this song, but Martin didn’t exactly adore it. Rather, he believed that it was more on the amateur side, as it was written before The Beatles refined their sound and evolved into the powerhouse band they were by the end of their career. 

“When I first met them in 1962, their material was terrible,” said Martin in an interview. “Their songs were… I mean, ‘One After 909’? What the hell was that? It was silly stuff. Not very good, really.”

Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.